UT Dallas Professor shares insights on USA graduate opportunities

Brac University’s School of Data and Sciences (SDS) hosted a special event on 17th November featuring Mohammad Akbar, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas). The talk was organized at the invitation of SDS Dean Professor Mahbubul Alam Majumdar, who shares a long-standing academic connection with Professor Akbar from their days at Cambridge.

(From left) Dean of the School of Data Sciences opening the event with Professor Akbar. Photo: Walid Hasan

During his graduate studies at Cambridge, Professor Akbar worked with Stephen Hawking’s research group and later shifted towards mathematics. He works in the mathematics department and is also a member of the department’s graduate admissions committee. 

The talk was geared towards senior undergraduate and junior faculty members planning to apply for graduate studies in the USA. Professor Akbar gave an overview of the graduate program and campus life at UT Dallas, one of the top three public universities in the USA. He highlighted a few critical facts about UT Dallas: Students come from over 100 countries, and international students make up 62% of the graduate school’s population.

For those interested in the mathematics program, Professor Akbar noted UT Dallas’s strengths in advanced research fields such as Geometry, Topology, and Number Theory. He also announced a new interdisciplinary master’s program in Artificial Intelligence and Biological Sciences starting next year. 

UT Dallas offers fully funded PhD programs, including a monthly stipend for over two thousand dollars. Professor Akbar motivated students by saying, “We have to target big and do harder work.”

During the Q&A session, Professor Akbar patiently answered questions on application deadlines, program requirements, and strategies for academic success. 

Overwhelming participation of students from CSE and MNS departments. Photo: Walid Hasan

“Make yourselves known in the department in graduate school” was his advice for students to do well after getting into their desired program. At UT Dallas, the application deadline for the Fall 25 semester is December 15th, so he encouraged everyone to apply early. 

This SDS seminar offered crucial guidance for students to become successful in their USA graduate school admission.