University of Rochester

Graduate Education at Rochester

3grads

Outstanding scholarly and professional achievement: These are the goals of graduate study at the University. Admission is selective, the environment intimate and challenging. Here, promising candidates work closely with faculty to develop in-depth knowledge of their chosen fields as they establish themselves as independent, innovative scholars.

The University of Rochester offers graduate students the chance to pursue research at the highest level in an environment scaled to the individual. Graduate education is central to the mission of all schools and is an important vehicle for the missions of both research and professional preparation.

At one of the nation's leading universities, graduate students at Rochester work closely with faculty who are at the forefront of their fields. Students have exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study that few universities can match.

World-Class Environment and Resources

The University's libraries, research facilities, departments, and schools each offer unique opportunities for intellectual, scientific, and artistic growth. For example, the Sibley Music Library, in expansive quarters at the Eastman School of Music, is one of the major music research libraries in the world. The Laboratory for Laser Energetics operates the most powerful ultraviolet laser in the world. The Institute of Optics is widely considered the nation's premier optics school and leads the country in basic optical research.

Federally sponsored awards to Rochester’s researchers continue to do well annually, despite flat government funding recently in real dollars.  In fiscal year 2011, Rochester was awarded $210 million from the National Institutes of Health, $72 million from the Department of Energy, and $14.5 million from the National Science Foundation, and expended in excess of $407 million for sponsored activities, an increase of 3.7 percent from fiscal year 2010.

The combination of research excellence and personal scale is seen when analyzing total award dollars of highly-competitive NSF grants normalized by the number of faculty. Year after year, this research productivity consistently puts Rochester in the top 15 funded institutions among universities nationwide when size is taken into account.

Evidence of the quality of Rochester's programs can be found in a variety of sources:

Distinguished Faculty

Rochester's faculty includes fellows of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Sciences. Several professors have been officers of the leading academic societies in their fields, and our faculty counts a number of John S. Guggenheim Fellowship and MacArthur Fellowship recipients among its ranks. 

Diverse Multinational Student Body

The approximately 4,500 graduate students at Rochester make up just under half of the total student body of about 10,000. About 1,200 graduate students (well over one-quarter) are from outside the US, with the largest numbers from China, followed by India, South Korea, and Taiwan. Students from all parts of the US and many nations collaborate and socialize in research groups, classrooms, and student organizations.  

Distinguished Alumni

In addition to multiple Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners, our alumni also include scores of other prominent individuals, including:

Specialized Programs, Central Ph.D. Oversight

The masters and doctoral programs of the University of Rochester are directed by the faculties of the separate Schools. Applications are reviewed by the program faculty, and each graduate program is designed and delivered by the faculty in individual fields.

The University Dean of Graduate Studies oversees PhD programs and selects chairs of PhDs’ final oral defenses. This central office also manages several highly selective fellowships offered to entering students. Dean Margaret H. Kearney welcomes your interest in the University of Rochester for graduate study.

For More Information and to Apply

For details about each program and application instructions, visit the pages of the graduate programs listed at the right on this page.

Graduate Programs


Business Administration—M.B.A., M.S., Ph.D.
(Simon School of Business)

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology—Ph.D. 
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Biology—Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Biomedical Engineering—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Biophysics, Structural, and Computational Biology—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Brain & Cognitive Sciences—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Chemistry—Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Clinical Investigation—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Comparative Literature—M.A.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Conducting—D.M.A.
(Eastman)

Conducting (Choral)—M.M.
(Eastman)

Dental Sciences—M.S.  
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Earth & Environmental Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Economics—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Education—M.S., M.A.T., Ed.D., Ph.D.  
(Warner School of Education)

English—M.A., Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Engineering & Applied Sciences (Hajim)
Alternative Energy—M.S.
Biomedical Eng—M.S., Ph.D.
Chemical Eng—M.S., Ph.D.
Computer Sci—Ph.D.
Electrical/Computer Eng—M.S., Ph.D.
Materials Science—M.S., Ph.D.
Mechanical Eng—M.S., Ph.D.
Technical Entrepreneurship & Management—M.S.

Epidemiology—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Finance—M.S.
(Simon School of Business-NYC)

Genetics, Genomics and Development—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Geological Sciences—M.S., Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Health Services Research and Policy—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

History—M.A., Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Linguistics—M.A.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Literary Translation—M.A.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Mathematics—Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Marriage & Family Therapy—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Medical Informatics—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry–joint with RIT)

Medical Management—M.S.
(Simon)

Medical Scientist Training Program—M.D./Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Medical Statistics—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Medical Technology Innovation—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Medicine—M.D. 
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Microbiology—M.B.A./M.S., M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Microbiology, Virology & Immunology—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Music: (Eastman)
Ethnomusicology—M.A.
Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media—M.M., D.M.A.
Music Composition—M.A., M.M., D.M.A., Ph.D.
Music Education—M.A., M.M., D.M.A., Ph.D.
Music Theory—M.A., Ph.D.
Musicology—M.A., Ph.D.
Pedagogy of Music Theory—M.A.
Performance & Literature—M.M., D.M.A.
Piano Accompanying & Chamber Music—M.M., D.M.A.

Neurobiology and Anatomy—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Neuroscience—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Nursing—M.S., D.N.P., Ph.D.  
(School of Nursing)

Nursing—Dual Degree, M.S. and Ph.D. accelerated  
(School of Nursing)

Optics—M.S., Ph.D.
(Hajim)

Pathology—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Pathways of Human Disease—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Pharmacology—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Philosophy—M.A., Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Physics—M.A., M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Physiology—M.S., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Physics & Astronomy—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Political Science—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Public Health—M.B.A/M.P.H., M.P.H.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Psychology, Clinical—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Psychology, Developmental—Ph.D. (School of Arts and Sciences-Clinical and Social Psychology)

Psychology, Social-Personality—Ph.D.
(School of Arts and Sciences)

Statistics—M.A., Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Toxicology—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Translational Biomedical Science—Ph.D.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Translational Research—M.S.
(School of Medicine and Dentistry)

Visual & Cultural Studies—Ph.D.  
(School of Arts and Sciences)