Admissions

Begin your journey today. Start your application!

Apply to the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience by submitting an online application through the Georgetown Graduate School of Arts & Sciences portal.

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Our graduate program is devoted to providing a supportive environment for a diverse and competitive student community. We are happy to guide you through the application process and answer your questions about research, opportunities, student life and more. We invite you to take the virtual tour of some of our facilities, fill out our Request for Information form, review the IPN Information document, review our FAQ page, and contact the IPN staff and to learn more about the program and application process.

Please note: Students applying to the IPN may apply simultaneously to the Interdisciplinary PhD Concentration in Cognitive Science . The Interdisciplinary PhD Concentration in Cognitive Science program enables PhD students in Psychology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Computer Science to pursue a concentration in Cognitive Science. Students accepted to the Cognitive Science concentration take additional courses and create an advisory committee of faculty members from multiple departments at the university. IPN students will graduate with a Neuroscience PhD and a Concentration in Cognitive Science. To apply for admission to this concentration, select “Yes” in response to the Cognitive Science question in the application portal and submit a short (1-page) essay describing your interest in cognitive science. This does not affect your admission into the IPN.

The Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience does not offer a master’s degree program. Only applicants intending to complete the PhD program of study should apply. If you are interested in a master’s degree, please see the Georgetown MS in Integrative Neuroscience. PhD students can apply for a Master’s in Passing upon completion of the necessary requirements; contact the chair of the Student Advisory Committee for specifics.

If you are also considering Georgetown’s PhD program in psychology, we invite you to read the programs comparison.

Admission Timeline

December 1

Final Deadline to Apply for Summer Admission
Students may begin applying in July

We encourage all applicants to apply early to allow sufficient time to submit all their application materials.

January-March: Interviews

Late March: Final decision from the program

April 15: Deadline to notify the program of decision to enroll

July 1: Program starts for Summer

Application Requirements

Applicants are to submit all required credentials and supporting documentation no later than the application deadline.

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A 4-year bachelor’s degree or equivalent with a GPA of 3.0 or higher (across all undergraduate coursework and/or institutions attended).

List your postsecondary institutions in your application, and upload a transcript for each institution. Applicants are required to list/upload copies of official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions where more than 15 credits of coursework were completed and/or where program prerequisites were completed (any number of credits). This gives the admissions committee a more complete picture of your academic preparation for graduate study.

WES  or NACES  credential evaluation services are highly recommended for international transcripts.

Follow the transcript instructions in Admissions FAQ  to ensure you upload proper documentation.

Recommendation letters may be from previous professors, research mentors, or employers in a position to appraise your potential for graduate study.

Guidance on the Academic Statement of Purpose

This statement is one of the most critical parts of your graduate school application. To dispel any mystery of what should be covered, or leave to chance that you’ll miss key points, we outline below what is generally addressed in the statements of our most competitive applicants (in no particular order), followed by some general advice. 

  • The factors (personal/professional) that motivate you to apply for a PhD in Neuroscience (IPN). Why a PhD?  Why this field?
  • Your academic preparation for this degree program (coursework at bachelor’s and/or graduate level). If there are any areas of your transcript that might be a cause for concern on the part of the admissions committee, such as low grades in coursework relevant to the degree, be sure to address them clearly.
  • Your research background. What research have you done, either independently or as an assistant? What do you find attractive about research as a profession?
  • Your reasons for selecting the IPN (faculty research interests, for example).
  • Your long-term career goals. (We know people have a range of goals, and that’s OK!)
  • Any additional information that you would like the committee to consider as they review your application.  We understand that many different factors (socioeconomic status, personal/familial challenges, racial/ethnic/cultural background, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, being the first in one’s family to attend college and/or to pursue STEM graduate education, historical/structural/institutional obstacles, etc.) impact the path to a PhD in the sciences. We strive to promote equity and inclusion in our program, recognizing the many ways that we can each enrich the academic and scholarly community through our unique backgrounds and circumstances.

General Advice

  • When talking about faculty research areas, it is advisable to first look and see what they have published recently (e.g., do a PubMed search). 
  • Make sure you can identify at least two or three faculty members with whom you would be interested in doing research. If you can’t, a program (at Georgetown, or anywhere else) is likely not the right fit for you. 
  • Proofread. This one sounds obvious, but we receive applications each year with grammatical errors, typographic errors, faculty names misspelled, etc., and this comes across as unpolished and unprofessional. Be sure to have someone else (a fresh set of eyes) read your statement to check for errors. Remember, you are going to be doing research for 4-6 years in our labs – we want to know that you are careful and detail-oriented.

The IPN Supplemental Essay is a maximum of one page. Answer the following prompt: Please tell us about an incident in your research where you experienced failure. Include what you did about it and what you learned from the experience.

Upload the supplemental essay to the Neuroscience Supplemental Information section of the online application.

Your CV/resume should include relevant professional (such as research, volunteer and intern experiences) and academic experiences with dates and descriptions/responsibilities. When applicable, items in each section should be in reverse chronological order, with the most recent experiences listed first. For experiences involving research, please note clearly the name of the principal investigator of the lab. Include citations for your publications, abstracts and presentations (if applicable). Use 11pt font size or larger; allow your CV/resume to span multiple pages if necessary.

The application fee is nonrefundable but limited application fee waivers may be available. View information about the application fee .

Applicants to any Georgetown program may choose to submit an Optional Statement that addresses diversity, personal background and contributions to community. A detailed prompt for the statement can be found in the application.

All applicants are required to demonstrate a level of proficiency in the English language sufficient to meet the admission requirement of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Follow the TOEFL/IELTS instructions in Admissions FAQ  to determine whether you need to send us test scores to prove your English language proficiency.

Prospective Students BGE FAQ

Tuition & Stipend

Biomedical Graduate Education PhD students can receive merit-based fellowship awards that cover tuition, stipend, student health insurance, dental insurance and mandatory fees. Visit BGE PhD Tuition & Stipend for more information.

Applicants with external (third-party) funding guaranteed for the entirety of their PhD program (e.g., scholarships, sponsorships or fellowships through governments, employers or any organization) should include a copy of their award/sponsorship letter with their application. If the sponsorship is awarded after you submitted your application, please send a PDF copy of the letter to BGEAdmissions@georgetown.edu to be added to your application file.

Training Grants

Students may apply to participate in Georgetown’s NIH-funded, externally peer-reviewed institutional training programs. Visit BGE T32 Training Grants to learn more about our programs.

MD/PhD Program

Our program participates in Georgetown School of Medicine’s MD/PhD program. If you are interested in the MD/PhD program, please apply directly to the School of Medicine.

GU-NIH Graduate Program

Students who wish to conduct dissertation research at the National Institutes of Health should submit an application through the NIH’s partnership with Georgetown University Biomedical Graduate Education. Visit the BGE Partner Institutions page for details and application instructions.

International Students

Each year, we receive applications for admission from many more competitive applicants than we are able to accept. Because our program is largely funded by several NIH training grants which are restricted to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, we give priority to domestic applicants and international applicants with fellowships from their home country (see below), before giving consideration to our pool of international applicants who require full financial support from our program. In the past several years, we have offered acceptance with full financial support to only an exceptional few international applicants (less than one out of 30), with preference given to applicants who have graduated from a university in the U.S. or Canada and who are able to attend an interview session at Georgetown.

The cost of attending the Georgetown Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, including tuition, fees, and reasonable living expenses, is estimated by the Office of Student Financial Services under Cost of Attendance. If an outstanding international student is the recipient of a fellowship award from their home country or other agency that covers at least 60% of these expenses for the first two years in the program, it is often possible for our program to make the necessary arrangements to cover the remaining expenses. We strongly encourage all international students to apply for such fellowships, and we will be pleased to offer qualified applicants whatever support and endorsement is needed during the fellowship application process.

Please note that the process of applying for a U.S. visa after being admitted to the program can take weeks or months and varies based on your country of origin. In the event that visas are not received in time, admitted students may defer their admission one time to a future open term. There is no additional admissions application fee charge for the one-time deferral.

For more information for international applicants, please see our Biomedical Graduate Education International Students page.

Our program participates in special partnerships with El Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías (CONAHCYT) to jointly fund Mexican students enrolled in our doctoral program, and with El Ministerio de Planificación (MIDEPLAN), the national planning agency of the Chilean government, to jointly fund Chilean students enrolled in our doctoral program.

Career Readiness

Our students benefit from the services of the Biomedical Graduate Education career office, including one-on-one advising, skills workshops, leadership programs and more.

PhD Student Career Services
Prospective Students IPN FAQ