Doctoral Curriculum

Proseminar: Students take a one-quarter course, PSYC 48000 Proseminar in Psychology, during which faculty members present summaries of their ongoing research. Students also write a research proposal that, if eligible, may be submitted for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship or similar application. Topics related to professional development are also covered.

Statistics Requirement: Students must complete STAT 22000 Statistical Methods and Applications or BUSN 41000 Business Statistics, or another Graduate Student Affairs and Curriculum Committee (GSAC)-approved equivalent course, along with PSYC 37300 Experimental Design and Statistical Modeling I and PSYC 37900 Experimental Design and Statistical Modeling II.

Trial Research Seminar: Students take the PSYC 42100 Trial Research Seminar in the spring quarter of the first year. The seminar supports formulation of the Trial Research Project and covers the purpose and use of advisory committees. Students are expected to assemble their advisory committee by the end of the course.

Breadth Requirement: Students must complete breadth coursework extending across different areas of psychological science as specified by their area requirements. For most areas, this includes a minimum of three doctoral-level courses in Psychology chosen in consultation with the student's advisor. Statistics courses and laboratory meetings may not be used to fulfill this requirement. 

All courses that fulfill the common graduate course curriculum must be taken for a letter grade; the courses must be passed with a grade of B or better. 

Students will complete their degrees working within one of the departmental specialized training and research areas: Cognition, Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Integrative Neuroscience, or Social Psychology. Area curricula specify advanced graduate courses, and may impose requirements in addition to the general departmental guidelines.  Area requirements are requirements in addition to the common graduate course curriculum and the departmental research and teaching requirements.  All courses, excluding workshop courses, that count toward area requirements must be taken for letter grades; students receiving a grade of B or better may count the course toward the area requirements. Workshop courses may be taken for pass/fail or with an R status (registered/audit). 

Trial Research Project
Each student will complete a trial research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor or advisors by the end of Spring quarter of the second year.  Successful completion of the trial research project is a prerequisite for PhD candidacy.

1. Formation of the Advisory Committee: At the end of the first year, students are required to form an advisory committee consisting of three faculty members. Typically, the chair of the committee is the student's primary research advisor and must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department.  At least one other member of the committee must be a faculty, emeritus faculty or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department. The third member of the committee may be from outside of the Psychology Department, provided that the chair of the trial research committee gives his or her approval. The advisory committee will serve as a resource to aid each student with their trial research project, provide advice, and evaluate the trial research defense.
    
2. Initiating the Trial Research Project: The student should initiate discussion of their trial research project with their advisory committee members as soon as possible, but ideally by the start of Autumn quarter of their second year.  By the end of the Autumn quarter in their second year, students are expected to meet with members of their advisory committee to update them on their trial research project proposal. At a minimum, this meeting consists of a student presentation of the proposed work and discussion of the plan with the members of the committee.  Each student should discuss the expectations for the trial research project and defense with their advisor before beginning the process. 
    
3. Trial Research Paper Submission and Defense. Students must submit their trial research paper and defend their project at a hearing with their committee before the end of the Spring quarter of their second year. At this hearing, the committee will also assess the student’s breadth and depth of knowledge regarding their research problem.

Dissertation

1. Advisory Committee Role: Similar to the trial research process, each student’s three-member advisory committee will support the dissertation process, offering guidance, advice, and evaluation of both the dissertation proposal and the final dissertation. Typically, the chair of this committee is the student's primary research advisor and must be a faculty or emeritus faculty member in the Psychology Department.  At least one other member of the committee must also be a faculty, emeritus faculty, or affiliated faculty member in the Psychology Department.  The third member can be a faculty member from any department at the University of Chicago, subject to approval by the committee chair.
    
2. Dissertation Proposal Process: Each student must develop independent research projects, primarily under the guidance of their advisor and with support from the other advisory committee members. Students are required to prepare a written dissertation proposal and submit it to their committee. This proposal should clearly define the research question(s), contextualize them within the relevant literature, and outline a detailed plan for conducting the dissertation research. This plan should include the proposed methodology and analyses, anticipated outcomes, and a timeline for completion. The feasibility of the project should also be discussed, potentially including preliminary data. Once the advisor approves, the student may schedule an oral defense of the proposal with their advisory committee. Each student should discuss the expectations for the dissertation proposal process with their advisor before beginning the process.
    
3. Admission to PhD Candidacy: To be admitted to PhD candidacy, a student must have successfully completed the following: (a) the Common Graduate Curriculum (completion of the core coursework); (b) Area Course Requirements (fulfillment of course requirements specified by their program or an individual course of study, approved by the GSAC); (c) Trial Research Project (successful completion of a trial research project); (d) Dissertation Proposal (approval of the dissertation proposal by all members of the student's dissertation committee following the oral defense). 
    
4. Dissertation Submission and Defense: Following approval by the advisor, the completed dissertation must be submitted to the two additional advisory committee members plus an ‘outside reader’ for review. The outside reader may be a faculty member at the University of Chicago, or a scientist at another institution (with a PhD) and must be approved by the student's advisor.  Once the advisor consents, the student may schedule an oral defense of the dissertation.  This oral exam is conducted by the three advisory committee members and the outside reader.  If, after the oral defense, all committee members approve the dissertation document and defense, the student has met the Psychology Department's requirements for the PhD degree.
    

Practical pedagogical training is a required component of doctoral education in the Department of Psychology. 

Students Enrolling Autumn 2025 and Later

All students must meet the divisional teaching requirement as a condition for graduation.

Students Enrolling Autumn 2024 and Earlier

Beginning as early as the second year of graduate school, students may start fulfilling their five required teaching assignments, but the general expectation is that students will start completing these in Year 3, after having completed most of their coursework. 

Additional Teaching Assignments: Students interested in accepting teaching assignments beyond the five required by the Psychology Department or those not counting towards the department’s teaching requirements should follow these steps:

1. Advisor Approval: Discuss the additional teaching opportunity with your advisor(s) and obtain their approval.
2. Department Notification: Email Kristi Schonwald at kschonwa@uchicago.edu with details of the teaching opportunity. Ensure that the email confirms you have received your advisor's approval.
3. Department Review: The department will verify that you are in good academic standing and have met all program milestones appropriate for your stage before forwarding your request to the Dean of Students for further review.

Approval Limits and Exceptions: The Department of Psychology and the Dean of Students will approve up to three additional teaching assignments per year that do not fulfill academic and funding requirements. For non-standard teaching opportunities, such as a single-weekend workshop, students may petition the Dean of Students for exceptions to this three-assignment limit.

All students who successfully complete the doctoral program of study receive a PhD in Psychology.  The Department of Psychology does not have a stand-alone master's program. However, students admitted to doctoral study may take the MA degree as an optional step in the doctoral program or at the same time as the PhD degree if they have completed 1) common graduate coursework and the coursework required by the student’s area and 2) the Trial Research Project while an enrolled doctoral student in the program. A student who leaves the doctoral program may also apply for a terminal MA degree if the student has completed the departmental requirements for the MA in Psychology.  

Faculty Advisors

Advisors must be faculty members or emeritus faculty members in the Department of Psychology. Affiliated faculty members and departmental associates are not permitted to serve as primary doctoral advisors. Students must be affiliated with one or more faculty advisors throughout graduate training, although brief interim periods between advisors may occur during approved transitions. Faculty advisors support students in research, teaching, professional development, and career planning.

If a faculty advisor is unable to continue in their role due to departure from the department, disability, or death, the DGS would work with the student to identify a new advisor. If one is not identified after one quarter, GSAC would review the circumstances and establish a plan. If the student still does not have a primary advisor after two quarters, GSAC would review whether the student can continue in the program.

Faculty advisors are responsible for providing regular, substantive, one-on-one mentorship to their graduate students. Lab meetings, peer mentoring, day-to-day training by graduate students or postdoctoral scholars, and other forms of collaborative lab support are valuable, but they do not substitute for direct faculty advising. Faculty advisors are expected to remain actively informed about each student’s research progress, meet one-on-one often enough to provide timely guidance, set clear expectations, give feedback on work in progress, and help students identify concrete next steps toward program milestones and professional development goals. Extended periods without direct one-on-one faculty advising are inconsistent with the department’s mentoring expectations. When graduate students or postdoctoral scholars help guide the work of graduate or undergraduate students, that guidance should occur in coordination with the faculty advisor and must not substitute for faculty oversight or formal supervisory responsibilities.

Advisory Committees

Each student must form an advisory committee by the end of the spring quarter of the first year. The advisory committee includes the student’s primary advisor and two additional faculty members. At least two members of the advisory committee must be faculty members in the Department of Psychology. A third member may be from outside the department with approval of the advisor.

The advisory committee provides ongoing guidance on research development, progress through program milestones, professional development, and career planning. Students are expected to meet with their advisory committee at least once each year and are encouraged to consult committee members as needed throughout the program. The advisory committee also evaluates the student’s Trial Research Project, Dissertation Proposal, and Dissertation Defense.

Addressing Advising Concerns

Strong mentoring relationships often include respectful disagreement about research ideas, methods, interpretation, professional choices, and timelines. Students and advisors are expected to engage in such disagreements constructively and in good faith. When a student has a concern about the advising relationship that cannot be addressed directly, or when the student would prefer guidance before raising the issue with the advisor, the student may contact their advisory committee, the Director of Graduate Studies, their area head, the Department Chair, or another faculty member for support. Students who are unsure whom to contact should reach out to the Director of Graduate Studies. If informal procedures to resolve concerns are not successful, students should consult the Dean of Students in SSD. 
Additional resource: see the  SSD Grievance Policy.

Switching Advisors

Students may change advisors for academic, professional, or mentoring reasons. The Department recognizes that advising relationships can evolve during doctoral training and will work with students to support appropriate transitions when a change is needed. Because advisor changes can affect research direction, milestone planning, and continuity of mentorship, students should contact the Director of Graduate Studies as early as possible when considering a change.

In most cases, students should work with the DGS and relevant faculty to identify a new advising plan before leaving the current advising relationship. Students in the Department of Psychology are required to have a faculty advisor. In the rare event that a student leaves an advising relationship before a new advisor has been identified, the DGS will work closely with the student during the transition. Students without an advisor in this situation will have one quarter to identify a new faculty advisor.  If one is not identified after one quarter, GSAC would review the circumstances and assess whether the student can continue in the program. 

Mentoring Expectations

Students are expected to take initiative in seeking guidance, communicating concerns, developing a research program, completing coursework, and making timely progress toward the dissertation. Faculty advisors are expected to set clear expectations, meet regularly with students, provide timely feedback, support professional development, and discuss career goals at least annually. Advisory committees meet with students at least once per year for evaluation and feedback, typically in connection with the SAR process.

Active Department Citizenship

Students and faculty are expected to participate in departmental activities, including colloquia, workshops, brown bags, and other program events. Graduate students are encouraged to take on leadership roles and to build working  relationships with faculty beyond the primary advisor and advisory committee.