Update November 4, 2024: At this point in the semester, I no longer have the capacity to reply to individual requests concerning graduate admissions. I plan to arrange phone or video calls with a subset of candidates after reviewing applications. If you apply, I look forward to reading your application!
Up to two positions in the Ph.D. program of Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science will be available in our research group, with start date in August 2025. Applicants must have strong quantitative backgrounds. Each student who takes on one of these positions will, over the course of five years and in collaboration with me (William Boos), produce a body of original research that constitutes a doctoral thesis. Our group has several focus areas for possible thesis topics, but we also encourage you to bring your own ideas. See here for more information on our Ph.D. program.
Students in our Ph.D. program must pass the qualifying exam near the end of the second year, and are expected to serve as a teaching assistant for at least two semesters during the five-year program. Serving as a teaching assistant for these two semesters provides what we consider the minimum amount of teaching experience needed for many careers, including those in academia.
These graduate student positions include financial support for the duration of your studies, typically five years. Details of this support are determined by the contract between the University of California and the United Auto Workers Union, which UC graduate students have joined. The total funding that is used to support your five years of graduate studies usually exceeds USD 500,000 and comes from a variety of sources, primarily governmental research grants to our research group; fellowship programs and compensation for teaching assistant duties may also contribute.
Prospective students who are interested in this opportunity are encouraged to apply to the EPS Graduate Program and list me as your preferred faculty advisor. I will arrange video calls with a subset of candidates after applications are reviewed (typically in January and February). I likely do not have the capacity to correspond or meet individually before the application deadline, but I encourage you to email me to let me know your application is coming. Any manuscript drafts, project reports, or similar writing samples that you can submit will be helpful; you can include these with your formal application or send them to me separately by email.
Berkeley charges an application fee of USD 135 for US citizens and Permanent Residents, and USD 155 for all others. Students who cannot afford to pay this application fee can apply for a fee waiver if they are a US citizen or Permanent Resident. Unfortunately, Berkeley does not offer fee waivers for international students. However, if you are an international student who cannot afford to pay the application fee, you may upload a single PDF file containing a complete transcript (unofficial is fine), a personal statement, a statement of purpose, and a cover letter briefly explaining your inability to pay the application fee to this web portal by November 1, 2024 (roughly one month ahead of Berkeley’s official application deadline); then send me an email telling me you have done so. Students whose applications are very strongly competitive will be contacted and asked to provide a full application, including reference letters, by the official university deadline, and our research group will pay your $155 application fee.