Graduate Program
To be considered for admission, applicants must have received a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. In addition to program requirements, candidates must meet university degree requirements found in Graduate Education at UCSB. Students in the program must be registered as full-time students in classes in the participating departments or in Interdepartmental Program classes. Individualized programs of instruction can be undertaken by students enrolled in the program and interdisciplinary research is greatly facilitated by the breadth of faculty available as advisors and dissertation committee members.
Admission
Applicants may apply only to the Ph.D. degree program. The M.S. program is offered only as a terminal degree or by the student’s request en route to the Ph.D. Applicants to the Ph.D. program need not necessarily hold a master’s degree. In addition to fulfilling all university requirements for admission to graduate status, described in Graduate Education at UCSB the applicant will normally hold a bachelor’s degree in a biological or physical science, engineering, or psychology. Applicants with degrees in engineering are expected to have taken at least one undergraduate course in biology, one course in chemistry, and a year of physics. Applicants from non-engineering backgrounds are expected to have taken undergraduate coursework in calculus, differential equations and linear algebra, in addition to at least a year of undergraduate coursework in each of the following: organic and biochemistry, physics, and biology. Individuals who are admitted without the requisite preparation will be required to complete remedial coursework that will not count toward unit or subject requirements for their degree. Applicants are required to submit the UCSB application for graduate admission, official undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) transcripts, three letters of recommendation from individuals who can best assess the applicant’s academic and research potential, and the General Test (verbal, quantitative and written) of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), taken within five years of application. Students should take the GRE by early fall prior to applying to ensure that scores arrive by the application deadline. Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) prior to admission. Exemptions or exceptions to this requirement will be made for those students who have completed an undergraduate or graduate education at an institution whose primary language of instruction is English. The minimum TOEFL score for consideration is 550 when taking the paper-based test and 80 when taking the Internet-based test. The minimum IELTS score for consideration is an Overall Band Score of 7. Applicants should specify their general areas of interests within dynamical neuroscience on their application and provide a clear and focused statement of purpose. Applications will be reviewed and directed to appropriate faculty within the program for consideration. Applicants to the program must be accepted by a major professor with whom they wish to work and who has agreed to supervise the student’s graduate training and dissertation research. No student will be admitted without a faculty sponsor. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to contact individual faculty in the program directly. For more information on how to choose a faculty sponsor applicants may visit the website at www.dyns.ucsb.edu or inquire to the Dynamical Neurosciences Program for assistance. Applications are considered for fall admission only and should be received with all supporting materials by the application deadline.
Master of Arts—Dynamical Neuroscience (Plan I: Thesis) (Requirements - PDF)
Master of Arts—Dynamical Neuroscience (Plan II: Project) (Requirements - PDF)
Doctor of Philosophy—Dynamical Neuroscience (Requirements - PDF)
Optional Interdisciplinary Emphases
Students pursuing a doctoral degree in Dynamical Neuroscience may petition to add the following Optional Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Emphases: Neuroengineering.
Requirement sheets for each emphasis may be found on this page.