About PhD Program,
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography PhD program is organized into three separate academic programs. Each is responsible for all graduate educational activities in its area, including teaching, advising, and examining. Prospective PhD students will apply directly to one or more.
- Climate-Ocean-Atmosphere Program
- Geosciences of the Earth, Oceans, and Planets
- Ocean Biosciences Program
A graduate student’s work normally will be concentrated in one of several curricular groups under one of the academic programs:
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
Candidates for admission should have a bachelor’s (BS) or master’s degree in one of the physical, biological, or earth sciences; in some cases a degree in mathematics or engineering science is accepted.
A scholastic average of B or better (3.0) in upper-division courses, or prior graduate study, is required.
The student’s preparation could include:
- Mathematics through differential and integral calculus.
- Physics, one year with laboratory (the course should stress the fundamentals of mechanics, electricity, magnetism, optics, and thermodynamics, and should use calculus in its exposition).
- Chemistry, one year with laboratory.
- An additional year of physics, chemistry, or mathematics.
All international applicants whose native language is not English and whose undergraduate education was conducted in a language other than English must take the TOEFL and submit their test scores to the UC San Diego Office of Graduate Admissions.
To apply, please visit our How To Apply page or go directly to the UC San Diego Graduate Application.
PhD Funding Coverage,
All applicants to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography PhD Program are considered for financial support in the form of fellowships, scholarships and research assistantships. Scripps typically offers a five-year guaranteed financial package that includes stipend/salary, tuition, and nonresident supplemental tuition. U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are not California residents are typically awarded one year of nonresident supplemental tuition, after which they are then expected to become a California resident.
Note that students in their first year are typically not scheduled to work as teaching assistants.
Various kinds of fellowships are awarded by the department during admissions and provide a stipend or salary for 12 months plus nonresidential supplemental tuition (if applicable), and tuition.
Quick links:
Funding Resources
Students are encouraged to obtain their own support by applying directly to fellowship granting agencies and internal fellowships. In addition to the fellowships highlighted below, the following websites provide frequently updated funding information, search engines and discussion platforms to assist you:
UCSD Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs Financial Support – Provides information on UCSD tuition/fees, employment, fellowships, and support for student parents.
grad.ucsd.edu/financial/index.html
Science Careers – From the journal Science, provides a listing of grants, fellowships and financial support search engines.
www.science.org/careers
Application Requirement,
- Statement of Purpose
- Submitted with electronic application
- Maximum 2 pages, no smaller than 10-point font
- State and justify your interest in research areas and Scripps faculty
- Discuss why you are interested in these areas and how your experiences (academic or otherwise) are relevant to your continuing academic studies. Include any research experience or publications you have and list any skills not otherwise noted in your application.
- Explain why you choose to become a graduate student and why you choose the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
- Additional information.
- Unofficial transcripts of all college-level work uploaded directly into the application as a PDF. Do not mail hard copies at this time.
- Three letters of recommendation, submitted electronically, via the online application
- GRE- The GRE is not required for admission. If you have already taken the test, you can include your scores on your application.
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score report (international applicants only)
- UC San Diego Application fee** ($135 for U.S. Citizens and $155 for International Applicants)
**Application fee waivers: Only United States citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply for an application fee waiver and the UC San Diego Graduate Division fee waiver website will detail specific qualification criteria. Please note, all fee waiver requests must be submitted through the application system at least one week prior to the application deadline. Your application must be fully submitted for your fee waiver to be processed.
We encourage all prospective students to identify and contact faculty who are conducting research in their field of study. To browse Scripps faculty and researchers, please visit our research website.
It is also important to review the fellowships offered by UCSD’s Graduate Division.
TOEFL examinations must be taken no later than November for the scores to arrive before the application deadline.
Application Deadline,
Dec 04, 2024
Application Fee,
$135 for U.S. Citizens and $155 for International Applicants
