Graduate Certificate in Astrobiology: How to Apply

Prospective participants apply to the Ph.D. program in one of our participating departments, to the UW Graduate School, and, concurrently, to our Graduate Certificate Program in Astrobiology.

1. Apply to the Ph.D. program in the participating department of your choice.

In general, we accept students into our program in the Autumn Quarter of each year-as do most of our participating departments-and application deadlines vary with each department.

Contact departments through the links below for their PhD Program application information and materials.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Astronomy
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Genome Sciences
• Earth and Space Sciences
• History (of Science)
• Microbiology
• Oceanography

2. Apply to the UW Graduate School

Applications for admission to the UW Graduate School may be obtained directly from the department(s) to which you wish to apply.

You may also visit the UW Graduate School's Admissions Main Page for more information, including:

• Applying on-line
• International applicants
• Minority applicants
• Financial support and tuition expenses

3. Apply to the Graduate Certificate Program in Astrobiology

To indicate you wish to be considered for admission to the UW Graduate Certificate Program in Astrobiology:

1. Send us a copy of your complete departmental application packet, including:
   
   
   • Forms/statements/materials required by the department
   • Graduate School application materials
   • Hardcopies of any on-line application submissions
   • Transcripts
   • GRE scores
   
   

   NOTE: If you apply to multiple departments, you must send us a complete copy of each departmental application packet.

2. Instruct each person sending a letter of recommendation to send us a photocopy.
   
   
3. Prepare a cover letter (one to two single-spaced pages) expressing your interest in our Astrobiology Program and addressing the following questions:
   
   
   • Which topics in astrobiology are of particular interest to you, and how would you like to shape your graduate career to address those topics?
   • Which departments outside of your primary department are you most interested in for collaboration and study?
   • Are there aspects of your career to date that demonstrate your skills and interest in some portion of the various fields subsumed by Astrobiology?
   • Are there aspects of your career that demonstrate your commitment to interdisciplinarity?
   • What would you bring to the UW Astrobiology community?

Mail all Astrobiology Program application materials to:

Astrobiology Program Admissions
The Graduate School Box 352192
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-2192