princeton phd programs

Princeton Neuroscience Institute

Ph.d. in neuroscience.

First-hand experience is an essential part of gaining real understanding

Ph.D. Neuroscience students take lecture and laboratory courses; learn to read, understand, and present current scientific literature; develop and carry out substantial original research, and present their research at meetings and conferences, including the annual Neuroscience retreat each Spring.

During the first year, all students participate in a unique year-long  Core Course  that surveys current neuroscience. The subjects covered in lectures are accompanied by direct experience in the lab. Students learn through first-hand experience how to run their own fMRI experiments; to design and run their own computer simulations of neural networks; to image neural activity at cellular resolution in behaving animals; and to patch-clamp single cells, to name a few examples. This core course offers students a unique opportunity to learn the practical knowledge essential for successfully developing new experiments and techniques. Incoming students are encouraged to rotate through up to three different labs to choose the lab that best matches their interests. During this process, students may discover an area of research completely new and fascinating to them. Following their rotations and by mutual agreement with their prospective faculty adviser, students choose a lab in which they will carry out their Ph.D. research.

Ph.D. Timeline Overview

The first year of the graduate program begins with the Neuro Boot Camp in August. All newly admitted Neuroscience graduate students are required to attend a 2-week course intended to ensure that new recruits have a basic understanding of molecular biology, as well as the core skills required to use mathematical and computational approaches to analyze neural systems and neural data. The Neuro Boot Camp takes the form of morning lectures and afternoon workshops in which students will apply the principles introduced in the lectures.

Once the academic year begins, all students take the Neuroscience Core Course. The goal of this course is to provide a common foundation so that all students have a strong knowledge base and a common language across the breadth of Neuroscience, which is a highly diverse and multidisciplinary field. To the extent possible, the course aims to teach an overview of all topics through a mix of hands-on laboratory experience, lecture, and computational modeling. Students will also rotate in up to three labs, participate in grant-writing workshops, and attend the Society for Neuroscience Annual Conference .

By the second year of their Ph.D., students will have joined a research group. Projects that involve collaborations across groups, and thus have students joining more than one research group, are decidedly welcomed. Students also typically teach half-time during their second year, as part of learning to teach and communicate science, and as a part of helping the Neuroscience Institute's educational mission. The other half of their time, students begin to carry out in-depth research and dedicate themselves wholly to this in the summer between their second and third years. Students also will participate in an NSF Fellowship grant-writing workshop in September.

At the beginning of their third year, Ph.D. students present their thesis proposal at a generals exam, in which they demonstrate the command of their chosen research topic and the existing literature surrounding it, and present a logical plan to address key questions that they have identified.

The third, fourth and fifth years are largely devoted to research. They culminate with the submission of their research papers for publication, and the writing and defense of their Ph.D. thesis. Throughout their time at Princeton, students participate in grant-writing workshops, career workshops, and present their work both locally and in national and international conferences.

Across the board, from molecular biology to physics to psychology, Princeton's world-class faculty is particularly strong in quantitative and theoretical investigations. The same is true in Neuroscience. In recognition of this, a Quantitative and Computational Neuroscience track exists within the Neuroscience Ph.D.

Students in this track must fulfill all the requirements of the Neuroscience Ph.D. In addition, their electives should be in quantitative courses, and their Ph.D. research should be in quantitative and/or computational neuroscience. The QCN track is supported by the T32 training grant in Quantitative Neuroscience from the NIMH.

Department of Psychology

Graduate program.

Graduate work in the Department of Psychology is designed to prepare students for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and a career of productive scholarship in psychological science.

The program offers specialization in diverse areas, including behavioral economics, cognitive neuroscience, culture, developmental science, diversity science, emotion, language and communication, learning and memory, perception and cognition, the psychology of inequality, social neuroscience, social psychology, and systems neuroscience.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

Graduate students complete at least 5 courses during their first year, and then focus on research and teaching. In particular, students carry out independent research, write a research paper and theory paper as part of their general examination, write a dissertation proposal, take advanced seminars, and present their dissertation to our departmental community.

Applying to the Graduate Program

Applications to the Ph.D. program should include a statement of purpose, resume/CV, transcript, and 3 letters of recommendation. Applicants may also submit an essay about how their academic interests or life experiences help fulfill Princeton’s commitment to diversity.

Graduate students take 5 core courses: a seminar focused on cognitive psychology, a seminar focused on social psychology, two semesters of statistics, and a course on responsible conduct of research. Students enroll every semester in a lunchtime seminar where they hear about the research of both local and visiting scientists. Optional courses are offered regularly, including a course that informs students about current trends in statistics.

In the first year, graduate students take courses and carry out independent and collaborative research. At the beginning of the third year, students submit a research paper and a theory paper, and discuss their work with a committee as part of the general examination. During the fourth year, students propose their dissertation research. At the end of the fifth year, students present their dissertation research to our departmental community.

Prospective graduate students should reach out to one or more relevant advisors prior to applying. Students are admitted with the intent of working with a particular faculty member as their primary advisor, and must select a secondary/co-advisor by the end of the first year.

See our directory of current graduate students and their year of study.

On the Job Market

Each year we have a number of emerging scientists on the job market for tenure-track positions, other academic positions, and industry positions. See our current graduate students and postdocs who are in the job market.

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Ph.D. in Public Affairs

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Graduate program.

Graduate students' research into power electronics has advanced energy-savings potential for large data centers, easing their environmental impact.

Cultivating Thought Leaders

Princeton's doctoral program in electrical and computer engineering draws top students from across the United States and around the world.

Most candidates enter the program directly after completing an undergraduate degree in engineering, science or mathematics. Prospective students should familiarize themselves with the faculty  and the variety of our research . Strong applicants have a firm grasp of who we are and what we do. Admission is highly selective. Learn how to apply .

Bringing Great Minds Together

Students play a vital role in bringing together collaborative projects. Ph.D. candidates frequently have more than one adviser.

Integrating End-to-End Solutions

Our work begins at the basic level to develop whole new classes of technological application that impact society at large.

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Big Community, Small Groups

With a 5-to-1 student-faculty ratio, and around 170 total graduate students, Princeton boasts a Ph.D. program with the best of both worlds: close mentorship from faculty advisers and a large community of peers.

Fully Funded

Students maintaining good progress receive full financial support throughout the duration of the program, including a generous stipend for living expenses. No fees, no tuition.

Graduate Contacts

For questions on applying to the ECE Graduate program, please contact Jean Bausmith, [email protected] or [email protected] .

Graduate Committee

Department of English

Graduate Program Overview

Ph.D. Program in English at Princeton

The aim of the Princeton graduate program in English is to produce well-trained and field-transforming scholars, insightful and imaginative critics, and effective and creative teachers. The Ph.D. program is both rigorous and supportive. With two years of coursework and three years of research and teaching, all fully funded, it is possible to complete the degree in five years. We offer multiple funding opportunities for research fellowships in year six, should students need additional time for dissertation completion and for the academic job market, or for pursuing other career opportunities.

Princeton is a research institution with strengths across the disciplines, but it maintains a feeling of intimacy. In keeping with the goals of the University at large, the Department of English seeks to cultivate and sustain a  diverse , cosmopolitan, and lively intellectual community. Because this is a residential university, whose traditions emphasize teaching as well as research, the faculty is easily accessible to students and committed to their progress.

The  faculty  of the Department of English is notable for its world-renowned scholarly reputation, and commitment to teaching and close collaboration with colleagues and students. The faculty showcases wide-ranging interdisciplinary interests as well as a diverse range of critical approaches within the discipline. In addition to offering seminars in every major historical field of concentration, from medieval to contemporary literatures, we offer a wide range of theoretical specializations in fields such as feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, psychoanalysis, Marxism, postcolonialism, environmental studies, political and social theory, and cultural studies. Students may also take courses in cognate departments such as comparative literature, classics, philosophy, linguistics, history, and art history.

Course of Study

The graduate program in English is a five-year program (with multiple opportunities for funding in year six) leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Students may not enroll for a Master of Arts degree. During the first two years, students prepare for the General Examination through work in seminars, and directed or independent reading. The third, fourth, and fifth years are devoted the writing of a dissertation, and to teaching in undergraduate courses. Through numerous funding opportunities, we are able to offer sixth-year students generous research support.

Although programs are flexible, during the first two years graduate students normally take an average of three courses per semester, to complete the required 12 courses by the end of the second year. The comprehensive General Examination is then taken at the beginning of the third year of study.

Students must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages before the completion of the General Examination.

Course Requirements

Graduate students are required to take a minimum of twelve courses over their first two years in the program, usually enrolling in three courses per semester.

Our distribution requirements are designed to acquaint each student with a diverse range of historical periods and thematic and methodological concerns. The Department values both historical expertise and theoretical inquiry, and assumes that our discipline includes the study of film, visual culture, and media studies.

Graduate Students in English must take courses in each of the following six areas:

• Medieval and Renaissance
• 18th Century and 19th Century
• Modern and Contemporary
• Race, Ethnicity, and Postcoloniality
• Gender and Sexuality

All distribution requirements must be taken for a letter grade. The six-course distribution requirement comprises 50% of the courses required for the degree, leaving sufficient room for intensive coursework in areas of specialization. 

While some graduate seminars may cover more than one field, students may not use one course to fulfill two or more distribution requirements at the same time. For example, a medieval course with a substantial commitment to theory may fulfill either the medieval and Renaissance or the theory requirements.

Each entering student is assigned a faculty advisor who works with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in planning course selection in the first and second years. After successfully submitting and presenting the dissertation proposal during the spring of the third year, students choose three faculty members to serve as their dissertation advisers.

Graduate Action Committee (GAC)

The Graduate Action Committee (GAC) is a representative group of graduate students in the Department that advocates for graduate student with faculty and administration. Among its primary goals are representing the concerns of the entire graduate student body, promoting intellectual and social interaction between faculty and graduate students, organizing an annual speaker series of distinguished academics, and improving the quality of graduate student life at Princeton. Every graduate student in the Department is welcome and encouraged to participate in GAC.

Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI)

The Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI) is a four- or five-person elected group of students who meet at several points during the academic year with the chair, director of graduate studies, and one additional faculty member to represent graduate student concerns.

In addition to participating in a variety of seminars and colloquia organized by the Department and other units at the University, graduate students are welcome to organize colloquia of their own. These may involve the discussion of an article or problem, the presentation of a paper, or a forum for debate.

Graduate students who have passed the General Examination are required to teach in undergraduate courses. While the minimum Department requirement is four hours, most students teach more than this. Students may conduct sections of large lecture courses, or direct precepts in upper-division courses. This teaching is supervised by experienced members of the faculty. The Department and University also offer, on an annual basis, a teacher training seminar and workshop. Advanced graduate students may co-design and co-teach courses with faculty through the  Collaborative Teaching Initiative . 

Library Collections

In addition to the general collections of Princeton’s libraries, Firestone Library has a number of special collections that are particularly rich in materials for study: one of the most important collections of medieval and renaissance manuscripts in the United States; works of the Restoration Period, with emphasis on drama; the theater collection, which contains materials for the study of theatrical history; extensive collections concerning the history and literature of the middle Atlantic and southern states; little poetry magazines; concrete and visual poetry; the Sinclair Hamilton Collection of American Illustrated books, 1670–1870; the Morris L. Parrish Collection of Victorian Novelists; the J. Harlin O’Connell Collection of the 1890's and the Gallatin Collection of Aubrey Beardsley; and the archives of major American publishing houses. The extensive Miriam Y. Holden Collection of Books on the History of Women is located adjacent to the Department’s literature collection in the Scribner Room.

Job Placement

We offer strong support and deep resources for students pursuing careers inside and outside academia. Our Job Placement and Career Resources page provides details, as well as information and statistics about recent academic appointments.

Admission  and Financial Aid

Competition for admission to the program is keen. About ten new students from a wide range of backgrounds are enrolled each year. The Department looks for candidates of outstanding ability and intellectual promise who have the potential to be lively, effective, and sympathetic scholars and teachers. Its judgments are based on letters of recommendation, transcripts, a personal statement, and a sample of the candidate’s academic writing. GRE scores are not required. Facility in foreign languages is also taken into account. To access the online application, please visit the  Graduate Admission Office .

All admitted students are fully funded. Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School on the Department’s recommendation. Students are also eligible to apply for competitive external and internal fellowships, such as those offered by the Graduate School, the Center for Human Values, and the Center for the Study of Religion.

English Department

The Department offices, lecture halls, and seminar rooms are located in McCosh Hall. There are two libraries in McCosh Hall: the Thorp Library, home to the Bain-Swiggett Library of Contemporary Poetry, and the Hinds Library, the Department’s reading room and lounge. There is also a separate English Graduate Reading Room in Firestone Library, where reserve books for graduate seminars are kept on the shelves. It is adjacent to the Scribner Room, the Department's large non-circulating collection of books and journals.

The Graduate School provides University housing for about 65 percent of the graduate student body. New students have first priority. Although housing in the Princeton area is expensive, many graduate students find convenient and attractive private housing, sharing accommodations or investigating neighboring towns. There are also opportunities for graduate students to apply for resident positions in the undergraduate colleges.

Visiting Princeton

Applicants for admission are welcome to visit the campus at any time, and  tours  of the campus are available. Once the formal admissions period is over by the end of February, admitted students will be invited to campus and will have the opportunity to visit seminars, and meet with faculty and current graduate students.

Graduate Program

Our graduate program is unique from the other top mathematics institutions in the U.S. in that it emphasizes, from the start, independent research. Each year, we have extremely motivated and talented students among our new Ph.D. candidates who, we are proud to say, will become the next generation of leading researchers in their fields. While we urge independent work and research, there exists a real sense of camaraderie among our graduate students. As a result, the atmosphere created is one of excitement and stimulation as well as of mentoring and support. Furthermore, there exists a strong scholarly relationship between the Math Department and the Institute for Advanced Study, located just a short distance from campus, where students can make contact with members there as well as attend the IAS seminar series.  Our program has minimal requirements and maximal research and educational opportunities. We offer a broad variety of advanced research topics courses as well as more introductory level courses in algebra, analysis, and geometry, which help first-year students strengthen their mathematical background and get involved with faculty through basic course work. In addition to the courses, there are several informal seminars specifically geared toward graduate students: (1) Colloquium Lunch Talk, where experts who have been invited to present at the Department Colloquium give introductory talks, which allows graduate students to understand the afternoon colloquium more easily; (2) Graduate Student Seminar (GSS), which is organized and presented by graduate students for graduate students, creating a vibrant mathematical interaction among them; and, (3) What’s Happening in Fine Hall (WHIFH) seminar where faculty give talks in their own research areas specifically geared towards graduate students. Working or reading seminars in various research fields are also organized by graduate students each semester. First-year students are set on the fast track of research by choosing two advanced topics of research, beyond having a strong knowledge of three more general subjects: algebra, and real and complex analysis, as part of the required General Examination. It is the hope that one, or both, of the advanced topics will lead to the further discovery of a thesis problem. Students are expected to write a thesis in four years but will be provided an additional year to complete their work if deemed necessary. Most of our Ph.D.'s are successfully launched into academic positions at premier mathematical institutions as well as in industry .

Chenyang Xu

Jill leclair.

• Advisers & Contacts
• Bachelor of Arts & Bachelor of Science in Engineering
• Prerequisites
• Declaring Computer Science for AB Students
• Declaring Computer Science for BSE Students
• Class of '25, '26 & '27 - Departmental Requirements
• Class of 2024 - Departmental Requirements
• COS126 Information
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• Independent Work Seminars
• Guidelines and Useful Information
• Undergraduate Research Topics
• AB Junior Research Workshops
• Undergraduate Program FAQ
• Minor Program
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• Mailing Lists and Policies
• Study Abroad
• Jobs & Careers
• Admissions Requirements
• Breadth Requirements
• Pre-FPO Checklist
• FPO Checklist
• M.S.E. Track
• M.Eng. Track
• Departmental Internship Policy (for Master's students)
• General Examination
• Fellowship Opportunities
• Travel Reimbursement Policy
• Communication Skills
• Course Schedule
• Course Catalog
• Research Areas
• Interdisciplinary Programs
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• Resources for Undergraduate & Graduate Students
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• Spotlight Stories
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Graduate Program

• Information for Prospective Graduate Students
• Information for Current Graduate Students

For Prospective Graduate Students:

Welcome ! Thank you for your interest in the Computer Science Department at Princeton. This site is designed to give information on our graduate study program and the requirements for the Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) . Candidates may apply directly to the Ph.D. program after completion of a bachelor's degree; a master's degree is not required for admission.

Admission to Princeton is for the fall semester only. We do not offer evening, weekend, or summer courses. We do not have a distance learning program. Normally a student admitted for graduate study is expected to have completed a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, science, or mathematics; a degree in computer science is not required.

The application deadline for Fall 2025 is December 15, 2024  for all applicants. It is important that all materials reach the University by the deadline dates.

• Admission Requirements and Application Materials
• Financial Aid
• Research Fields
• Courses Offered - Graduate , Undergraduate
• Graduate Student Housing

For more information, see the  frequently asked questions . You can also contact our Graduate Coordinator at [email protected].

For Current Ph.D. Graduate Students:

• Courses Offered -  Graduate ,  Undergraduate
• Breadth Requirements (for students beginning Fall 2020 or later)
• Breadth Requirements (for students beginning Fall 2019 or earlier)
• Degree Requirements
• Upcoming Fellowship Opportunities
• Princeton Grad Student Guide to Resources

For Current MSE & M.Eng. Graduate Students:

Department of Molecular Biology

M.D./Ph.D. Program

The Graduate School and the Department of Molecular Biology have partnered with The Rutgers University (New Brunswick/Piscataway) and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) to serve as a Ph.D. research training site for students enrolled in the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Princeton University MD/PhD program.

Students admitted to the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-Princeton University MD/PhD program perform laboratory rotations at Princeton during the summer before and the summer after the first year of the pre-clinical portion of the program, prior to their enrollment as doctoral students, and subject to the approval of a Princeton faculty member. Following the second rotation, a student chooses a laboratory for his or her Ph.D. research by mutual agreement with a faculty adviser and with the approval of the Graduate School.

Students who are accepted to work with a faculty member or an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Molecular Biology enter the Ph.D. program and receive that degree from Princeton. These students fulfill Graduate School and departmental requirements, including the one-year residence requirement and passing the general and final public oral examinations. (It is likely that pre-clinical course work at Rutgers/RWJMS will substitute for the department's core curriculum.)

M.D./Ph.D Program Links

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We provide academic and professional guidance to make navigating the life-changing journey through Princeton more accessible and more fulfilling for all students.

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We prepare students to boldly go into the world with the hope of creating a better, more inclusive future for everyone.

Learn more about the staff of the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access & Opportunity and how the Center empowers students to achieve scholastic success and attain professional and personal goals.

Through mentorship, academic enrichment, and community support, our programs empower all students to succeed at Princeton and beyond.

Summer At EBCAO

Learn more about the summer opportunities offered through EBCAO: from participating in our programs to undergraduate and graduate student employment to teaching courses!

You, Just Bolder.

About the application intensive.

EBCAO hosts a remote, full-time application intensive (AI) each August for current and past participants in EBCAO programs who are currently applying to PhD programs in the humanities and social sciences. Students in good standing in select EBCAO programs are eligible to apply to the AI in the summer before their senior (rising-senior) year of college. Alumni who completed select EBCAO programs in good standing, and are rising college seniors or hold a Bachelor's Degree, may also apply. 

To be eligible, participants must be applying to PhD programs in the humanities or social sciences in Fall 2024 , with plans to matriculate in a PhD program in Fall 2025. The AI is not for individuals applying to Master's programs, law or medical school, or PhD programs in STEM. 

Application to the AI are due no later than 11:59 PM on Friday, July 26, 2024. 

The AI will take place via Zoom from Monday, August 5 through Friday, August 16, 2024. 

The full schedule of required AI sessions and submissions will be communicated directly upon admission to the program. 

Participants must commit to all of the following in order to be selected to participate:

• attending on time and fully participating in every group session;
• completing every required submission in a timely manner; and
• scheduling, attending, and p articipating in all required 1:1 coaching meetings.

Application

To apply to the AI, complete the simple application form no later than Friday, July 26, 2024.

Please direct any questions to Dr. Afia Ofori-Mensa, Director of Equitable Postgraduate Academic Opportunity, at [email protected] . 

Eligibility

Current participants or alumni of the following programs in good standing are eligible to apply. Consult each program's policies for a definition of good standing in that program. 

• Rising seniors who are currently in, and college graduates who have completed, the Aspiring Scholars and Professionals ( ASAP ) program 
• Rising-senior and college graduate alumni of the Freshman Scholars Institute ( FSI ) 
• College graduates of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship ( MMUF ) program at Princeton; participation in the AI is a program requirement for rising seniors in MMUF
• Rising-senior and college graduate alumni of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program ( PSJP ) 
• Rising-senior and college graduate alumni of the Princeton University Preparatory Program ( PUPP ) 
• Rising-senior and college graduate alumni of the Transfer Scholars Initiative ( TSI ) and/or the Teaching Transfer Initiative ( TTI ) 
• Rising seniors who are currently in, and college graduates who have completed, Princeton's Transfer, Veterans, and Nontraditional ( TVN ) Students Program.

Meet Our Staff

Aditi Rao (she/hers) is a third-year graduate worker in Princeton University's Classics department. Aditi works on issues of linguistic contact and cultural recognition at the border between Greek and Sanskritic worlds in the 3rd century BC. The long tail of her research reaches into practices of colonial philology and early-modern South Asian intellectual history. Aditi completed her BA in Classics, Greek and Sanskrit, from Barnard College in 2021 where she was a Mellon Mays Fellow. Outside of the department, Aditi is a committed organizer for graduate student unionization efforts, for Israeli apartheid divestment campaigns, and for police abolition, which connect with her interests in critical university studies and university abolition studies.

Kierra Duncan (she/her) is a rising fourth year Ph.D. student in the Department of English and the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities (IHUM). Her concerns rest at the intersection of literary and archival studies, history, and anthropology. Her dissertation explores how Afro-Jamaicans and Afro-Americans across the nineteenth century conceptualized freedom using ephemeral forms of folk expression. Before beginning at Princeton, Kierra earned a B.A. in English from UCLA, where she was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

Moad Musbahi is a joint PhD Candidate in Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Humanities at Princeton University. His scholarship tracks the transnational circuits of migration and credit across the Sahara and how injury is (re)produced in this arena, with a focus on sound studies. Through multi-sited ethnographic and archival research in Libya, Algeria, and Mali, his dissertation project explores how claims of belonging, demands for land and other economic privileges are evidenced through pathologized understandings of the body and the voice. In addition, he has written on financial obligation, healthcare ethics, environmental & humanitarian development and sonic politics. Prior to Princeton, he worked in cultural and humanitarian spaces, notably as an aid worker with the Tunisian Red Crescent and the UNHCR, and supported research for Jerusalem Legal Aid Center and other advocacy initiatives. As an artist, he makes sound installations and sculpture, with work recently shown at La Casa Encendida, Madrid [2024], Kunstverein, Hamburg [2023] and the 14th Venice Biennale [2023]. Moad is a member of the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk) experimental sound ensemble. He holds a Masters in Architecture from the Architectural Association in London and a MA in Writing in Translation from the RCA, School of Arts and Humanities.

Runnie is a second year doctoral student in the Anthropology department at Princeton. She is a researcher, writer, performance artist, and filmmaker interested in the poetics and corporeal politics of both Mediterranean and Caribbean spaces. Prior to joining Princeton, Runnie completed a dual degree between the Paris Institute for Political Studies and Columbia University, where she studied languages and comparative literature. She is a very proud Brooklyn baby from a very Caribbean family.

Solome Haile (she/her) is a third-year graduate student in the sociology department. Prior to starting her graduate studies, Solome served as clergy to Black students, a research associate in the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research’s Landscapes of Structural Racism and Health Lab, and a research assistant in Washington University in St. Louis’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Equity. She completed her BA in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her research interests include social theory, critical carceral studies, legal studies, Black feminisms, and qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Tirzah is a second-year PhD student in History whose research focuses on kinship and the family in formerly enslaved Afro-Native communities in Indian Territory at the turn of the 20th century. She is pursuing graduate certificates in African American Studies and Digital Humanities. Community-based and digital humanities research practices are central to Tirzah’s project. She graduated in 2021 with a BA in History from Barnard College where she was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow.

Department of Psychology

Applying to the graduate program.

Please note:  The deadline to apply for Fall 2024 admission has passed. The application for Fall 2025 will be available in September.

To apply to our department, an undergraduate degree in psychology or related field (e.g., cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science) is required. Successful candidates generally have significant research experience as part of their undergraduate program or afterward, such as in a research assistant position or a master’s program.

Submitting your Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score is optional, but not required for admission. All graduate students have a primary advisor from the start of the program, and so applicants are encouraged to contact at least one relevant faculty member about whether they are recruiting students in the current year in advance.

Applicants may be able to request a waiver of the application fee from the Graduate School. Eligibility criteria and fee waiver application instructions can be found on the Graduate School Admissions website.

For complete information on how to apply and the online application, see the Graduate School Admissions website.

Please contact the  Graduate Program Manager  with any questions.

Additional Information

In our program, individual faculty members play a large role in determining which students are accepted into the Ph.D. program. Students are essentially accepted into the lab of a specific faculty member, and the faculty are looking for students who have the knowledge, skills, and interests to succeed in their labs. Always check the lab website for information regarding the program of research. Sometimes labs will also have information regarding whether they are accepting students and policies regarding contact prior to reviewing applications. In the event that websites do not have the information you are looking for, you may wish to consider emailing faculty directly.

There are several reasons to do this.

First: You can find out whether they are actually planning to take new students. You don't want to spend money and time applying to a given program only to find out that the one faculty member of interest isn't taking students this year (or is about to move to another university, take a job in industry, etc.). Information about this may be on the program's website or the faculty member's website, but websites are sometimes out of date, so it's worth double-checking with an email.

Second: This email will get you "on the radar" of the faculty. Most Ph.D. programs get hundreds of applicants, and faculty are much more likely to take a close look at your application if you've contacted them in advance.

Third: You also might get other useful information. For example, a professor might write back saying something like "I'm not taking any new students, but we've just hired a new faculty member in the same area, and you might consider working with her." Or, the professor might say something like "When you apply, make sure that you check the XXX box, which will make you eligible for a fellowship that is specifically for people from your background." Or, if the professor accepts students through multiple programs (e.g., Psychology and Neuroscience), you might get information about which specific program you should apply to.

Fourth: You might learn the most current direction of a professor's research. While professors usually have multiple interests, they might have a current priority area.

We recommend a subject heading such as "Inquiry from potential graduate applicant." For the main body of the email, your goals are to (a) introduce yourself, (b) inquire about whether they are taking students, (c) make it clear why you are interested in that particular faculty member, and (d) get any advice they might offer. Here's an example:

Dear Dr. XXX,

I'm in my final year as a Psychology major at XXXX, where I have been working in the lab of Dr. XXX XXX. My research has focused on episodic memory distortion and I've used psychophysical and behavioral methods (see attached CV). I'm planning to apply to Ph.D. programs this Fall, and I'm very interested in the possibility of working in your lab at Princeton. I read your recent paper on XXX, and I found your approach to be very exciting.

I was hoping you might tell me whether you are planning to take new students in your lab in Fall 2020. I'd also be interested in any other information or advice you have. [Possibly add a few more lines here about your background and interests.]

If you're a member of an underrepresented/disadvantaged group, you can feel free to make this clear in your Personal Essay if you wish to. We recognize that this can sometimes be a sensitive issue, but you should feel free to discuss how your identity/identities have shaped your academic trajectory, your preparedness for graduate school, or your research interests (if applicable). We want our graduate cohorts to be comprised of interesting, diverse students who will generate creative research and contribute to our community in meaningful ways.

No matter what your situation, we recommend having your faculty mentor(s) take a look at a draft of the email and your CV before you send them. Grad students and postdocs can also be helpful, but they may not really know what is appropriate given that they haven't been on the receiving end of these emails.

Most importantly, don't be afraid to send the email. The worst thing that will happen is that you don't get a reply. The best thing that can happen is that the e-mail leads to a conversation that helps you get accepted into the program of your dreams.

You may get a brief response that says something like "Yes, I'm taking students, and I encourage you to apply" or "I'm always looking for qualified students." This indicates that the faculty member will likely look at applications, and you don't need to follow up.

If you're lucky, you may get a more detailed response that will lead to a series of email exchanges and perhaps an invitation to chat (usually on Skype or something similar). This will be more likely if you say something about what you've done and why you are interested in this lab.

You may get a response like "I'm not taking new students this year" or "I probably won't take new students this year". Or you might get something like "Given your background and interests, I don't think you'd be a good fit for my lab." In these cases, it is probably not worth putting your resources into applying if you have that specific advisor in mind.

Finally, you simply may not get a reply. In that case, no information is no information. There are many reasons why faculty may not respond, and it is not worth trying to figure out why this might be. If you don't get a response and you really want to work with the person, you may still want to apply.

You really don't have much to lose by emailing faculty, and you have a lot to gain.

We hope to demystify the Statement of Purpose. Generally it should not be an autobiography, but it can certainly include information about your trajectory. The main goal is to convey the ideas and/or research you want to pursue during graduate school, with supporting evidence from your experiences and background. You will also want to make it clear why you want to go to graduate school. It often takes people a long time to figure out their interests, and the Statement of Purpose is your opportunity to share them, broadly or specifically as you see fit.

As stated by the Graduate School, “Please write a statement of your current academic and future career plans as they relate to the Princeton department to which you are applying. In doing so, please cite relevant academic, professional, and personal experiences that motivate you to apply for a graduate degree here.” The Statement of Purpose can be up to 1,000 words.

As stated by the Graduate School, "Princeton is strongly committed to welcoming students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Applicants are required to submit a statement with their application briefly describing how their academic interests and life experiences would help them contribute to Princeton's scholarly community.” The goal is to give you space to highlight your unique personal and professional story and share how it has helped to prepare you for success in graduate school. The Personal Essay can be up to 500 words.

This resource was originally authored by Steve Luck and Lisa Oakes and is courtesy of Tufts University .

Areas of Study

• Engineering
• Natural Sciences
• Social Sciences

African American Studies

For students who wish to study the complex interplay between political, economic and cultural forces shaping the historic achievements and struggles of African-descended people in the United States and their relationship to others around the world.

Academic Units

• Department of African American Studies

Degrees, Certificates & Minors

• Undergraduate certificate
• Graduate certificate

African Studies

The minor in African studies provides opportunities to learn about the continent. The program offers classes in Africa's political, economic and social history; built environments and urban geographies; ecology, genetic diversity and epidemiological concerns. The program also offers classes in Africa's vibrant art scenes, past and present, where literature, music and art have come to define a new post-colonial African cosmopolitanism.

• Program in African Studies
• Undergraduate minor

American Studies

The program aims to give students an understanding of American society — its culture, its institutions, its intellectual traditions, and the relationships among its diverse people. We encourage study and debate about America’s place in the world and the world in America, as well as what it means to grapple with the horizons and limits of its democratic aspirations.

• Program in American Studies

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of human experience and social change. Through situated and relational methods, anthropology considers the ways people think, act and make sense of their lifeworlds, against the backdrop of multiple structural forces and across intersecting domains and scales. Always in a deep interdisciplinary dialogue, the connections between ethnography, theory, social engagement and storytelling are a hallmark of anthropology.

• Department of Anthropology

Applied and Computational Mathematics

The undergraduate certificate is designed for students who are looking to broaden their mathematical and computational skills and to give mathematically oriented students the opportunity to discover the challenges presented by applications from the natural sciences and engineering.

On the graduate level, the program offers a select group of highly qualified students the opportunity to obtain a thorough knowledge of branches of mathematics indispensable to science and engineering applications, including numerical analysis and other computational methods.

• Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics

Architecture

The School of Architecture's undergraduate program is known for its rigorous and interdisciplinary approach to pre-professional education within the framework of a liberal arts curriculum. The master’s degree has both a professional and a post-professional track, emphasizing design expertise in the context of architectural scholarship. The doctoral program focuses on the history, theory and criticism of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and building technology.

• School of Architecture

Architecture and Engineering

The interdisciplinary program enables undergraduate students to tackle topics at the intersection of engineering and architecture, including structural, computational and environmental design. The certificate focuses on opportunities to respond dynamically to evolving global challenges, where elegant and effective solutions lead to more resilient and sustainable communities. 

• Program in Architecture and Engineering

Art and Archaeology

The Department of Art and Archaeology is devoted to the study of the visual arts and the investigation of material artifacts from a wide range of cultures and periods. Undergraduate programs of study include history of art and studio arts. An undergraduate certificate in archaeology is available. The graduate program in Art and Archaeology is designed to prepare students for teaching and research at the university level, curatorial positions in museums, and other careers in the visual arts.

• Department of Art and Archaeology

Asian American Studies

The Program in Asian American Studies, administered by the Effron Center for the Study of America, provides students with the opportunity to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the diversity of Asian American and Pacific Islander histories, cultures and contemporary experiences. The course of study focuses on the emergence of this pan-ethnic group in the United States, but also highlights Asian America’s transnational connections and contexts, including the dynamics of globalization, migration, imperialism and post-coloniality.

• Program in Asian American Studies

Astrophysical Sciences

The department covers all major fields in astrophysics — from planets to black holes, stars, galaxies, quasars, dark matter, dark energy, and the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to today — and plasma physics. The relatively small size of the department provides an informal, flexible and friendly setting for students. Under the department’s aegis, an extensive program of graduate research is also conducted at the renowned Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

• Department of Astrophysical Sciences

Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

The program emphasizes theoretical studies and numerical model studies of the global climate system. It offers Ph.D. students opportunities for research and courses in a wide range of disciplines including geophysical fluid dynamics, atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemistry of the land and ocean, atmospheric modeling, ocean modeling, climate dynamics, global climate change and paleo-climate. Students may benefit from the research capabilities of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

• Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Bioengineering

Princeton’s rapidly growing and interdisciplinary bioengineering community is pioneering new research and training the next generation of bioengineering leaders. Based in the School for Engineering and Applied Sciences, with affiliate labs across campus, students in the doctoral program will benefit from Princeton’s uniquely collaborative environment. Students' work is based in one or more of the pillars of Princeton’s bioengineering research: cellular bioengineering, device bioengineering and computational bioengineering.

• Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute

The graduate program provides multidisciplinary graduate education at the interface of the physical and the life sciences. The program is a collaboration among faculty in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and the departments of Chemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Computer Science, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Mechanical Engineering, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience and Physics. The program encompasses the full range of biophysics research at Princeton: from molecules to animals and cells to ecosystems, including work in both experiment and theory.

• Program in Biophysics

Chemical and Biological Engineering

The undergraduate curriculum is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the principles of engineering, mathematics and science, with an emphasis on chemistry and biochemistry. The goal is to enable students to pursue careers in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, energy, materials, biotechnology and many others.

The graduate program develops leaders in chemical and biological engineering by conducting research that defines the frontiers of knowledge. We prepare chemical and biological engineers for careers in teaching, research and development, and management in academia, government and industry.

• Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

The Department of Chemistry offers undergraduates a flexible program suitable for attending graduate or medical school, as well as for those intending to pursue a career in secondary school teaching. A chemistry concentration is appropriate for anyone who desires a broad background of undergraduate training in science.

The graduate program is a vital, expanding hub of scientific inquiry with deep historic roots and a ready grasp on the future. Housed in the world-class Frick Chemistry Laboratory, faculty and students work at the frontiers of science where the lines between chemistry and other disciplines merge.

• Department of Chemistry

Chinese Language

The Chinese language minor provides an opportunity for students who plan to major in other disciplines to simultaneously pursue a high level of proficiency in Chinese and acquire a basic knowledge about its literature, history and culture.

• Department of East Asian Studies

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The department offers undergraduates five options: architecture and engineering, environmental engineering, geological engineering, structural engineering, and engineering and the liberal arts. The graduate program offers individualized tracks aligned with mechanics, materials and structures; architecture, arts and archaeology; hydrology and the atmospheric environment; sustainable, resilient cities and infrastructure systems; chemistry, biology and technology; and water, climate and energy.

• Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Classical Philosophy

The graduate certificate in classical philosophy provides training, special skills and knowledge equipping students for scholarly work and teaching that involve classical philosophy. It is designed to recognize students who have gone beyond their own departmental requirements for a Ph.D. and done significant work in classical philosophy, but who are not enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Classical Philosophy.

• Department of Philosophy

The department offers two tracks of study for undergraduate concentrators: the Classical Studies program affords wide-ranging opportunities to study the history, literature and culture of the ancient Mediterranean, as well as the impact of classical antiquity on later periods; the Ancient History program explores the history of ancient Greece and Rome and their relationships with the neighboring cultures of the Near East, Europe and Africa.

The graduate program offers a varied and comprehensive course of study appropriate to their developing research interests. The department offers four curricular options: literature and philology, history (Program in the Ancient World), classical philosophy, classical and Hellenic studies.

• Department of Classics

Climate Science

Climate science employs math, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science to understand how Earth’s climate works, how it has changed in the past and how it will change in the future.

The primary goal of the minor is to provide fundamental climate literacy to students that they can use to pursue careers related to climate science and to make informed decisions as citizens on a changing planet.

• Department of Geosciences

Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is the study of how the mind works, drawing on research from psychology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience and computer science. The interdisciplinary character of cognitive science reflects different levels of analysis of mental phenomena and their employment of a variety of methodologies appropriate to each level.

• Program in Cognitive Science

Comparative Literature

Undergraduate study approaches literature from a broad, cross-cultural perspective. The curriculum encompasses literatures, languages, and cultures from around the world. Students motivated to understand literature in the broadest terms or those interested in particular examples of literary comparison will find an intellectual home in comparative literature.

The graduate program enables students with exceptional training in languages and literatures to profit from the increased awareness and understanding from the considered view of more than one literature and of the theoretical presuppositions behind literary study as a whole. 

• Department of Comparative Literature

Computational Science and Engineering

The graduate certificate in computational science and engineering offers students comprehensive training in numerical analysis, software engineering, computer science, and statistics and data modeling in ways that promote discovery in the sciences, engineering and humanities.

• Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering

Computer Science

Undergraduates learn fundamental concepts of the discipline and to become proficient in the use of advanced computer systems. The plan provides opportunities for study in software systems, algorithms and complexity, machine architecture, computer graphics, programming languages, machine learning, and other core areas of computer science.

The graduate program accepts beginning and advanced students for study and research. The degree programs are sufficiently flexible to adapt to individual plans of study and research.

• Department of Computer Science

Contemporary European Politics and Society

The program encourages the interdisciplinary study of modern Europe, with a particular focus on politics, economics and society in western and central Europe since World War I.

• Program in Contemporary European Politics and Society

Creative Writing

The program allows undergraduates to work with practicing writers to develop their writing skills, learn the possibilities of modern poetry, fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting and translation, and gain a special access to the critical understanding of literature through their involvement in the creative process.

• Program in Creative Writing

The program familiarizes students with creative, performative and analytical approaches to dance through exposure to professional choreographers, dancers, critics and scholars. Students undertake demanding, studio-based courses with dance professionals. The program provides advanced courses for the pre-professional dancer and offers courses to students who have never danced. The creation of original work, both choreographic and written, is emphasized alongside rigorous technical training.

• Program in Dance

East Asian Studies

The East Asian Studies major provides undergraduates with a broad-ranging knowledge of the languages and cultures of China, Japan and Korea. The East Asian Studies minor provides an opportunity for students who plan to major in the humanities, social sciences or other disciplines to simultaneously pursue the study of East Asian language and culture. The Graduate School offers doctoral training in Chinese and Japanese history and literature, Korean history, Korean cultural studies, anthropology of East Asia, and in the transnational social and cultural study of contemporary East Asia.

• Program in East Asian Studies

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

The undergraduate program emphasizes study from an evolutionary perspective, combining theory and empiricism and linking areas that are often treated as separate disciplines. Students with an interest in whole-organism and large-scale processes — evolution, physiology, disease, behavior, neuroscience, ecology, ecosystem biology, conservation and climate change — will find a home in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Areas of strength in the graduate program include evolutionary ecology, behavioral ecology, theoretical ecology, population, community and ecosystem ecology, ecological and evolutionary genetics, molecular evolution, epidemiology of infectious diseases, and conservation biology. Graduate students also have excellent opportunities for combining several areas for innovative interdisciplinary work.

• Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Princeton has one of the finest economics departments in the world. Economics is consistently one of the most popular undergraduate concentrations on campus and attracts a diverse group of students with a broad range of interests. The graduate program provides thorough training in both the techniques and applications of economic analysis. 

• Department of Economics

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Undergraduate students begin with a unifying foundation before studying in an area of specialization which ranges from devices to optoelectronics, to computer architecture and communication technology, to microprocessors. Students may select one of a set of suggested concentrations, or tailor their own in consultation with their faculty adviser to suit special interests.

The graduate program emphasizes forward-looking education and original, cutting-edge research. While addressing fundamental issues and applications, graduate research focuses on current high-growth fields like security, photonics, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biomedical applications, networks and communications, and multicore computer architecture. 

• Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Engineering Biology

The program is designed for undergraduate students who want to pursue careers or graduate education in biotechnology or bioengineering. For engineering students, the program offers study in cellular and molecular biology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry and neuroscience. For biological and chemical sciences majors, the program offers study in biotechnology, biomechanics, thermodynamics, control theory, hazardous waste management, electronics, computer graphics and information theory.

• Program in Engineering Biology

Engineering Physics

The program is directed toward students interested in a fundamental knowledge of physics, together with problem-solving skills and an understanding of engineering. Undergraduates study energy, environment, materials, microelectronics, astronautics and photonics.

• Program in Engineering Physics

Undergraduate students read widely across the genres and periods of British, American and Anglophone literature, and explore approaches to literary study with a distinguished, internationally renowned faculty. The department's ranks include historicists and formalists, theorists and poets, and postcolonialists and feminists. Faculty teach not only poetry, prose and drama, but film, music, art, architecture and technology. The department is united by a passion for works of the imagination, and for thinking about what they mean and the difference they make in the world.

The graduate program produces well-trained and field-transforming scholars, insightful and imaginative critics, and effective and creative teachers.

• Department of English

Entrepreneurship

The program aims to supplement undergraduates in their major departments with an understanding and practice in entrepreneurship.

• Program in Entrepreneurship

Environmental Studies

The undergraduate program engages the scientific, political, humanistic and technological dimensions of environmental challenges facing the world today. Students majoring in any discipline may pursue either a generalist track or a specialist track that explores biodiversity and conservation, climate and energy, Earth systems, environmental policy or environment and water. The graduate program broadens the educational perspective of doctoral students by exploring policy aspects of their environmental research.

• Program in Environmental Studies

European Cultural Studies

The program deepens students' understanding of European civilization and strengthens their command of cultural interpretation through interdisciplinary investigation. The program focuses on the ways in which European societies, past and present, order reality, make sense of life and communicate meaning across a range of disciplines and in a wide variety of media.

• Program in European Cultural Studies

The undergraduate program focuses on the pricing of financial assets (including equities, bonds, currencies and derivative securities), portfolio management and the evaluation of financial risks, banking and financial intermediation, the financing of corporations, corporate governance, financial-market and banking regulation, and many other topics.

The graduate program places a strong emphasis on financial economics in addition to financial engineering and computational methods. Students will develop a solid understanding of the fundamental quantitative tools from computer science, economic theory, optimization, probability and statistics — all of which are becoming increasingly vital in the financial industry.

• Program in Finance

French and Italian

The undergraduate program gives students a grounding in the language, literature and culture. Courses provide practical instruction in the French and Italian languages, the literatures and cultures of France and Italy in all periods, and literature in French written in other parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

The graduate program trains students to become effective teachers and scholars of French language and literature. (The department does not offer a graduate program in Italian, though it does teach graduate-level courses in Italian literature.)

• Department of French and Italian

Gender and Sexuality Studies

The undergraduate and graduate programs are dedicated to the study of gender and sexuality, as well as their intersections with race, class, ethnicity and disability, across cultures and global geographies both past and present. 

• Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies

Geological Engineering

Geological engineering is the application of science to problems involving the Earth, its physical environment, earth materials, and natural resources. The program prepares students for graduate study or practice in geology, geochemistry, geophysics, oceanography, water resources, engineering and environmental geology, and civil and environmental engineering.

• Program in Geological Engineering

Geosciences

The intellectual excitement of modern geosciences is fueled by our exploration of the dynamic forces and delicate balances that mold our planet and have rendered it conducive to life for much of its history. The diversity of processes that characterize the Earth as a whole requires geosciences to be an extraordinarily interdisciplinary field with direct connections to mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and computer science.

The graduate program encompasses a rich diversity of scientific expertise and initiatives, ranging from the measurement and modeling of global climatic change to high-pressure mineral physics, and from seismic tomographic imaging of the mantle to biogeochemistry and isotope geochemistry of the Earth and oceans.

The department offers six areas of undergraduate concentration: German literature, German philosophy and intellectual history, media and aesthetics, Germanic linguistics, the study of two literatures (German and a second literature), and German culture and politics. 

The graduate program offer students the chance to participate in an intense intellectual community and to work with scholars whose expertise encompasses the breadth of German literary tradition as well as contemporary interdisciplinary and theoretical approaches to the study of German culture.

• Department of German

Global Health and Health Policy

The program enables undergraduates to study the determinants, consequences and patterns of disease across societies, the role of medical technologies and interventions in health improvements, and the economic, political and social factors that shape domestic and global public health policy.

• Program in Global Health and Health Policy

Health and Health Policy

The graduate program trains graduate students for careers in health-related areas in the public and not-for-profit sectors. The program is designed for students with domestic and international health interests and provides both broad training in core topics in health and health policy as well as courses in specialized areas.

• SPIA Graduate Programs and Certificates

Hellenic Studies

The undergraduate program is for students interested in the interdisciplinary study of the Greek world (ancient, Byzantine or modern), as well as the classical tradition. The program offers language courses in modern Greek and postclassical Greek, introductory courses in Byzantine and modern Greek studies, and freshman, upperclass and global seminars.

The graduate program offers a broad range of seminars in Hellenic studies that are complemented by graduate courses in several departments and programs, with opportunities for doctoral research on Byzantine or modern Greek civilization.

• Program in Hellenic Studies

The undergraduate program encourages students to gain further knowledge of the major developments in, and problems of, history, to do independent historical research and writing, and to develop an authoritative knowledge of one particular field of history.  

The graduate program values an approach to scholarship grounded in the particular while retaining a sense of the whole. Students take a comprehensive view of history with the goal of cultivating a far-reaching understanding of the past. Throughout their enrollment, students develop the necessary skills to conduct discipline-defining research.

• Department of History

History and the Practice of Diplomacy

The program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue concentrated interdisciplinary study of history and diplomacy in concert with internships in the practice of diplomacy and related professions. 

• Program in History and the Practice of Diplomacy

History of Science

The graduate program aims to enhance students' enthusiasm for the subject while also training them for the joint professional responsibilities of teaching and research. The program treats science as an intellectual, cultural and social phenomenon, and provides students with special training and techniques not normally included in the education of professional historians while at the same time preparing them to teach and work in general history.

• Program in History of Science

History of Science, Technology and Medicine

Students will learn from the array of methodological approaches developed by historians of science, technology and medicine, and track the evolution of modern science from antiquity to the present, in many of the world’s cultures.

Humanistic Studies

The undergraduate program offers two areas of study. Humanistic studies explore interrelated events, ideas, texts and artifacts of Western and Asian cultures. Journalism examines topics related to writing and the media, from creative nonfiction to relations between the media and society.

• Program in Humanistic Studies

Interdisciplinary Humanities

The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities at Princeton is a home for new experiments in an ancient enterprise. The program explores the widening possibilities for humanistic study in a young millennium, reaching out to the arts and sciences and testing the conventions of intellectual exchange. The program offers a joint Ph.D. in collaboration with participating departments, and current graduate students apply to the program in their third year of study.

• Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in the Humanities
• Joint Degree (Ph.D.)

Italian Studies

The graduate certificate in Italian studies provides an opportunity for students to complement their doctoral studies with coordinated, multidisciplinary training in the Program in Italian Studies, and to take part in an intellectually stimulating interdisciplinary community.

• Program in Italian Studies

Japanese Language

The Japanese language minor provides an opportunity for students who plan to major in other disciplines to simultaneously pursue a high level of proficiency in Japanese and acquire a basic knowledge about its literature, history and culture.

The Program in Journalism empowers students to produce rigorous, verified journalism, developing a strong command of the literary, ethical, analytical and political dimensions of telling a compelling story in order to have a meaningful impact on public policy. Students learn the practice of reporting and verification and the art of crafting compelling nonfiction narratives in a variety of media.

• Program in Journalism

Judaic Studies

The undergraduate program provides students the opportunity to explore more than three millennia of Jewish culture, history, religion, thought, politics and literature from the Bible to contemporary Jewish thought and society from an interdisciplinary perspective.

• Program in Judaic Studies

Korean Language

The Korean language minor provides an opportunity for students who plan to major in other disciplines to simultaneously pursue a high level of proficiency in Korean and acquire a basic knowledge about its literature, history and culture.

Language and Culture

The program is administered through individual language and literature departments to allow students in any major to earn a certificate in language and culture. Certificates can be earned in the departments of French and Italian, German, Near Eastern studies, and Spanish and Portuguese.

Latin American Studies

The undergraduate and graduate programs promote interdisciplinary study to inspire knowledge of and experience in Latin America.

• Program in Latin American Studies

Latino Studies

The undergraduate program traverses the arts, humanities and social sciences, seeking to provide students with a broad understanding of the emergence, transformation and consolidation of Latinos as a pan-ethnic group and to appreciate the range of Hispanic imprints on American society and culture.

• Program in Latino Studies

Linguistics

Linguistics is the study of the distinctive properties of human language and the cognitive capacities of language users, including the rules that govern the patterns of particular languages and universal principles governing all languages. Linguists investigate the grammatical principles and processes that determine the structure of human languages, their evolution over time, and their psychological underpinnings.

• Program in Linguistics

Materials Science and Engineering

The undergraduate program emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of the study of materials and the engineering application of their properties. It is designed primarily for students in science and engineering departments who are considering careers in materials.

Graduate students must apply to and be admitted to one of the following academic departments: mechanical and aerospace engineering, chemical and biological engineering, chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, electrical and computer engineering, geosciences.

• Princeton Materials Institute

Mathematics

The department offers study in undergraduate and graduate mathematics.

• Department of Mathematics

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The undergraduate program guides students to build fundamental knowledge in key engineering disciplines and develop practical skills in problem-solving and design. The core of the department's curriculum — solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, dynamics, control systems, materials and applied mathematics — are combined with the experience of engineering design.

The graduate program defines the frontiers of knowledge in our field by preparing leaders in engineering and applied sciences for careers in academia, industry and government. Our program emphasizes achieving fundamental understanding in a broad range of topics, a deep understanding in a particular area and excellent communications skills.

• Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Media and Modernity

The graduate program promotes the interdisciplinary study of the unique cultural formations that came to prominence during the last two centuries, with special attention paid to the interplay between culture and technology. The program centers on architecture, art, film, photography, literature, philosophy, music, history and all forms of electronic media from radio to video and information technologies.

• Program in Media and Modernity

Medieval Studies

The undergraduate program encourages the interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages: its art, literature (Latin and vernacular), music, religion, science, philosophy, politics, and economic and social structures.

• Program in Medieval Studies

Molecular Biology

The undergraduate program provides courses of study in molecular, cellular and developmental processes. The graduate program fosters the intellectual development of modern biologists. The graduate M.D./Ph.D is done in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers University (New Brunswick) Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

• Department of Molecular Biology

The undergraduate program encourages students to explore music according to their individual needs, interests and aspirations. Students may pursue work in composition, music history, theory, analysis and interpretation, non-Western music, music technology, performance and improvisation.

• Department of Music

Music Composition

The graduate program offers a very open curriculum in which students are free to pursue their individual compositional interests. At the core of the program is the student's own creative work, carried out in regular consultation with members of the composition faculty.

Music Performance

The undergraduate program enhances the study of performance through the study of theory, composition and music history — and vice-versa. The program can provide a foundation upon which a student may build to go on to further professional performance training at the graduate level.

Musicology embraces the study of history, theory and practice of music from many points of view. Graduate study in musicology may cover approaches such as historical and ethnographic investigation as well as music theory, hermeneutics and criticism.

Near Eastern Studies

The undergraduate concentration gives students competence in a Near Eastern language and a broad knowledge of the literatures, civilizations, politics and history of the ancient, medieval and modern Near East. Study is built around courses in history, literature, religion, law, anthropology, politics, economics, public policy and Near Eastern languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Turkish).

The undergraduate certificate provides students in any department the opportunity to study the languages, modern history and contemporary institutions of the Near East.

The graduate program has been a leader in the study of the Middle East since 1927. While traditionally the strength of the department has been in the medieval and pre-modern studies of the geographical area that includes the Arab lands, Iran, Israel and Turkey, greater emphasis has been given more recently to the modern Muslim world in its entirety, including the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

• Department of Near Eastern Studies
• Program in Near Eastern Studies

Neuroscience

The undergraduate major offers the opportunity for the serious study of molecular, cellular, developmental and systems neuroscience as it interfaces with cognitive and behavioral research. The undergraduate minor is geared toward students in other departments who are interested in an interdisciplinary study of the brain.

The graduate program trains researchers to answer the fundamental, unanswered questions of how the millions of individual neurons work together to give rise to behavior at the level of a whole organism. Students will learn the latest techniques and approaches in neuroscience, and train in how to think and develop new techniques and approaches to cracking the puzzle of the brain.

Graduate students who want to add a neuroscience component to their Ph.D. work in another discipline may apply to participate in the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience.

• Princeton Neuroscience Institute
• Program in Neuroscience

Operations Research and Financial Engineering

The undergraduate program brings together coursework in science, mathematics, computing and technology to provide for broad intellectual development suitable for many different types of careers. By choosing from courses in engineering, science, mathematics, economics, public policy and liberal arts, each student may design a program adapted to his or her particular interests.

The graduate program places a strong emphasis on quantitative methods and mathematical modeling. Students develop a unique set of skills that build upon a solid foundation in probability, statistics and optimization.

• Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering

Optimization and Quantitative Decision Science

The certificate Program in Optimization and Quantitative Decision Science and Optimization, formerly the certificate Program in Engineering and Management Systems, is focused on developing quantitative skills for optimal decision making in complex and uncertain environments.

• Program in Optimization and Quantitative Decision Science

Undergraduates enjoy small class sizes, have the opportunity to do independent work in close consultation with members of the 20-strong faculty, and benefit from teaching assistants drawn from one of the world's very best graduate programs in philosophy. 

The graduate program equips students for careers as philosophers and teachers of philosophy. The program provides broad general training, an opportunity for specialized research in the major areas of philosophic inquiry and experience in undergraduate teaching. Each student pursues an individual plan of study appropriate to his or her background, interests and aims.

The undergraduate program offers the flexibility to accommodate students with a range of interests, allowing them to take a considerable course load outside the department. Students preparing for graduate school can choose from a variety of advanced-level courses.

Graduate study is strongly focused on research, with equal emphasis on theoretical and experimental studies. The department has strong and growing groups in experimental condensed matter physics and biophysics, in addition to traditional strengths in theoretical and experimental elementary particle physics, theoretical and experimental gravity and cosmology, experimental nuclear and atomic physics, mathematical physics, and theoretical condensed matter physics.

• Department of Physics

Planets and Life

The undergraduate program equips students with skills to assume leadership roles in discovering the origins of terrestrial and extraterrestrial life through an understanding of astrophysical, chemical, biological and geological principles, and engineering.

• Program in Planets & Life

Plasma Physics

Plasmas, the fourth state of matter, are collections of freely moving charged particles in which collective phenomena, such as waves, dominate the behavior of the system. The purpose of this program is to provide strong interdisciplinary support and training for graduate students. The scope of interest includes fundamental studies of plasmas, their interaction with surfaces and surroundings, and the technologies associated with their applications.

• Program in Plasma Physics

Undergraduate study is focused in four areas: American politics, comparative politics, international relations and political theory. There also is a strong concentration of courses in the areas of quantitative analysis, political economy, and strategy in politics.

The graduate program is designed to offer broad professional training in political science and to enable students to specialize in any of the main subfields of political science, as well as public law, and formal and quantitative analysis.

• Department of Politics

Population Studies

The graduate program draws on substantive and methodological specializations in the social, mathematical and biological sciences. Building on its historical strengths in signature fields such as demographic methods, fertility, health and mortality, the program embraces prominent fields in population studies, such as international migration and development, children, youth and families, as well as various aspects of social and economic inequality. In addition, researchers are involved in new fields of inquiry such as epigenetics, biodemography, social epidemiology and web-based experimentation.

• Program in Population Studies

The undergraduate program provides a rigorous understanding of human behavior and mental processes through foundational and advanced courses on sensation, perception, movement, language, reasoning, decision-making, social interaction and computational models of the brain. The psychology concentration also provides a grounding in neuroscience, since mental processes and behavior arise from the brain.

The graduate program emphasizes preparation for research and teaching in psychology, with specialization in cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, language, learning and memory, perception and cognition, the psychology of inequality, social neuroscience, social psychology, and systems neuroscience. 

• Department of Psychology

Public Policy (Princeton School of Public and International Affairs)

The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs offers a multidisciplinary liberal arts major for undergraduates who desire to be engaged in public service and become leaders in the world of public and international affairs. The curriculum is founded on courses relevant to the study of policymaking, policy analysis and policy evaluation. Students take courses in economics, politics, and either psychology or sociology.

The graduate program offers a distinctive educational approach that strikes a careful balance between theory and practice. Graduate students spend time developing analytical skills and acquiring a substantive knowledge about the world's most important domestic and international issues. The two-year curriculum leads to the degree of Master in Public Affairs. Students can earn a dual degree in public affairs and law after four years of study in the school and a collaborating law school. The school also has a graduate program leading to a Doctor of Philosophy in public and international affairs, as well as a one-year Master in Public Policy for mid-career professionals.

• Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
• M.P.A./J.D.

Quantitative and Computational Biology

The undergraduate program is designed for students with a strong interest in multidisciplinary and systems-level approaches to understanding molecular, cellular and organismal behavior. The curriculum introduces students to experimental and analytic techniques for acquisition of large-scale quantitative observations, and the interpretation of such data in the context of appropriate models.

The graduate program facilitates education at the interface of biology, the more quantitative sciences and computation. The program covers the fields of genomics, computational biology, systems biology, biophysics, quantitative genetics, molecular evolution and microbial interactions.

• Undergraduate Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology
• Graduate Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology

Quantitative Economics

The minor in quantitative economics allows quantitatively inclined students to gain access to economics, with a course of study that is tailored to their interests and skills. 

The undergraduate program examines religious life, the diverse forms it has taken in different cultures and historical periods, and the questions it poses for theoretical, ethical and political reflection. Students study diverse cultures, peoples, texts and ideologies.

The graduate program offers broad training in religious studies and enables students to specialize in the subfields of Asian religions, Islam, religion in the Americas, religions of Mediterranean antiquity, religion and philosophy, and religion, ethics and politics.

• Department of Religion

Robotics and Intelligent Systems

The undergraduate program is designed for students interested in pursuing careers or graduate education in automation, intelligent systems, and the understanding of human intelligence from the perspective of neuroscience and computation.

• Program in Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

The undergraduate program draws on the humanities, history and social sciences to study Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Students develop expertise in a core language of Eurasia and a scholarly grounding in the study of the region.

• Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Science, Technology and Environmental Policy

The graduate program develops a deep understanding of current scientific, technological and environmental issues and potential local, national and international policy responses through a systematic introduction to the field of policy analysis. The program provides interdisciplinary training that facilitates communication between technical experts and policy makers. 

• Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy

Slavic Languages and Literatures

The undergraduate program provides a critically informed appreciation for the literature and culture of Russia and the Slavic world. Students choose a literary tradition as their object of study and develop a comprehensive knowledge of its historical trajectories, artistic trends and intellectual currents. 

The graduate program furthers interest, knowledge and scholarship relating to Russia, Slavic Central Europe and Eurasia, primarily through the cultural humanities. Students explore new intellectual paths and approaches through a strong background in the Russian literary tradition, an introduction to major schools of theory, and the opportunity to conduct research abroad.  

• Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Social Policy

The graduate program addresses some of the most pressing problems in the U.S. and around the world where inequality generates conflict, poverty and prejudice, diminishes political participation, and reduces opportunities for social mobility. Students learn using the most rigorous tools of social science to bear on these important questions.

• Joint Degree Program in Social Policy

The undergraduate program offers students a cutting-edge approach to the study of the social dimensions of politics, economics, history, psychology and demography. Students engage in cross-disciplinary thinking in addition to a thorough grounding in a single field. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches to social science are utilized by our students and faculty.

The graduate program is oriented toward the foundations of sociological analysis, including sociological theory, research methods and social statistics, and making significant contributions to the sociological literature.

• Department of Sociology

South Asian Studies

The undergraduate program offers students the methodological and theoretical tools to study the political, economic, social, religious, literary and cultural institutions of the region with particular focus on the modern history of India and Pakistan. Students take a four-term sequence of language instruction in Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit.

• Program in South Asian Studies

Spanish and Portuguese

The undergraduate program studies the importance and influence of the Spanish, Latin American and Luso-Brazilian histories, cultures and languages around the world from the Middle Ages to the present day. Students prepare to be successful global citizens, ready to face the challenges posed by an increasingly cosmopolitan and multilingual professional world.

The graduate program trains students to become effective teachers and scholars of Spanish and/or Portuguese language and culture. Students acquire a broad understanding of the whole field of Spanish and/or Luso-Brazilian studies, as well as a specialized grasp of one of its subfields.

• Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Statistics and Machine Learning

The undergraduate program is designed for students who have a strong interest in data analysis and its application across disciplines. Statistics and machine learning — the academic disciplines centered around developing and understanding data analysis tools — play an essential role in various scientific fields including biology, engineering and the social sciences.

The graduate certificate is designed to formalize the training of students who contribute to or make use of statistics and machine learning as a significant part of their degree program. In addition, it serves to recognize the accomplishments of graduate students across the University who acquire additional training in statistics and machine learning, going beyond the requirements of their own degree programs.

• Program in Statistics and Machine Learning

Sustainable Energy

The undergraduate program is designed to broaden understanding in energy resources and their impact on the environment. Students learn to quantitatively analyze, design and develop systems that support sustainable economic growth and environmental harmony, and learn about environmental change from the perspective of engineering, technology, economics and policy.

• Program in Sustainable Energy

Teacher Preparation

The program combines coursework, seminars, laboratory experience, fieldwork and practice teaching to become fully prepared and certified to teach successfully at the middle- and secondary school levels. Participants can earn certification in art, English, mathematics, music, the sciences, social studies and world languages. The program is approved by the New Jersey Department of Education and by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation.

• Program in Teacher Preparation

Technology and Society

The undergraduate program is targeted to students, both engineers/scientists and humanists/social scientists, who are interested in exploring the intersection of society and technology. Programs of study are offered under information technology and energy tracks.

• Center for Information Technology Policy (information technology track)
• Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (energy track)

Theater and Music Theater

The undergraduate program welcomes all students interested in exploring theater and music theater, with or without previous experience. Theater and music theater are approached from a liberal arts perspective — as intensely collaborative art forms, as key components of world cultures and as performance genres that shape and are shaped by history, economics, politics and technology. 

• Program in Theater and Music Theater

Translation and Intercultural Communication

The undergraduate program seeks to develop skills in language use and in the understanding of cultural and disciplinary difference. Translation across languages allows access to issues of intercultural differences, and the program encourages its students to think about the complexity of communicating across cultures, nations and linguistic borders.

• Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication

Urban Policy

The certificate in urban policy emphasizes the social, economic and political dimensions of urban problems. It is designed to prepare students for careers in urban policy analysis and economic development in national, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, think tanks and international organizations.

• Certificate in Urban Policy

Urban Studies

The undergraduate program offers an interdisciplinary framework for the study of cities, metropolitan regions, and urban and suburban landscapes.

• Program in Urban Studies

Values and Public Life

The undergraduate program focuses on modes of inquiry into important ethical issues in public life. The program helps students develop competence in pursuing such inquiries generally and supports them in applying these intellectual skills to the advanced analysis of one or more related topics. Students will be equipped to bring informed discussion of values into the public sphere and to integrate a critical value perspective into their future studies and pursuits.

• Program in Values and Public Life

Visual Arts

In the undergraduate program, students explore visual art and media and develop their creative skills in connection with a liberal arts education. Courses are offered in painting, drawing, graphic design, media, sculpture, photography, filmmaking, and film history and criticism. Studio courses emphasize direct, hands-on art making under the guidance of practicing visual arts professionals.

• Program in Visual Arts

Princeton Campus Dining

2023-2024 Undergraduate and Graduate Meal Plans

The following are the meal plans available for 2023-2024 academic year.

Undergraduate Meal Plans

Graduate Meal Plans

Graduate School

Program Offerings

Graduate students at Princeton may pursue a number of interdepartmental and joint degree programs once enrolled as a Princeton graduate student. This includes certificate programs in select fields. This wide range of interdisciplinary opportunities complements and enriches our degree-granting programs, while promoting intellectual inquiry and research across departmental and divisional boundaries.

Departments and Programs

Associated admission and degree requirements for each of Princeton’s 43 degree-granting departments and programs can be found within the Fields of Study listings. All graduate students enter through one of these programs.

Joint Degrees

Princeton's Graduate School offers four full joint-degree programs: 

Interdisciplinary Humanities

Social Policy

Neuroscience

Materials Science

Established joint degree programs allow participating students to earn a Ph.D. within a recognized discipline, but with a substantial research component of a related discipline.  Students apply to a participating home department, and are usually accepted to a joint degree program after admission and enrollment. Students who successfully pursue a joint degree will receive a Ph.D. from their home department and from the affiliated program. Joint degree programs have their own listing within Fields of Study .

Dual Degree Programs

Princeton also participates in two established joint-degree programs with other institutions.  Information about these can be found in the Fields of Study listings for: 

The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (M.P.A.-J.D. & M.P.A.-M.B.A. programs) 

The Department of Molecular Biology (for the M.D-Ph.D. program)

Individual agreements or arrangements outside of these formal programs may also be possible with the support of a student's department and the Graduate School.

Graduate Certificates

Graduate certificate programs allow graduate students to develop a secondary area of expertise and require work that is in addition to a student's normal degree requirements.  Such additional work may include: 

Language study and acquisition

Course work

Participation in special workshops or colloquia

Research activity (for Ph.D. students, this additional research activity often involves significant additional content or methods for the general examination and/or the doctoral dissertation). 

Students are not admitted to the University via certificate programs; only graduate students already admitted to degree programs at Princeton may be eligible to pursue certificates. Certificate programs are listed within Fields of Study , either as their own entry or, in cases where it is sponsored directly by a degree-granting department, within the sponsoring department's entry. Entries for programs that have been approved by the Graduate School and the University to appear on a student's transcript are indicated. Such certificates are recorded on the transcript at the same time the degree is awarded. 

Students may pursue and earn one recorded certificate for each graduate degree awarded. In no case should degree progress be slowed or altered because of work on a certificate.

Princeton University Library

Phd dissertation and master's thesis submission guidelines.

The Princeton University Archives at the Mudd Manuscript Library is the repository for Ph.D. dissertations and Master’s theses. The Princeton University Archives partners with ProQuest to publish and distribute Princeton University dissertations beyond the campus community.

Below you will find instructions on the submission process and the formatting requirements for your Ph.D. dissertation or Master's thesis. If you have questions about this process, please use our Ask Us form  or visit the Mudd Manuscript Library during our open hours.

Ph.D Dissertation Submission Process

The first step is for the student to prepare their dissertation according to the Dissertation Formatting Requirements . Near the time of the final public oral examination (FPO) (shortly before or immediately after) the student must complete the online submission of their dissertation via the ProQuest UMI ETD Administrator website . Students are required to upload a PDF of their dissertation, choose publishing options, enter subject categories and keywords, and make payment to ProQuest (if fees apply). This step will take roughly 20-25 minutes.

 After the FPO the student should log on to TigerHub  and complete the checkout process. When this step is complete, Mudd Library will be notified for processing. This step will occur M-F during business hours. The Mudd Library staff member will review, apply the embargo (when applicable), and approve the dissertation submission in ProQuest. You will receive an email notification of the approval from ProQuest when it has been approved or needs revisions. 

The vast majority of students will not be required to submit a bound copy of their dissertation to the library. Only students who have removed content from the PDF to avoid copyright infringement are required to submit a bound copy to the library. This unredacted, bound version of the dissertation must be formatted according to the Dissertation Formatting Requirements , and delivered by hand, mail, or delivery service to the Mudd Manuscript Library by the degree date deadline in order to be placed on the degree list. Address the bound copy to: Attn: Dissertations, Mudd Manuscript Library, 65 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.

ProQuest Publishing Options

When you submit your dissertation to the ProQuest ETD Administrator site, you will be given two options: Traditional Publishing or Open Access Publishing Plus. ProQuest compares the two options in their  Open Access Overview document . Full details will be presented in the ProQuest ETD Administrator site.

Traditional Publishing

No fee  is paid to ProQuest; your dissertation will be available in full text to subscribing institutions only through the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global ; If you have an embargo, your dissertation will be unavailable for viewing or purchase through the subscription database during the embargo period.

Open Access Publishing Plus

$95 fee to ProQuest; your dissertation will be available in full text through the Internet to anyone via the ProQuest Database ; if you have an embargo, your dissertation will be unavailable for viewing through the open access database during the embargo period.

Optional Service: Copyright Registration

$75 fee to ProQuest; ProQuest offers the optional service of registering your copyright on your behalf. The dissertation author owns the copyright to their dissertation regardless of copyright registration. Registering your copyright makes a public record of your copyright claim and may entitle you to additional compensation should your copyright be infringed upon. For a full discussion of your dissertation and copyright, see ProQuest’s Copyright and Your Dissertation .

If you have questions regarding the ProQuest publishing options, contact their Author and School Relations team at 1-800-521-0600 ext. 77020 or via email at [email protected] .

Princeton’s Institutional Repository, DataSpace

Each Princeton University dissertation is deposited in Princeton’s Institutional Repository, DataSpace . Dissertations will be freely available on the Internet except during an embargo period. If your dissertation is embargoed, the PDF will be completely restricted during the embargo period. The bound copy, however, will be available for viewing in the Mudd Manuscript Library reading room during the embargo. 

According to the Graduate School’s embargo policy , students can request up to a two-year embargo on their dissertation, with the potential for renewal by petition. If approved, the embargo would apply to the dissertation in ProQuest, as well as in Princeton’s digital repository, DataSpace . Students in the sciences and engineering seeking patents or pursuing journal articles may be approved for a shorter embargo period. Students must apply for the embargo during the Advanced Degree Application process . More information can be found on the Graduate School's Ph.D. Publication, Access and Embargoing webpage .

Those who have been approved for the embargo can choose "Traditional Publishing" or "Open Access Plus" publishing when they complete their online submission to ProQuest. Mudd Manuscript Library staff will apply the embargo in the ProQuest ETD system at the time of submission of materials to the Library. In the case of Open Access Plus, the dissertation would become freely available on the ProQuest open access site when the embargo expires. The embargo in ProQuest will also apply to the embargo in Princeton’s digital repository, DataSpace

Those who wish to request a renewal of an existing embargo must email Assistant Dean Geoffrey Hill and provide the reason for the extension. An embargo renewal must be requested in writing at least one month before the original embargo has expired, but may not be requested more than three months prior to the embargo expiration date. Embargoes cannot be reinstituted after having expired. Embargoes are set to expire two years from the date on which the Ph.D. was awarded (degrees are awarded five times per year at Board of Trustee meetings); this date will coincide with the degree date (month and year) on the title page of your dissertation. Please note: You, the student, are responsible for keeping track of the embargo period--notifications will not be sent.

• To find the exact date of an embargo expiration, individuals can find their dissertation in DataSpace , and view the box at the bottom of the record, which will indicate the embargo expiration date.
• The Graduate School will inform the Mudd Library of all renewals and Mudd Library staff will institute the extensions in ProQuest and DataSpace .   
• Princeton University Archives'  Dissertation Formatting Requirements  (PDF download) document provides detailed information on how to prepare the dissertation PDF and bound volume (if you are required to submit a bound volume). Please take special note of how to format the title page (a title page example is downloadable from the upper-right-hand side of this webpage). The title page must list your adviser’s name.  
• ProQuest's Preparing Your Manuscript guide offers additional information on formatting the PDF. Where there are discrepancies with the Princeton University Archives Dissertation Formatting Requirements document, the Princeton University Archives requirements should be followed. Special consideration should be paid to embedding fonts in the PDF.
• ProQuest ETD Administrator Resources and Guidelines  web page offers several guides to assist you in preparing your PDF, choosing publishing options, learning about copyright considerations, and more. 
• ProQuest's Support and Training Department can assist with issues related to creating and uploading PDFs and any questions regarding technical issues with the online submission site.

Whether a student pays fees to ProQuest in the ETD Administrator Site depends on the publishing option they choose, and if they opt to register their copyright (if a student selects Traditional Publishing, and does not register their copyright, no charges are incurred). Fees are to be submitted via the UMI ETD Administrator Site. Publishing and copyright registration fees are payable by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express and a small service tax may be added to the total. The options listed below will be fully explained in the ETD Administrator site. 

• Traditional without copyright registration: $0 to ProQuest (online)
• Traditional with copyright registration: $75 to ProQuest (online) 
• Open Access without copyright registration: $95 to ProQuest (online)
• Open Access ($95) with copyright registration ($55): $150 to ProQuest (online)

Degrees are granted five times per year at Board of Trustee meetings. Deadlines for materials to be submitted to the Mudd Manuscript Library are set by the Office of the Graduate School . The title page of your dissertation must state the month and year of the board meeting at which you will be granted your degree, for example “April 2023.”

Academic Year 2024-2025

• Friday, August 30, 2024, degree date "September 2024"
• Thursday, October 31, 2024, degree date "November 2024"
• Tuesday, December 31, 2024, degree date "January 2025"
• Friday, February 28, 2025, degree date "March 2025"
• Thursday, May 8, 2025, degree date "May 2025"

Please note: If a student is granted an extension for submission of their materials after a deadline has passed, the Mudd Manuscript Library must have written confirmation of the extension from the Office of the Graduate School in the form of an email to [email protected] .  

One non-circulating , bound copy of each dissertation produced until and including the January 2022 degree list is held in the collection of the University Archives. For dissertations submitted prior to September 2011, a circulating , bound copy of each dissertation may also be available. Information about these dissertations can be found in Princeton University Library's catalog .

Electronic Copy (PDF) in ProQuest 

ProQuest Dissertation Publishing distributes Princeton University dissertations. Members of the Princeton University community can access most dissertations through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database, which is made available through the Princeton University Library. For students that choose "Open Access Plus publishing," their dissertations are available freely on the internet via  ProQuest Dissertations and Theses . Dissertations are available for purchase through ProQuest Dissertation Express . Once the dissertation has been accepted by the Mudd Library it will be released to ProQuest following the Board of Trustee meeting on which your degree is conferred. Bound copies ordered from ProQuest will be printed following release.  Please note, dissertations under embargo are not available in full text through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses subscription database or for sale via ProQuest Dissertation Express during the embargo period.

Electronic Copy (PDF) in Princeton's Institutional Repository, DataSpace  

Beginning in the fall of 2011, dissertations will be available through the internet in full-text via Princeton's digital repository, DataSpace . (Embargoed dissertations become available to the world once the embargo expires.)

Interlibrary Loan 

Dissertations that have bound copies and are not under embargo are available through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to libraries in the United States and Canada, either through hard copy or PDF. If PDFs are available, they can be sent internationally. 

Master's Thesis Submission Process

Students who are enrolled in a thesis-based Master’s degree program must upload a PDF of their thesis to Princeton's ETD Administrator site (ProQuest) just prior to completing the final paperwork for the Graduate School. These programs currently include:

• The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Computer Science (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (M.S.E.)
• The Department of Near Eastern Studies (M.A.)

The PDF should be formatted according to our  Dissertation Formatting Requirements  (PDF download). The Mudd Library will review and approve the submission upon notification from the Graduate School that your final paperwork is ready for this step. Bound copies are no longer required or accepted for Master's theses. 

Students who are not in a thesis-based Master's degree program do not need to make a submission to the library upon graduation. If you have questions, please complete the form on the Ask Special Collections page.

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Meet Our Team

The Economics Department at Princeton is home to more than sixty faculty members and hosts dozens of visitors, postdocs, and research fellows every year.

In addition to working alongside these researchers and organizing hundreds of seminars and events every year, our team of operational and administrative professionals support a diverse group of undergraduate and Ph.D. students as they pursue their degrees at one of the top economics departments in the world.

All of that work keeps us very busy! But if you’re new to the Economics Department, we know it can be hard to meet everyone on the team and figure out who does what. To help, here’s a quick list of our team members, with more information about who we are, what we do, and how to contact us.

Laura Hedden

Graduate Program Administrator [email protected] | extension: 8-4006 Laura Hedden has been the department’s Graduate Program Administrator since 2010. Prior to joining the Department of Economics, Laura was an adjunct professor of music at Rider University and Westminster Choir College, and a lecturer in Princeton’s Department of Music. Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Fine Arts in Musicology from Penn State University, where she played cello in several ensembles, and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Princeton. After graduation she gradually realized that the last time Musicology was profitable was Prince’s 2004 album release, and gratefully accepted a full-time position in the department. She found a new sense of purpose in helping our graduate students make the most of their experience in the Ph.D. program. Laura hails from a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania and still can’t find her way around New Jersey. When she isn’t working, which isn’t very often, you can probably find her in one of the local refuges photographing birds. She still enjoys playing her cello and would love to talk to you about your own musical interests or hobbies.

Gina Holland

Undergraduate Program Manager [email protected] | extension: 8-0920 Gina Holland is the Undergraduate Program Manager for the Department of Economics. Gina holds a B.F.A in Musical Theatre from the University of Hartford and a Masters of Education in Diversity and Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Co-Mom to two girls (18 and 8!) with her wife Maxine, Gina and her family live near the beach in Monmouth County, NJ. With a persistent love for learning, Gina is always in the middle of several books or obsessed with some new song or artist. Gina sings and writes poetry, and recently founded the Atlantic Highlands Womens' Writing Group in her hometown. Her daughter, Eliza, will be starting college this fall at Chapman University in Orange County, CA, so Gina plans to rack up quite a few frequent flyer miles over the next four years. Gina's other passions include studying the Enneagram, listening to podcasts about The Office, and sharing the love of her ultimate muse, Emily Dickinson, by teaching at Princeton Adult School and at Princeton University's Wintersession. Gina loves working with students and faculty at Princeton and is always interested in how you are and what you are thinking about!

Kristin Rogers

Administrative Coordinator [email protected] | extension: 8-2496 Kristin Rogers is the Administrative Coordinator for the Department of Economics. She holds a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Technical Theatre from Rowan University, as well as a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Human Resources Management from William Paterson University. Kristin oversees the administration of Junior and Senior Recruiting initiatives within the department, as well as manages the Minor in Quantitative Economics. Additionally, she plays a key role in cultivating donor relations and provides crucial support to the Chair, Associate Chair, and Department Manager. Before joining Princeton, Kristin played pivotal roles in the performing arts, serving as Assistant Executive Director at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, New Jersey, and later as Assistant Production Coordinator at the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan. Beyond her professional pursuits, Kristin leads as co-president of the Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department Active Auxiliary, driving community engagement through numerous fundraisers and events. An avid reader, she has devoured over 150 romance novels this year alone, embracing both print and audiobooks. Kristin's creative talents shine in crafting, with her seasonal creations on display in JRR 200 during the holidays. She also delights in baking adventures with her 5-year-old son, Stephen. Kristin shares a fulfilling life with her husband, Justin Rogers, with whom she will celebrate their 8th wedding anniversary this November. Together, they cherish family travels, exploring destinations, enjoying cruises, and seeking thrills on roller coasters.

Christina Lipsky

Senior Manager, Finance and Administration [email protected] | extension: 8-4011 Christina Lipsky has been with Princeton University for eighteen years, starting in Electrical Engineering as a faculty assistant and progressing her career in various programs/departments such as Applied Mathematics, Architecture, and Economics. While working at the university, Christina earned her master's in Higher Education with a focus on instructional technology, because she is a massive nerd and also had a side hustle as a web developer for small businesses. Alas, those days of free time are long gone, as she is entering her fourth year as Senior Manager in Economics, where her duties include overseeing/onboarding faculty, staff, visitors, the department’s graduate/undergraduate programs, and its building. Before joining Princeton, Christina was an Associated Press award-winning journalist with The Star-Ledger, covering crime in Camden and Morris County, and at Forbes.com as lead news editor focusing on reviewing and test-driving luxury automobiles. So, if you have any opinions regarding true crime, the latest gadgets, or how overpriced cars have become, swing by my office to chat! When she is not at Princeton, Christina enjoys getting into mischief with her two young kiddos (Aria and Asher), husband (Josh), and new puppy (Miles).

Dana Molina

Executive Director, Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies [email protected] | extension: 8-5765 Dana Molina joined the Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies in 2018. She serves as the Center’s Executive Director where she organizes high-level symposia events, recruits short- and long-term visitors whose time on campus includes book talks, student roundtables, seminars, and public talks, and manages student research forums and faculty and graduate student grants. She also oversees fundraising activities, attracting individual and corporate member support for economic policy research. Partnering with other centers across the university, Dana encourages interdisciplinary collaboration on a wide variety of topics related to economics. Dana spent the previous ten years overseeing account management and finance for SureTech, a cloud computing and IT services company she co-founded. Dana worked as the Director of Volunteer Programs at Partnerships for Parks in New York City, where she oversaw event logistics and sponsorship for large-scale volunteer events, as well as recognition and grant programs for local volunteer groups. Prior to that she was program manager for the Foundation for a Civil Society, for their initiatives in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In her volunteer life, Dana is involved with many area non-profits and is currently on the boards of Housing Initiatives of Princeton and The Jewish Center. She also volunteers with the Princeton Mobile Food Pantry and The Friends of Princeton Open Space. Dana enjoys traveling to new places, stand up surfing, and gardening. Her husband Alberto is a serial entrepreneur and is currently running the technology for a new photo product site and also enjoys writing poetry and playing improvisational music. Their daughter Catalina will be a freshman at Princeton this fall and son Milo will be a junior at Princeton High School. Dana loves walking their dog Rocco around town. He can often be found in her office waiting to greet any dog lovers. She received her B.A. from Yale University and served as Peace Corps Volunteer in the Czech Republic and can still speak some Czech.

Conner Reid

Technical Support Specialist [email protected] | extension: 8-3892 As the Technical Support Specialist for the Economics Department, Conner Reid focuses on ensuring our technology runs smoothly. His responsibilities include troubleshooting technical issues, managing and supporting classroom and meeting room technology, purchasing IT equipment, and overseeing the department's various servers. In all that work, Conner’s goal is to make sure that everyone in the department—whether they’re working in the office or remotely—has everything they need to work efficiently and productively. Conner began his journey in IT at Mercer County Community College, where he pursued studies in Information Technology. Before joining Princeton, he worked as a Service Desk Analyst at News Corp, where he provided IT support for major media entities like Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, as well as other companies within their network. Outside of work, Conner is passionate about collecting comic books, horror movies, and vintage video games. He also enjoys staying active through hiking and running in the many parks and nature preserves around New Jersey. Additionally, he has a deep passion for live music, particularly within the heavy metal scenes, which he actively follows and supports.

Charles Saltzman

Web Developer [email protected] | extension: 8-5151 Born in Paterson NJ, Charles Saltzman left the varsity soccer team for marching band his senior year of high school, also forming a rock/pop band called the Bemhos with his friends. He would continue in marching band at Rutgers University, where he majored in Mathematics and Art History with a minor in Music. He also played organ at all local Rutgers Basketball games, including more than a few at Madison Square Garden. After college, Charles headed across the country to pursue a Master of Architecture degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. While completing his Master’s thesis in the computer lab, he discovered a fledgling entity called the World Wide Web and taught himself HTML. Following graduation, seeing the demand for web designers and developers in the burgeoning new industry, he took up the web as a career. Following a lengthy stint at Freedom Magazines, Charles took a sabbatical from the corporate scene to bartend in Culver City for a few years. He returned to the digital world to design musical greeting cards for American Greetings Interactive. After the shutdown of the musical greeting cards division, he quickly found his way into a small startup called MySpace, where he worked as their first full-time designer. Following the company's acquisition by News Corporation, he watch it grow into a multi-national social media giant. He finished his tenure at MySpace as Manager of Design and Development. After another couple of years bartending, Charles returned to a web development role for Signature Card Services, a position he would occupy through a move back to the east coast to spend valuable time with family. At this point, Charles took a job in the Economics Department at Princeton University where he remains to this day. But in case you were wondering: The Bemhos recently celebrated their 38th anniversary, with all six original members still in the band, and continue to perform regularly to this day.

Laura Sciarrotta

Finance Manager [email protected] | extension: 8-2858 Laura Sciarrotta is the Finance Manager for the Economics Department, a position she has held for over fifteen years. A graduate of Muhlenberg College, Laura earned her CPA license after completing her studies, setting the stage for a career in accounting. She began her professional journey at Deloitte & Touche, where she honed her skills as an auditor and was even part of the team that audited Princeton University itself—a unique experience that would later bring her full circle back to Princeton! After her time at Deloitte, Laura took on the role of Senior Accountant at Cigna in Philadelphia, where she gained insights into corporate finance. She then returned to the Princeton area, serving as the General Accounting Manager at Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. for several years. While the corporate world provided her with a wealth of experience, Laura knew she wanted to spend her career in higher education. This led her to join the Economics Department at Princeton, where she has found fulfillment in supporting the academic mission of the university. When she’s not crunching numbers or managing budgets, Laura enjoys a variety of hobbies. She is an avid crocheter, often creating beautiful pieces for family and friends. A true Jersey girl at heart, Laura loves spending time at Long Beach Island, where she enjoys the sun, surf, and sand. Laura lives in Lawrenceville, NJ, with her husband and son, and can frequently be found cheering on her son at his baseball and basketball games.

Stu Sternbach

Department Office Support [email protected] | extension: 8-4001 Stu Sternbach joined the department in 2021 when, after twenty years commuting to New York City on the New Jersey Transit, he finally had the courage to walk away from the small creative business he founded many years prior. Through this business, Stu represented artisans in the fields of television production with a focus on on-air commercials and high-end video content. His clients were mostly advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies. As an agent, he worked closely with film directors, editors, animation studios and music houses securing work and managing the relationships between talent and agency. He was also fortunate to have worked with the Universal Studios Florida Production Group as a freelance business developer for their shooting stages. Prior to working at Princeton, he also had more than a handful of jobs that included producing pharma videos and teaching music for commercials as an adjunct professor in New York. These days, his creative endeavors continue by teaching instrumental music and performing in various bands. He plays a few instruments and composes on occasion, so if you’re a musician or singer please make sure to let him know. In fact, if you are reading this, why not sign up for his Wintersession harmonica course. It's a lot of fun. Anyway, he’s a local dad and his two daughters live close by, so he’s looking forward to staying at Princeton and working closer to family.

Michi (Michiko) Statham

Event Coordinator [email protected] | extension: 8-7986 Michi Statham is a dedicated Event Coordinator for the Department of Economics. where she enjoys crafting unforgettable experiences for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. With her vibrant spirit, she brings people together through beautifully orchestrated events that reflect her attention to detail and creativity. Beyond her work, Michiko is a lover of all things creative—whether she’s indulging in her latest craft project, exploring new travel destinations, or embracing the great outdoors through exercise, short hikes, swimming, pickleball, occasional basketball and backyard barbecues with family and friends. An avid music enthusiast of sorts and self-proclaimed movie buff, she can also be found discovering new culinary delights, making her a true foodie at heart. Michiko is particularly proud of her journey in raising outstanding children, believing that nurturing the next generation is her most rewarding adventure. Passionate about owning her own event planning business, she balances her career with a warm, friendly nature that leaves a lasting impression on everyone she meets. For Michiko, happiness is intertwined with family, friendships, and the joy of creating moments worth celebrating.

Oscar Torres-Reyna

Head of the Economic Statistical Services (ESS) Unit [email protected] | extension: 8-3067 Oscar Torres-Reyna serves as the head of the Economic Statistical Services (ESS) Unit in the Department of Economics. With an impressive career that began at Princeton in 2007, Oscar has become a pivotal figure in the academic community, known for his expertise in data analysis and his dedication to teaching. In addition to his role at Princeton, Oscar is a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, where he teaches statistics and data analytics in the Economics Department. This dual role at two prestigious institutions underscores his commitment to nurturing the next generation of statisticians and economists. Oscar's academic journey is marked by a diverse and robust educational background. He holds degrees in economics, statistics, public administration, and political science, reflecting a broad and interdisciplinary approach to his work. This diverse educational foundation has equipped him with a unique perspective on the application of statistical methods across different domains, allowing him to bridge gaps between theoretical research and practical application. Over his 33-year career, Oscar has amassed a wealth of experience across the federal government, the private sector, and academic settings. This extensive experience has provided him with a deep understanding of the complexities and nuances of data analysis in various contexts. His work is characterized by a dual focus: extracting meaningful insights from data and effectively communicating these insights to a broader audience. At the core of Oscar's professional and academic endeavors is a passion for data analysis. He believes in the power of data to uncover hidden patterns, answer critical questions, and inform decision-making processes. His work often involves assisting students in applying sophisticated statistical techniques to analyze economic data, and advising on how to find valuable insights that drive both their understanding of academic research and the relevance of practical policy decisions. Equally important to Oscar is his commitment to education. He has dedicated a significant portion of his career to teaching and mentoring students, particularly those who may not have a background in statistics or econometrics. He understands that these fields can be daunting to newcomers and strives to make them accessible and engaging. His teaching philosophy is rooted in clarity, patience, and enthusiasm, aiming to demystify complex concepts and empower students with the skills they need to succeed. Oscar's contributions to the field are not limited to the classroom or his direct professional responsibilities. He has collaborated with other units across campus that seek to advance the teaching of data analysis and the application of statistical software, continuously working to push the boundaries of knowledge and practice in his field.