ucsd biology phd deadline

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Ph.D. Program

Fall 2025 application.

• Application Open: September 4th, 2024
• Application Close/Deadline:  November 20th, 2024 (11:59PM PST)
• Virtual Interviews: January 21st – 24th & 27th, 2025
• In-Person Recruitment Event: March 6th and 7th, 2025

(Fall 2024 Application Closed December 6th, 2023)

Begin Your Application

Upcoming Recruitment Events

October 31 - November 2, 2024

SACNAS/NDiSTEM

October 19, 2024

California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education

November 13 - 16, 2024

Competitive

Admission to UC San Diego's Biological Sciences (BioSci) Ph.D. Program is highly competitive, with, on average, only 35 – 40 students joining this world-class research training program each Fall.

Competitive applicants must demonstrate excellent undergraduate training in the biological sciences and a strong commitment to research.

Students with diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. See more about the School's commitment to diversity .

Approximately 30% of the program's incoming class consists of international students. Qualified international applicants are encouraged to apply.

Fully Funded

Full financial support is provided to students in the program.

See More About Funding

The Admissions Committee holistically evaluates applicants based on their past academic performance. For further details, visit the Application/Evaluation Process page , which includes important evaluation factors.

View Holistic Factors

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Please consult FAQs before contacting Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator.

The vast majority of questions are answered in the  program's FAQs . The Ph.D. Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator can be reached by email at  [email protected] . Please allow two business days for a reply.

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Curricular Requirements

• Program Timeline

Normal progress toward the degree refers to the pace at which students are expected to move through a series of milestones necessary to obtain the PhD at a reasonable pace and at the level of performance described in the preceding section.

Under normal circumstances, the established time period in which students are expected to complete requirements for the PhD is five years. This is called the Normative Time . The goal of the UCSD Time to Doctorate Policy and associated time limits is to encourage completion of the PhD in a timely manner, and to stimulate thesis advisors and students to work collaboratively on ensuring that program requirements and other milestones are met.

To complete a dissertation within the Normative Time , a student should adhere to the timeline outlined below, geared toward providing sufficient guidance and intellectual support so each student can advance to candidacy and complete a high quality dissertation within this time.

• Participate in Grad Launch (BGGN 208)
• Complete Core Course Sequence, including CORE I, CORE II (2 courses), Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, and Communications.
• Complete BGGN 500
• Fulfill first of three Instructional Assistant Teaching Experiences
• Conduct Four Laboratory Rotations
• Select Thesis Advisor and begin Thesis Research
• Begin Comprehensive Exam by June 30 of Year 1
• Continue Thesis Research
• Participate and present in the Graduate Research Seminar (BGSE 205)
• Complete Two Four-Unit Elective Courses
• Participate in the Scientific Ethics Course (BGGN 207)
• Fulfill second of three Instructional Assistant Teaching Experiences
• Select Core Doctoral Committee ('Thesis Committee')
• Schedule Thesis Proposition Examination by June 30 of Year 2
• Participate and present in Graduate Research Seminar (BGSE 205)
• Fulfill last of three Instructional Assistant Teaching Experiences
• Select remaining members of Doctoral Committee and advance to Candidacy by Pre-Candidacy Time Limit (PCTL), OR
• Conduct annual Evaluation Meeting with Core Doctoral Committee
• Present a poster during the Divisional Retreat
• If not advanced in Year 3, select remaining members of Doctoral Committee and advance to Candidacy by Pre-Candidacy Time-Limit (PCTL), OR
• If advanced in Year 3, conduct annual Evaluation Meeting with Final Doctoral Committee
• Complete Thesis Research
• Conduct Pre-Defense Thesis Evaluation Meeting at annual meeting with Final Doctoral Committee
• Prepare Doctoral Dissertation (written thesis)
• Defend Thesis

The Academic Year is generally considered to include October 1 – June 30. A detailed timeline can be found in the Handbook, Section V. Academic Requirements for PhD Degree .

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Biochem & MolBiophysics PhD

Biochemistry and molecular biophysics phd admissions.

Thank you for your interest in the UC San Diego Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics PhD Program. Our goal is to prepare students for careers in the biochemical sciences as researchers and educators. Our students work with faculty across the UC San Diego campus with research programs focused on structural biology, protein, RNA, and lipid biochemistry, experimental and computational biophysics, and systems biology. Below you will find information on the needed application materials and criteria.

Application Deadlines

The PhD Admissions Deadline for Fall 2025  is December 4, 2024

General Application Information

To begin your online application or to check the status on your application, please visit  connect.grad.ucsd.edu/apply . Information you enter may be saved at any time.

The Admissions & Recruitment Committee recommends submitting your application as soon as you complete it, even if we have not yet received all your letters of recommendation. We also highly recommend that you answer some/all of our additional questions about your educational experiences.

We review PhD files continuously beginning in late November and try to get the good news out to those we are recruiting to our program as soon as possible. If you have yet to hear from us, your file is still pending a final decision.

Transcripts

For application review purposes (only), scan and upload copies of unofficial transcripts for all institutions attended after high school. In the online application, you will be prompted to upload a PDF of your scanned documents. Please upload both the front and back sides of the unofficial transcript, even if the back side is blank. Uploaded transcripts should be recent and include the following: your name, the institution name, dates of attendance, grades/marks received, credits earned, and grading legend.  If no unofficial transcript is available, please upload a statement explaining the circumstances. Official copies of your transcripts will be required if you accept a potential admissions offer.

Statement of Purpose

We recommend that you structure your Statement of Purpose to address the following four prompts:

• Describe your personal and professional motivations for pursuing research in biochemistry and molecular biophysics.
• the overall context of the work,
• the specific goal of the work you were doing
• What you learned and what your new understanding means for the future of the project. Include a short discussion of how your research experience has shaped your decision to apply to our graduate program.
• Specify one or more faculty members in our department whose current research aligns with your interests. Provide some insight into why you made the choice(s) you did.
• Describe any obstacles that you have overcome to achieve your academic and personal achievements as well as any contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion you have made.

Letters of Recommendation

We  require three letters of recommendation. Letter writers that are able to provide context and clarity with respect to your ability and potential to excel in a graduate program are the most helpful in evaluating your application (e.g. a research advisor or a professors from a course that knows you well).

If your letter writer needs a new link to submit their letter, please follow the instructions below:

• Log into  online application
• Click “Update Application”
• Go to “Letters of Recommendation” page
• Click “Resend” next to the name of your letter writer

The GRE General & GRE Subject are not required and will not be used in the evaluation of your application.

Research Experience

Upload PDF copies of research products such as peer-reviewed publications, bioXriv pre-prints, posters, presentation slides, etc. Please do not upload thesis documents (Honors, MS, etc.). There are four slots with 4MB of space under the “Upload Poster/Research” section.

Additional Educational Experiences

This section allows us to acknowledge the non-academic/research commitments of applicants. While the application lists this section as “Optional”, we strongly encourage you to provide us with information that provides a holistic view of your prior experiences and activities. You may use sections from your Statement of Purpose as your answers to some of these questions.

Fee Waiver Programs

There are a couple of fee waiver programs offered by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Please visit the GEPA website ( https://grad.ucsd.edu/admissions/requirements/application-fee-and-fee-waiver/index.html ) to see if you are eligible for a fee waiver with them. Follow their steps to request for one of their fee waivers. If you are ineligible for an application fee waiver through GEPA, then please follow the steps below to be considered for one of our limited number of fee waivers by our department.

• Applying for Fall 2025
• Please fill out the application as much as you can  ( https://connect.grad.ucsd.edu/apply/ )
• Do not submit the application nor enter any payment information
• Take note of your application's reference number (you'll need that for the next step)
• Fill out our Fee Waiver Request Form   by November 26, 2024

Commitment to Diversity

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics PhD Program welcomes all applicants. Our program has a long-standing commitment to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion within STEM fields from. Our commitment to diversifying the scientific workforce also includes people who self-identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds, and individuals with disabilities.

English Proficiency Exams (International Applicants Only)

Applicants that have recently studied full-time for one uninterrupted academic year at a university-level institution in which English is the language of instruction and in a country in which English is a dominant language, may be exempt from language testing requirements.

Demonstrated proficiency in the English language (TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE) is required for all other international applicants whose native language is not English. Requirements for demonstrating proficiency are listed below.

International applicants must include an official report of their TOEFL iBT or TSE scores from  ETS . The university-wide minimum TOEFL score for graduate admission is  550 for the paper based test (PBT), and 85 for the internet based test (iBT) . The minimum for the IELTS Academic Training exam is a score of 7 and a score of 65 for the PTE Academic.

At minimum, international applicants must also have a TOEFL iBT Speaking subscore of 23 , an IELTS Speaking subscore of 7 , or a PTE Speaking subscores of 65 .

Outreach Conferences 2024

National organization for the professional advancement of black chemists and engineers (nobcche).

September 30 - October 3 | Rosen Shingle Creek Orlando, FL

California Diversity Forum

October 19 | UC Riverside

Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)

October 31 - November 2 | Phoenix, AZ

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)

November 13 - 16 | Pittsburgh, PA

Fall 2025 PhD Deadline:

Dec 4, 2024

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Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program

Dedicated to training the next generation of biomedical scientists in a collaborative, inclusive, and multidisciplinary environment

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Students may choose from among nine  Research Areas  and four Cross-Discliplinary Training Centers , or choose to develop an individualized training plan with their mentors.

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