Prospective Students

The Neurosciences Graduate Program is a multidisciplinary program committed to excellence in training young neuroscientists. The students accepted into the program, many with diverse backgrounds, reflect outstanding undergraduate records in the physical, biological, and social sciences as well as a demonstrated commitment to research.

Although there are no strict course requirements for admission, a suggested undergraduate preparation includes at least one year each of general biology, calculus and physics, two years of chemistry (general, physical, or organic), as well as advanced course work in other areas of science, such as biophysics, biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, neurobiology, microbiology, and immunology.

How to Apply

The online application for Fall 2023 is now closed and the Fall 2024 application will open in September 2023.

A completed application contains:

• Payment of application fee ($135 U.S. citizens and permanent residents; $155 international)
• Uploaded transcripts: Scan the front and back side, even if the back is blank. All transcripts from post secondary institutions including community colleges and study abroad should be submitted. Please do not send hard copy transcripts unless you are asked to do so upon admission.
• Three letters of recommendation minimum
• Resume/CV
• Statement of Purpose (750 word limit): From your Statement of Purpose, we hope to get a sense of what drives and motivates your passion for neuroscience research. To that end, writing about how your interest in the field developed can be insightful. In addition, please feel free to take this opportunity to discuss both the ups and downs of your path into scientific research or any perceived shortcomings in your application.
  How did your life trajectory lead to applying to graduate school at UC San Diego? What drives your interest and passion for neuroscience?
• Research Statement (750 word limit): If you have research experience, describe how this has shaped your scientific thinking. What are the neuroscience research questions you have worked on in the past? What outstanding questions in neuroscience would like to address with your future research? Focus on the science and approach. Assume an ideal scenario in which money, resources, etc. are not a concern.
  In your research statement, try to refrain from listing all the techniques you have learned. Instead, tell us about what questions you have focused on, how you addressed them experimentally or analytically, and how your findings fit into the broader knowledge base of the field. Discuss experiences when your experiments answered a question (i.e., “worked”), as well as how you experienced times when experiments failed or offered ambiguous results. Describe the type of neuroscience research you would like to pursue during your PhD. As appropriate for you, contextualize these goals in terms of your past research, course work, life experience, and/or the environment at UC San Diego.
• Official English Language Proficiency* scores (international applicants)
  • TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE

*A test of English language proficiency is required for international applicants whose native language is not English and who have not 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 where English is a dominant language.

Beginning with the Fall 2020 application cycle, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is no longer used in our admissions process.

Address inquiries to:

Neurosciences Graduate Program
University of California, San Diego 
9500 Gilman Drive 0634 
La Jolla CA 92093-0634

Phone: 858-534-3377 
Fax: 858-534-8242 
E-mail: neurograd@ucsd.edu

Admissions FAQs

For more answers to FAQs about the application process please see the Graduate Admissions FAQ page.

If you still have questions about the Program, please email: neurograd@ucsd.edu