Students in this IGERT program will take a common core of courses in geography, philosophy, and computer science, while also completing requirements for doctorates in any of seven discipline-based departments. They will obtain research training through mentoring, internships, special workshops, and their participation in active research programs under six major research themes: cognitive models of geographic space, computational implementations of geographic concepts, geographic information and society, human capital research using GIS, environmental modeling, and regional modeling and optimization.

The first three themes seek to advance geographic information science through basic research in cognitive, computational, and social sciences. The other three themes apply GIS principles and technology to important societal and environmental problems. Exposure to advanced basic and applied research is essential to the training and education of new researchers. Multidisciplinary graduate education and training in Geographic Information Science will have a broad and significant impact on the U.S. GIS software industry and a variety of social, environmental, and applied science disciplines.