Prospective Graduate Students

Thank you for your interest in the graduate programs in the School of Life Sciences (SoLS) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. UNLV is a dynamic institution in a dynamic city in the beautiful American Southwest and our graduate programs reflects our setting. The SoLS currently supports ~50 graduate students spread among more than twenty SoLS faculty members. We offer both Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in biology with concentrations in Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Physiology, and Microbiology.

 

Doctor of Philosophy

The SoLS offers a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Physiology, and Microbiology. This degree is research intensive and is designed to prepare students for careers in academia, government, or industry. Students complete a minimum of 60 credit hours from a list of core and approved courses within their section. In addition, students are typically a Teaching Assistant (TA) for at least one semester. It is expected that students will first-author at least one peer-reviewed journal article.

 

Master of Science

The SoLS offers as M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Physiology, and Microbiology. This degree is less research intensive than the Ph.D. and is designed to prepare students for a diverse set of science-related careers. Students complete a minimum of 30 credit hours from a list of core and approved courses within their section. In addition, students are typically a Teaching Assistant (TA) for at least one semester.

 

Admissions

Applications for fall admission that are completed by January 15th will be given priority for state-funded graduate assistantships. Admission is based on a combination of criteria that may differ from one year to another, however, most successful applicants have a minimum of a 3.0 undergraduate grade point average (junior and senior years) and score in the upper 50th percentile on all sections of the GRE. Decisions for fall applicants will be made by April 1 if not sooner.

 

Please note that the MS and PhD degrees from the School of Life Sciences are research degrees. Applicants must look through the faculty web pages to identify one or more potential mentors as part of their applicaiton. They are required to contact these faculty directly regarding the possibility of joining their lab.

Financial support

We make an effort to support all Ph.D. students for at least four years at $16,000 plus tuition and benefits (calculated for 12 months) and all M.S. students for at least two years at $13,334 plus tuition and benefits (calculated for 12 months) through teaching assistantships and/or research assistantships. Higher stipends are available to selected applicants through extramurally-funded research assistantships.

 

 

Application Requirements

Applications are not considered complete unless they contain:

1. A completed SoLS application form.

2. A completed Graduate College Application with Official transcripts and Letters of Recommendation (two letters for a Masters application and three letters for a Ph.D application).

3. Official GRE score report; subject GREs are not required.

4. International Students must submit an official TOEFL exam report.