Dear International Applicants to the Graduate Program in Biology:

The UCSD Division of Biological Sciences is very pleased that you are considering our graduate program. The Division, in association with the Salk Institute, offers a program of graduate studies leading to the Ph.D. degree in Biology. Please note that we do not offer a master's degree program. Faculty research interests include:

  • Biochemistry and Biophysics
  • Bioinformatics
  • Cell and Developmental Biology
  • Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution
  • Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Immunology, Virology, and Cancer Biology
  • Neurobiology
  • Plant Molecular Biology
  • Signal Transduction

The link at the top of this page is to the required pre-application for the Graduate Program in Biology. International applicants are required to submit this pre-application. International applicants to our program include anyone who is not a United States of America citizen or legal United States of America permanent resident.

Use the above link to begin the pre-application process. Fill in your last name, first name and email address and click submit. A link to the full form will then be sent to your email account. Follow that link to fill out and submit your full pre-application. Supporting documents are NOT needed at this time. The pre-application is designed to provide you with a format by which you can communicate your abilities and interests to the Admissions Committee. The Committee will determine whether your candidacy is competitive for admission to our graduate program, and you will be notified of their decision a few weeks after receipt and processing. If your pre-application is judged to be competitive, we will send you an email with a link to the UC Graduate Application. It is very important that you provide accurate and complete contact information, especially your e-mail address, as much of our communication with you will take place via this medium. The deadline for the complete pre-application is December 1st.

Applicants are rated according to their academic performance. Two important factors in the evaluation of academic achievement are the nature of the applicant's undergraduate program and undergraduate research performance. It is also important to achieve high scores on the Graduate Record Exam. The general GRE test is required; the subject test is recommended. To report your GRE test scores to us, please use institution code 4836 and department code 0203. The admissions process is the same for international applicants with the addition of the TOEFL or IELTS exams, which are required for applicants whose native language is not English or who have never studied in an English speaking nation for at least one year. TOEFL test scores can be sent using institution code 4836 and department code 35.

Many applicants to the Biology program may also be interested in other graduate programs on the UCSD campus. Information about these graduate programs may be found at the following web site:

http://ogs.ucsd.edu/Admissions/progs/Pages/default.aspx.

If you have further questions, please contact our Admissions Coordinator at (858) 534-8983 during business hours. He will be glad to assist you in the admissions process.