How do graduate students apply?
Students apply directly to one of the six Ph.D. programs listed (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Crop and Soil Sciences, Geosciences, or Materials Science and Engineering) and in their application they should mention an interest in BRIE. (Students may also apply to the Intercollege Program in Materials Science.) BRIE applicants will be nominated for BRIE by faculty as soon as they are evaluated and accepted by the home disciplinary graduate program. Nominated students will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary BRIE executive committee for invitation into the program. This committee consists of Drs. Brantley, Brenchley, Freeman, Logan, and Bruns. Students are also encouraged to write to BRIE faculty directly.
Nominated students will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:

• GRE scores
• undergraduate GPA
• recommendations
• letter of interest
• evidence of ability to be involved in cross-disciplinary science
• experience in undergraduate or Masters research programs
• diversity within the program

Funding and expectations for time to degree

Over the course of his or her BRIE career, the BRIE student will be funded by a variety of sources, including NSF funding, University funding, and extramural monies. For the time that students are on NSF funding, they will receive a $27,500/year stipend, plus tuition and fees. For all BRIE students, the total time to degree will be no longer than the expectation for each individual program (4 yrs, Civil and Environmental Engineering; 4-5 yrs, Geosciences; 5 yrs, Soil Sciences, 5 yrs, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 4 yrs, Materials Science). Because several of the programs either require or promote teaching as part of the completion of the PhD degree (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Geosciences, Materials Science), in most cases the first year for a BRIE graduate student will be spent teaching and matriculating in disciplinary coursework. For those programs where more than one year of teaching is the norm, BRIE funding will substitute a jumpstart into research and the development of the teaching module for this extra year of teaching. For those students attracted to our program through the undergraduate recruitment program, the time to degree may also be accelerated.