Natural Sciences Ph.D. Admissions

Natural Sciences Ph.D. Requirements

You must meet both the general and the discipline-specific criteria for admission and be recommended for admission by the doctoral faculty review group in at least a primary discipline. You are welcome to select a secondary discipline as well, but admissions decisions must be received by both disciplines in this case.

  • Undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75
  • Graduate GPA of at least 3.0
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Statement of purpose
  • Writing sample

Application Deadlines

All Natural Sciences Ph.D. program disciplines have a first-consideration deadline of December 15. Applications submitted by December 15 will receive an admission decision by February 15. Applications submitted after the deadline may be reviewed on a space-available basis.

More information by discipline:

  • Biomedical and Health Informatics:
    • Coordinator Dr. An-Lin Cheng
  • Cell Biology and Biophysics:
    • Coordinator Dr. Karyn Turla
  • Chemistry:
    • Coordinator Dr. David Van Horn
  • Geosciences:
    • Coordinator Dr. Fengpeng Sun
  • Mathematics:
    • Coordinator Dr. Liana Sega
  • Molecular Biology and Biochemistry:
    • Coordinator Dr. Karyn Turla
  • Oral and Craniofacial Sciences:
    • Coordinator Dr. Mary Walker
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences:
    • Coordinator Dr. Kun Cheng
    • Spring admission available upon request to the Coordinator.
  • Pharmacology:
    • Coordinator Dr. Gerald Wyckoff
    • Spring admission available upon request to the Coordinator.
  • Physics:
    • Coordinator Dr. Paul Rulis

Additional deadline information

  1. Applications to the Natural Sciences Ph.D. program must be completed and received by the December 15 deadline for fullest consideration.
  2. The timeline for applicants to expect admission decisions varies by discipline. Admission decisions and offer letters should be sent by February 15 for applications received by the December 15 deadline.
  3. Applicants will be notified of admission decisions through the online application system. Newly admitted international applicants will receive necessary admission documentation from the International Student Affairs Office.
  4. Admission decisions cannot be provided over the telephone.
  5. Please contact the discipline coordinator if you are interested in applying after the December 15 deadline or for a Spring semester start.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact the School of Graduate Studies at umkcsgs@umkc.edu.