Graduate Program Admission and Financial Support
Students admitted to the program come from a variety of backgrounds, some in disciplines closely related to ours (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Linguistics), others in branches of the natural sciences or engineering that are less obviously relevant to our domain. This richness of backgrounds is a source of great strength to the program, because our students bring to it new ways of thinking about scientific problems. Although we do not stipulate the kinds of backgrounds students should have, we do expect applicants for admission to have outstanding academic records, and to be able to demonstrate their capacity for formal thinking and clear expression of ideas.
All students admitted to the program are offered graduate fellowships that provide a competitive 12-month stipend, and cover the costs of tuition and other fees. Support is guaranteed for 4 years subject to satisfactory academic progress. The department does not distinguish teaching fellows and research assistants: all students are provided with a fellowship to support their research training, and all contribute to the department's teaching by serving as teaching assistants or teachers of small classes. Students may be asked to serve as teaching assistants for one course each year during tenure of their fellowships, but in recent practice the load has been less than this. Where appropriate, students are encouraged to seek personal fellowships from bodies such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, for this brings distinction both to the student and the department; however, admission to the program is never contingent on students securing their own funds.