Pharmacological Sciences

UC Irvine’s PhD in Pharmacological Sciences program trains the next generation of drug discovery scientists. Successful completion of the program requires demonstration of original research contributions to the collective biological and chemical sciences fields that define contemporary biomedical research and the search for medicines that address the most profound unmet clinical needs. Graduates of this program become scientific leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, government, and academia.

The current areas of study in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences include:

• Structural and chemical biology
• Medicinal chemistry
• Structure-based drug design and computational chemistry
• Molecular neuropharmacology
• Healthspan studies
• Synthetic biology and molecular evolution
• Natural products chemistry
• Cancer biology and therapy
• Computational biology and bioinformatics
• Nanomedicine for targeted drug and gene delivery
• Proximity medicines

For more information, please visit our website.

Admission

Prerequisites

• An M.S. degree is not required for consideration. However, research experience (laboratory or fieldwork) is a primary criterion for acceptance into our graduate programs.
• Some biology and chemistry courses are required. However, as an interdisciplinary program, we admit students from various academic backgrounds, so there are no specific course requirements. Applicants recently admitted to our program have undergraduate degrees in many disciplines, including molecular biology, psychology, chemistry, and engineering.
• Minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0
• No GRE required.

Application Instructions

Complete the online application, which is submitted to the UC Irvine Graduate Division. When completing the "Degree Program" section of the online application, please make the following selections:

• School/Department: Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Major/Degree: Pharmacological Sciences-Ph.D.

Students are admitted to the Pharmacological Sciences Ph.D. program on an annual basis in the fall quarter. The admissions committee screens applications immediately after the application deadline. First-round applicants selected to interview will be notified by early January. Admitted applicants will receive an offer of admission from late January through mid-March.

Submit applications by the December 1 deadline.

The online application and supporting materials should be received by December 1. If you have any questions or concerns, please email pharmsci-grad@uci.edu.

Applicants are required to submit:

• An official online application including the application fee.
• For application review purposes only, scan and upload copies of transcripts for all institutions attended since high school. In the online application, you will be prompted to upload your scanned documents. Please upload both the front and back sides of the transcript. Uploaded transcripts should be recent and include the following: your name, dates of attendance, grades/marks received, credits and grading legend. Official transcripts will be requested by the Graduate Division if and when you are admitted and decide to attend UCI. Do not send official transcripts until this time.
• A Statement of Purpose – must include your specific research interest(s) and three prospective research advisors. Describe your research interests, career goals, and other related information.
• A Personal History Statement can include any relevant educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges or opportunities that collectively influenced your decision to pursue a PhD in Pharmacological Sciences.
• Three letters of recommendation – uploaded to the online application by your recommender.
• UC Irvine no longer requires the GRE.
• International students are also required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores (Code: 4859)

Applicants are encouraged to upload the following in their application:

• Current curriculum vitae or resume
• List of publications

All graduate applicants are required to demonstrate English proficiency for admissions consideration. Applicants are waived from the English Language Proficiency requirement if they have earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database (WHED). For more information, please visit the Graduate Division's site on the minimum requirements for admission.

Additional information about admissions to the Pharmacological Sciences PhD program can be found on the School website.

International Applicants

If English is not the sole language of instruction listed or if no language is listed at all, the above-described waiver does not apply and the applicant is required to take and pass an approved English proficiency test. Approved tests and minimum scores are outlined in the next section.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a student will be supported as a Teaching Assistant (TA), please read the English proficiency requirement policy for Teaching Assistantships. Students who have not earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to WHED are required to demonstrate English language proficiency to serve as a TA when they apply to the program. Students in the Pharmacological Sciences PhD program are required to TA and, therefore, must meet the language proficiency requirements to TA.

TOEFL

The TOEFL is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

• Please select institution code 4859 to have your official score sent to UC Irvine. No department code is needed.
• We only accept scores submitted electronically by ETS.
• Test results that are two years old or older are not acceptable.
• We do not accept MyBest scores; you must submit all individual test scores.
• Results of institutional (non-ETS) administrations of the TOEFL are not acceptable.
• We will accept the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition test. The same minimum score applies.
• We do NOT accept the TOEFL ITP Plus test for China or the TOEFL Essentials test.
• For more information, please visit their website at www.ets.org/toefl

TOEFL Score Requirements for Admission Consideration:

• An overall minimum score of 80

IELTS

As an alternative to the TOEFL, you may submit scores from the Academic Modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

• We only accept scores submitted electronically by the IELTS test center. No paper Test Report Forms will be accepted.
• Test results that are two years old or older are not acceptable.
• We will accept the IELTS Indicator test. The same minimum score applies.
• An institutional code is NOT required. Please contact the test center directly where you took the IELTS test and request that your test scores be sent electronically using the IELTS system. All IELTS test centers worldwide are able to send scores electronically to our institution.
• For more information, please visit their website at www.ielts.org

IELTS Score Requirements for Admission Consideration:

• An overall minimum score of 7 for admission, with a score of no less than 6 on any individual module.

Information regarding visas, student employment, and any other services to help international students transition into life at UC Irvine is overseen by the UC Irvine International Center.

Please note: TOEFL and IELTS test results that are two years old or older will not be accepted.

Requirements

Course Requirements

The primary difference between the three tracks are the first-year course requirements, where the Pharmacology Track focuses on mainline pharmacology topics, while the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicinal Chemistry Tracks encompass a broad range of allied fields. Students will choose a track during orientation before the start of their first quarter.

Coursework Requirements - Pharmacology Track

New students who select the Pharmacology Track are subject to the coursework requirement as listed below.

Courses from the Pharmaceutical Sciences Track required course list below may be substituted for some of the Pharmacology Track required courses with the consent of the Track or Graduate Advisor, in alignment with the student's research interests.

Coursework Requirements - Pharmaceutical Sciences Track

New students who select the Pharmaceutical Sciences Track are subject to the first-year coursework requirements listed below.

First-year coursework must include training in the ethical conduct of research (e.g., PHRMSCI 257 or equivalent), three courses from the required list above, and three electives chosen from 1) the same list; 2) from the Pharmacology Track required courses above; 3) from the Medicinal Chemistry Track elective list below; or 4) any UCI four-unit letter-graded graduate course approved as an elective by the Pharmaceutical Sciences Track Advisor.

Coursework Requirements - Medicinal Chemistry Track

New students who select the Medicinal Chemistry Track are subject to the first year coursework requirements listed below

1. Students who completed PHRMSCI 177 as undergraduate students at UCI may waive PHRMSCI 277 if the undergraduate course was completed within 5 years prior and a grade of B or better was received. Students who completed a similar course on campuses other than UCI may not waive this course. Eligible students must obtain formal approval for the waiver from the Graduate Advisor and must replace the units with an approved course substitution.

In addition to the above required courses, Medicinal Chemistry Track students must take at least two elective courses from the Medicinal Chemistry elective list below or any UCI four-unit letter-graded graduate course approved as an elective by the Graduate Advisor by the end of Year 1.

Medicinal Chemistry Elective Course List

Comprehensive Exam and Ph.D. Advisor

The comprehensive exam is given as part of the PHRMSCI 250A–C course series that all first-year graduate students must take. Passing the reading and writing components of this three-course series constitutes passing the comprehensive exam for the purposes of the UC Irvine Graduate Division’s requirements for Ph.D. programs. No later than the end of winter quarter of their first year, students are expected to select their Ph.D. advisor, who will supervise their research for their remaining time in the program.

Thesis Committee Formation

Each student forms and convenes the first meeting of a thesis advisory committee no later than the end of the winter quarter of their second year. The thesis advisory committee comprises the student’s Ph.D. advisor and two other faculty members in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. A fourth external committee member can be added with permission from the department. The student’s Ph.D. advisor serves as a silent committee chair. The student meets with the thesis committee for one hour, providing a brief written summary and accompanying oral presentation of research progress in their second year.

Advancement to Candidacy

Each student must complete an advancement examination, consisting of a written document and an oral presentation, for their Advancement Committee in accordance with Graduate Council and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences procedures. The Advancement Committee is their thesis advisory committee. The Advancement Exam will normally take place no earlier than the fifth quarter; exceptions must be approved in advance by the Graduate Advisor of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After all members of the Advancement Committee vote to pass a student at the time of their oral exam, the student will officially advance to Ph.D. candidacy.

Thesis Content Approval

Each student must convene their thesis advisory committee to review and approve the contents of the student’s Ph.D. dissertation no later than the spring quarter of their fourth year in the program. Students will provide their committee a brief written summary and oral presentation of research progress during the past year. The student also provides a detailed outline of experimental work remaining to be completed and a full outline of dissertation contents for committee approval.

Dissertation Defense

The final requirement for completion of the program is successful defense of the student’s dissertation, describing original research contributions to the field of pharmaceutical sciences. The student convenes the thesis advisory committee for a final examination meeting wherein the Ph.D. candidate delivers a one-hour public lecture on their original research followed by a one-hour closed-door session for the committee to ascertain the student’s mastery of their field. Upon successful defense, the student earns their Ph.D. in Pharmacological Sciences.