Environmental Health Sciences PhD

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Our students are trained to become global leaders in research and teaching in the broad, interdisciplinary field of environmental health sciences.

Graduates can be found working throughout the world, in both the public and private sectors. Graduates hold positions at top global universities; in national and international organizations; in local, state and federal government; in health advocacy organizations; and in the corporate sector.

The PhD program is designed to prepare students for careers as independent researchers and educators in the field of EHS or one of its subspecialties. Each program is individualized according to the student’s background and research interest. Emphasis is placed on the development and formulation of research hypotheses and a significant original contribution to knowledge. EHS PhD graduates will be able to:

Apply advanced methodology to research projects in environmental health sciences and develop new approaches to address environmental health problems.
Develop and demonstrate written and oral communications skills by preparing papers, summaries, briefings and presentations regarding environmental health science
Clarify critical gaps in scientific knowledge that impede the resolution of environmental health problems and plan original research that will lead to solutions of such problems.
Conceive, develop and conduct original research leading to useful applications in environmental health sciences, toxicology, environmental health policy or industrial hygiene.
Understand advanced analytic methods in environmental health science.

Curriculum

PhD students must complete a minimum of four semesters of academic residence at UC Berkeley. In consultation with their advisor, PhD students in EHS should make sure they have taken the core courses (or their equivalents) as MS or MPH students. If courses in these subjects have not been taken earlier, students may find it most efficient to take the core courses below in order to acquire the needed understanding. The core courses are:

PB HLTH 270A: Exposure Assessment and Control I (3 units) (fall)
PB HLTH 250B: Epidemiological Methods II (4 units) (spring) or other 200-level epidemiology course
PB HLTH 241: Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data (4 units) (spring) or other 200-level biostatistics course
PB HLTH 270B: Toxicology (4 units) (fall)
PH 220C: Health Risk Assessment, Regulation and Policy (3 units) (spring)
PB HLTH 271E: Science and Policy for Environment and Health (3 units) (spring)
PH 293: EHS Doctoral Seminar (1 unit) (every Fall)

PhD students must develop expertise in EHS and two related areas, such as biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental law, policy, or molecular and cell biology, which are selected in consultation with the faculty advisor and are appropriate for the student’s dissertation topic. Each area will typically require the equivalent of three semesters of graduate study (i.e., 200-level courses). In addition to the core courses, PhD students are required to take the doctoral seminar, PH 293, offered in the fall semester, every year until graduation, for 1 unit. Students should carry at least 3 units of independent research (PH 299) in each of the first two semesters and additional research units in subsequent semesters. These courses, or equivalent, constitute the basis for the PhD examinations.

This program can last from three to five years. In practice, PhD students take courses during their first three or four semesters in preparation for the examinations. During the first year, each PhD student should meet with their faculty advisor each semester to ensure mastery of the material that will be covered in examinations.
This program requires a graduate group examination, qualifying examination, and formal approval and acceptance of a student’s dissertation. A committee of three UC Berkeley Academic Senate members guide students in research and judge the merits of their dissertation. A student’s principal research advisor is generally the chair of this committee and it is expected that students will be in close touch with their advisor throughout the process of formulating the dissertation project and carrying it through to completion.

All PhD students are required to serve as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI)/Teaching Assistant (TA) for at least one semester while in residence at Berkeley.

Qualifications

Applicants should hold an MS or MPH in a related field, as well as display a clear research orientation and firm knowledge of research techniques.

If an applicant does not have a Masters, they must reach out to faculty they are interested in working with to determine if they are good candidates for the PhD and receive approval by the faculty to apply to the EHS PhD program. They will be expected to list the faculty member who gave them approval to apply. If they do not receive approval, they are not eligible but may be eligible to apply to the EHS MS or EHS MPH program. Please go here for more information on those programs and the requirements.

Employment

This program is designed to prepare students for careers as independent researchers, educators or managers in the field of environmental health sciences.

Recommendations for Competitive Applicants

Submissions of GRE scores are optional but recommended for this program, especially if you have no other evidence of quantitative, verbal, or analytical abilities in your application.

Admissions

Most successful applicants establish rapport with potential faculty mentors long before applying to the program. Prospective students applying directly to the program should contact faculty members whose research is of interest to them about the possibility of mentorship as soon as possible. Prospective applicants should closely read recent faculty research, recently funded grant abstracts, and be prepared to discuss with faculty how their specific skills, interests and career goals intersect with the activities in the faculty member’s research group. Most successful applicants are in communication with faculty about these issues no later than the summer before the application deadline.

Please note you can reach out to faculty listed in the “Environmental Health Sciences Faculty” section as well the following affiliated faculty that are Environmental Health Sciences Graduate Group Members: Lisa Barcellos, PhD, MPH; Jason Corburn, PhD, MCP; Brenda Eskenazi, MA, PhD; Ayesha Mahmud, PhD; Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD, MPH; and Amy Pickering, PhD. All of these faculty members – both EHS faculty and affiliated faculty listed here – may be primary academic mentors for PhD students.