Our Programs

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The African Diaspora Studies graduate program focuses on life, culture, and social organization (broadly defined) of persons of African descent. Africa, North America, and the Caribbean are central components of the program. Students are expected to apply a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the international and national divisions of race as they pertain to persons of African descent, wherever they may find themselves. Such an approach is to be employed for the study and understanding of development and underdevelopment, domination and power, self-determination, cooperation, and aesthetic and creative expression. Issues of identity construction, marginality, territoriality, and the universal role of race in the organization of political economy and in class formation are critical to the program’s intellectual agenda.

Applications are accepted for the PhD program only.

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The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics offers programs leading to PhD degrees. Due to quota limitations, students are rarely admitted for the master’s degree, although it may be awarded to students who are pursuing work toward the PhD in our program (or in another field at Berkeley) after fulfillment of the appropriate MS requirements.

The Agricultural and Resource Economics Program is relatively flexible; however, the program stresses economic theory, quantitative methods, and two elective fields defined in consultation with the graduate adviser. Some common elective fields include development economics, natural resource or environmental economics, agricultural policy, and international markets and trade.

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The interdisciplinary program of graduate study in Ancient History and Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean Archaeology (AHMA) is conducted by a group that includes more than 20 faculty members affiliated with seven different Berkeley departments as well as the Graduate Theological Union. A chair, a graduate adviser, and a student affairs officer administer the program.

The AHMA program offers PhD degrees in areas that combine work in archaeology and history and related disciplines of ancient studies. Most of its graduates have successfully secured teaching positions in Departments of Classics, Art History, History, Anthropology or Near Eastern Studies in colleges and universities in the US or abroad, including Bar-Ilan, Haifa, Volos, Oxford, Toronto, Columbia, Madison, Austin, and Pennsylvania.

Students are not admitted to work specifically for the MA degree, although those working toward the PhD may file for an MA after fulfillment of the requirements for Stage 1. Students work closely with faculty in courses, seminars, and independent research projects to develop independent thought as well as a thorough knowledge of their fields and their critical methods.

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This coursework-based masters’ program offers selected outstanding Berkeley undergraduates already engaged in mentored research with archaeology faculty the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge while participating in graduate seminars with doctoral students. The masters’ degree is a desirable employment credential in Cultural Resource Management (CRM), so that students completing this degree will have immediate employment potential. It can also serve as the first step toward a doctoral program in anthropological archaeology. This program is only open to University of California, Berkeley, undergraduates pursuing a degree in Anthropology, ideally applying in their senior year.

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The Department of Anthropology offers a PhD in Anthropology, with concentrations in Sociocultural Anthropology, Archaeology, or Biological Anthropology. The PhD in Anthropology is concerned with diverse analytic and substantive problems in the contemporary world and includes research sites globally. For example, the PhD in Anthropology might focus on issues of political economy and finance; the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality; psychological and medical anthropology; the study of religion and secularism; genomics and the anthropology of science and reason; folklore theory; linguistic anthropology; long term human-environment relations; cultural politics of food, energy, and space; aging and the life course; historic archaeology, archaeology of the contemporary; bioarchaeology, biocultural approaches in human biology; human evolution, cultural politics of identity, space, and the body; agrarian micropolitics; or urban anthropology.

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The Department of Mathematics offers both a PhD program in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.

Students are admitted for specific degree programs: the PhD in Mathematics or PhD in Applied Mathematics. Requirements for the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics PhDs differ only in minor respects, and no distinction is made between the two in day-to-day matters. Graduate students typically take 5-6 years to complete the doctorate.

Continuing students wishing to transfer from one program to another should consult the graduate advisor in 910 Evans Hall. Transfers between the two PhD programs are fairly routine but must be done prior to taking the qualifying examination. It is a formal policy of the department that an applicant to the PhD program who has previous graduate work in mathematics must present very strong evidence of capability for mathematical research.

Students seeking to transfer to the department’s PhD programs from other campus programs, including the Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science, must formally apply and should consult the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies.

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The Applied Science and Technology graduate group is administered by the College of Engineering. The program is aimed at students with research interests that are truly interdisciplinary. Faculty members associated with the program are drawn from several departments within the College of Engineering, as well as from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Statistics, and Mathematics. Topics of interest include the properties and applications of nanostructures; thin-film and interface science; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); short-wavelength coherent radiation; X-ray micro-imaging for the life and physical sciences; plasma physics and plasma-assisted materials processing; laser-induced chemical processes; laser probing of complex reacting systems; ultrafast phenomena; particle accelerators; nonlinear dynamics; chaotic systems; numerical methods; and computational fluid mechanics and reacting flows, etc.

Within the program students design their own course of study in consultation with their advisors, choosing from the vast array of technical offerings throughout the campus. The chosen coursework should prepare the student for interdisciplinary research. Students in the PhD program may pursue a Designated Emphasis (DE) such as the DE in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (DE NSE); Energy, Science, and Technology (DE EST); and Computational Science and Engineering (DE CSE).

Graduate research in the AS&T Program benefits from state-of-the-art experimental facilities on the Berkeley campus and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Among these facilities is the National Center for Electron Microscopy, which has the world’s highest resolution high-voltage microscope; a microfabrication lab for student work involving lithography; MEMS ion-implantation and thin-film deposition; an integrated sensors laboratory, femtosecond laser laboratories; optical, electrical, and magnetic resonance spectroscopies; short-wavelength laser and Xray research laboratories; an unparalleled variety of material, chemical, and surface science analytic equipment; and a soft X-ray synchrotron dedicated to materials, chemical, and biological research using high-brightness and partially coherent X-rays. The interdisciplinary collaborative nature of the AS&T Program provides ample opportunity to develop new research directions by making the best use possible of these facilities and the other research instrumentation available to AS&T faculty.

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The MArch/MS SEMM concurrent degree is designed for students who want to work at the intersection of architectural design and structural engineering. Whether you are an architecture student drawn to the technical and structural dimensions of design or an engineer inspired by architecture’s creative possibilities, the program brings together Berkeley’s internationally recognized strengths in both fields. Students develop the creative and technical expertise needed to shape the future of the built environment through an integrated understanding of design, structure, materials, and construction.

Through the concurrent degree, students explore how structural systems influence architectural form, how material and construction choices expand design possibilities, and how engineering innovation can support ambitious architectural ideas. The program combines Berkeley’s design-centered architectural curriculum with advanced study in structural analysis, mechanics, materials, computational methods, and seismic design. Working across disciplines, students learn to navigate both the conceptual and technical dimensions of building design while developing the ability to collaborate effectively with architects, engineers, fabricators, and builders.

Interdisciplinary courses across MArch and MS SEMM degrees uniquely prepare graduating students to bridge the traditional divide between architecture and engineering. They pursue careers in integrated design practice, structural engineering, building technology, façade engineering, research, and other fields where design excellence and technical performance are equally essential.

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The concurrent Master of Architecture and Master of City Planning (MArch/MCP) program prepares students to shape the built environment across scales: from individual buildings and public spaces to neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Combining Berkeley’s design-centered architectural education with advanced study in planning, policy, and urban development, the program equips students to address the complex social, environmental, and spatial challenges facing communities today.

Students develop a strong foundation in architectural design through Berkeley’s rigorous studio curriculum while building expertise in planning theory, urban economics, housing, transportation, community development, and environmental planning. The concurrent degree encourages students to connect creative design practice with the policies, institutions, and public processes that influence how cities grow and change.

Rooted in Berkeley’s longstanding tradition of interdisciplinary environmental design, the MArch/MCP program prepares graduates to lead collaborative efforts that advance more equitable, sustainable, and resilient futures. Graduates pursue careers in urban design, planning, public policy, housing and community development, real estate and development, and other fields that benefit from expertise in both architecture and planning.

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The department offers an accredited professional Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. We foreground architecture as an instrument of change across all our degree programs. Our faculty share an attitude of “critical optimism” — criticality towards established norms and practices and optimism in the belief that innovative forms of architectural design, teaching and research will lead to decarbonized and just futures.

Master of Architecture (MArch)
The Master of Architecture program is designed to provide students seeking an accredited professional degree in architecture with a comprehensive and challenging education leading to practice. The program is centered around the design studio and enriched by courses in building science and technology, sustainability and history, theory, and society. MArch students work closely with classmates and professors in our light-filled open-plan studio to develop and represent their design ideas, and are encouraged to identify their own creative and research passions.

Design is the core of the curriculum, and students enroll in an architectural design studio each semester. Working collaboratively with their cohort in design studios, students learn how to create architecture that serves both communities and the environment over the long term.

We offer two tracks leading to the MArch degree, a two-year track and a three-year track, depending on previous educational experience and the recommendation of the admissions committee. More details about eligibility for each track can be found on our webpage.

Berkeley’s MArch is a NAAB-accredited and STEM designated full-time residential degree program.

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The department offers an accredited professional Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.

Master of Science (MS)
This research-based degree program offers the opportunity for advanced research in specialized areas within the increasingly complex subfields within architecture, preparing students for a range of careers. The degree emphasizes coursework and supervised independent research in one of the following areas of study: Building Science, Technology and Sustainability or History, Theory and Society. The undergraduate degrees of our entering M.S. students are diverse, including architecture, history, engineering, environmental sciences, or a range of other disciplines related to the built environment.

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The department offers an accredited professional Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
This advanced research-based degree prepares students with outstanding academic records for careers in teaching and scholarship in architecture and its related areas, or in roles in government or private companies and organizations that require specialization and experience in research. The program emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach of both depth and breadth as part of the student’s formal coursework and original research. The student defines their specialty (the basis for the dissertation), in one of the following areas of study: Building Science, Technology and Sustainability or History, Theory and Society.

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The two-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Program supports 12 graduate students per year and strives to graduate working artists who will continue to demonstrate significant artistic, critical and cultural impacts across a wide array of disciplines. Incoming MFA students are expected to already be deeply engaged in their creative practice and possess technical proficiency in their chosen media. Graduate coursework and independent study are designed to help students develop a critical understanding of their creative work in the multiple contexts of specific localities and global contemporary art. Our graduate students are encouraged to take university-wide and cross-disciplinary courses linked to their research interests, studying and collaborating with faculty and graduate students in areas as diverse as Geography, Environmental Sciences, Classics, Art History, Disability Studies, Philosophy, Cognitive Science, Interactive Design, Rhetoric, Film Studies, and Comparative Literature.

The Program helps students develop a working relationship to audiences by facilitating the exposure of graduate student work through museums and galleries, public art, online, publications, and through other forms of engagement and dissemination. Peer-to-peer discussion and critique form the heart of Berkeley’s MFA Program. Students respond to their peers’ work and learn to think, speak, and write critically about art’s functions and possibilities. A Visiting Artist Lecture Series, along with studio visits, offers graduate students the chance to connect with internationally-known artists. Students also have opportunities to teach, and they are mentored and closely supported by a faculty member. Exhibitions in the first and second years of study require students to maintain a rigorous pace of creative research and establish a professional art practice. The final thesis exhibition, completed after the second year of study, is held at the Berkeley Art Museum.

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Berkeley’s Asian Studies MA is an interdisciplinary degree program that provides students with access to the university’s world-renowned faculty and facilities. The MA program cuts across conventional disciplinary lines, providing students interested in regions from northeast Asia to south and southeast Asia an opportunity to take courses in the humanities and interpretative social sciences, and conduct in-depth research in their specialty. Students engage in course work in multiple departments, gain reading knowledge of at least one — and often two — Asian languages, and have the flexibility to design a cross-disciplinary individual program according to their own interests and approaches. No two programs are alike, and students work closely with the Student Affairs officer and with a faculty mentor in designing their customized academic plan.

The Group in Asian Studies is housed in Berkeley’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, under the Division of Arts and Humanities in the College of Letters and Science, and benefits from long-standing relationships with many other academic departments and programs across the campus engaged in research on Asia. Bringing together approaches from disciplines from across the humanities and the interpretative social sciences, the Asian Studies MA program offers comprehensive and advanced training in the languages and cultures of the region, and prepares students to enter a wide range of related doctoral programs, as well as professional careers in fields related to Asia.

The University of California is a lively, international renowned center of scholarship and teaching in the area of Asian Studies. Faculty from across campus engage in teaching and cutting-edge research concerning Asia. Our students take classes and work with outstanding faculty in disciplines as diverse as Anthropology, Buddhist Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Film/Media Studies, Geography, History, History of Art, Journalism, Music, Philosophy, Religion, South and Southeast Asian Studies, Sociology, and others.

These resources are supplemented by extensive library facilities and by the programs of the six major area centers of the Institute of East Asian Studies that offer lecture series and conferences throughout the year. The Bay Area itself, with its diverse communities, museums, performing arts, religious institutions, and thriving financial and technological sectors provides unlimited cultural opportunities for the student interested in reaching beyond the confines of the university.

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The Department of Astronomy offers a graduate program aimed at the PhD degree in astrophysics. Entering students need not have majored in astronomy, although some background in astronomy is desirable. A strong background in physics, however, is essential.

Research is a major part of the PhD program, and the department offers opportunities in a wide variety of fields, including theoretical and observational astrophysics; infrared, optical, and radio astronomy; time-domain astronomy; high-energy astrophysics and cosmology; discovery and analysis of exoplanets; star formation and stellar evolution.

The department has established six years as the normative time to degree. Normative time is the elapsed calendar time in years that under normal circumstances will be needed to complete all requirements for the PhD, assuming a student who enters without deficiencies, who is engaged in full-time uninterrupted study, and who is making desirable progress toward the degree.

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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The PhD in Bioengineering is granted jointly by Berkeley and UCSF, two of the top public universities in the world in engineering and health sciences. Our interdisciplinary program combines the outstanding resources in biomedical and clinical sciences at UCSF with the excellence in engineering, physical, and life sciences at Berkeley.

Administered by the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley and the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF, all students in the program are simultaneously enrolled in the graduate divisions of both the San Francisco and Berkeley campuses and are free to take advantage of courses and research opportunities on both campuses. The program awards the PhD in Bioengineering degree from both campuses.

Faculty
For a full list of our core bioengineering PhD faculty, visit this page.

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The Department of Bioengineering offers a Master of Engineering (MEng) in Bioengineering, PhD in Bioengineering, and a Master of Translational Medicine (MTM). The PhD and MTM are operated in partnership with UC San Francisco, and degrees are granted jointly by UCSF and UC Berkeley.

Master of Engineering (MEng)
The Master of Engineering is a one-year master’s degree with a strong emphasis on engineering and entrepreneurship designed for students planning to move directly into industry after completing the program.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
The PhD in Bioengineering is granted jointly by Berkeley and UCSF, two of the top public universities in the world in engineering and health sciences. Our interdisciplinary program combines the outstanding resources in biomedical and clinical sciences at UCSF with the excellence in engineering, physical, and life sciences at Berkeley.

Administered by the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley and the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF, all students in the program are simultaneously enrolled in the graduate divisions of both the San Francisco and Berkeley campuses and are free to take advantage of courses and research opportunities on both campuses. The program awards the PhD in Bioengineering degree from both campuses.

Master of Translational Medicine (MTM)
The MTM program is a cross-campus collaboration between the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley and the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF. The MTM program is an intense year of coursework designed around the main content themes of engineering, clinical needs & strategies, and business, entrepreneurship & technology. The centerpiece of the curriculum is the capstone project course. The MTM program is specifically designed for students seeking to build a career in medical-technology innovation and development. Through our highly specialized curriculum, students are provided with the fundamental skills necessary to become experts at transforming new biomedical discoveries into real-world clinical products. The MTM program is best suited for students who intend to pursue a professional career developing new medical technologies, and who wish to become leaders in the emerging field of translational medicine.
Faculty
Berkeley department faculty can be found on the department website. For a full list of our core PhD faculty, visit this page.

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The Biophysics Graduate Group is an interdisciplinary PhD program hosted by the California Institute for the Biosciences (QB3). Our program trains graduate students for careers at the interface of the biological and physical sciences. This interdisciplinary group provides an opportunity for interested students to receive training leading to the PhD in Biophysics. Approximately 60 faculty members are affiliated with the Biophysics Group, spanning over a dozen departments and groups at UC Berkeley. Students may work under the supervision of any faculty member belonging to the group.

Students interested in pursuing graduate work in biophysics typically acquire undergraduate training in one of the basic physical or biological sciences and during the first two years at UC Berkeley take self-selected courses in topics such as biology, physics, and chemistry to fill in any gaps in foundational knowledge.

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Many issues in the health, medical, and biological sciences are addressed by collecting and exploring relevant data. The development and application of techniques to better understand such data is the fundamental concern of the Group in Biostatistics. The program offers training in theory of statistics and biostatistics, the computer implementation of analytic methods, and opportunities to use this knowledge in areas of biological/medical research. The curriculum is taught principally by members of the Division of Biostatistics (School of Public Health) and the Department of Statistics (College of Letters & Science) and provides a wide range of ideas and approaches to the analysis of data.

Established in 1955, the Graduate Group in Biostatistics curriculum offers instruction in statistical theory and computing, as well as opportunities to rigorously apply this knowledge in biological and medical research. The degree programs offered (listed below) are appropriate for students who have either a strong mathematical and statistical background with a focus in the biomedical sciences, or degrees in the biological sciences with a focus in mathematics and statistics. (The MA degree can be obtained under Plan I or Plan II. The PhD dissertation is administered according to Plan B.)

Master of Arts (MA)
The Masters of Arts Degree in Biostatistics is completed in 4 semesters. Candidates for this degree are expected to earn 48 units with courses in biostatistics, statistics, public health, and biology. Students pursuing the MA degree in Biostatistics will be expected, upon completion of the program, to be well-versed in the following areas:

Understand the foundations of statistical inference, e.g., maximum likelihood estimation, regression.

Have grounding in theoretical framework and ability to apply existing estimators in following categories:

Computational statistics

Multivariate analysis

Categorical data analysis

Survival analysis

Longitudinal data analysis

Causal inference

Clinical trials

Statistical genomics

Statistical computing

Have fluency in statistical programming languages for both analysis using classic methods and implementation of novel methods.

Identify and apply sound and pertinent methods to address statistical inference questions in biological, public health, and medical research.

Effectively communicate research findings, orally and in writing.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
All Biostatistics PhD students are required to hold a master’s degree in Biostatistics or a related field. The PhD degree requires 4-6 semesters of course work in biostatistics, statistics, and at least one other subject area (e.g., biology, environmental health, epidemiology). There are no unit or course requirements for the PhD, so a program of courses appropriate to a student’s background and interests may be developed. Courses cover traditional topics as well as recent advances in biostatistics and in statistics. Those completing the PhD will have acquired a deep knowledge and understanding of these subject areas. Since graduates with doctorates often assume academic careers in research and teaching, a high degree of mastery in research design, theory, methodology, and execution is expected as well as the ability to communicate and present research findings and area of expertise in a clear, understandable manner.

Many doctoral graduates accept faculty positions in schools of public health, medicine, and statistics and/or math departments at colleges and universities, both in the United States and abroad. Some graduates take research positions, including with pharmaceutical companies, hospital research units, non-profits, and within the tech sector.

Biostatistics Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with Designated Emphasis (DE)
Students enrolled in the UC Berkeley Biostatistics doctoral (PhD) program are eligible to apply for interdisciplinary study in a Designated Emphasis (DE), which we refer to as the Associated Programs. At UC Berkeley, acquiring a DE is like earning a “minor” with a PhD degree. Applications for Designated Emphasis are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year. However, students must apply prior to taking the qualifying exam and are strongly encouraged to begin the application process early in the third semester of graduate study. To be accepted to a Designated Emphasis, you must be a PhD candidate in one of the Associated Programs (e.g., Biostatistics). The two DE programs offered in biostatistics are:

Designated Emphasis in Computational and Genomic Biology (DE-CGB)
Designated Emphasis in Computational Science and Data Science and Engineering (DE-CSDE)
The goal of the DE-CGB program is to train a new generation of computational biology researchers by enhancing and facilitating interactions between faculty, postdoctoral scholars and students in the Associated Programs through a flexible and integrated research and teaching environment which transcends traditional departmental boundaries. Upon successful completion of all requirements and dissertation, your transcript and diploma will read, “PhD in Biostatistics with a Designated Emphasis in Computational & Genomic Biology.”

The DE in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) promises to bring a new paradigm to interdisciplinary research and education. The team-oriented approach provides our students with a solid foundation in the different facets of genomic research and ensuing competitive edge for the most desirable jobs in academia and industry, which increasingly require interdisciplinary training by combining high-performance computing, mathematical modeling, scientific and engineering theory, and analysis of large scale databases of observations. Upon successful completion of all requirements and dissertation, your transcript and diploma will read, “PhD in Biostatistics with a Designated Emphasis in Computational Science and Engineering.”

Details

Overview

Many issues in the health, medical, and biological sciences are addressed by collecting and exploring relevant data. The development and application of techniques to better understand such data is the fundamental concern of the Group in Biostatistics. The program offers training in theory of statistics and biostatistics, the computer implementation of analytic methods, and opportunities to use this knowledge in areas of biological/medical research. The curriculum is taught principally by members of the Division of Biostatistics (School of Public Health) and the Department of Statistics (College of Letters & Science) and provides a wide range of ideas and approaches to the analysis of data.

Established in 1955, the Graduate Group in Biostatistics curriculum offers instruction in statistical theory and computing, as well as opportunities to rigorously apply this knowledge in biological and medical research. The degree programs offered (listed below) are appropriate for students who have either a strong mathematical and statistical background with a focus in the biomedical sciences, or degrees in the biological sciences with a focus in mathematics and statistics. (The MA degree can be obtained under Plan I or Plan II. The PhD dissertation is administered according to Plan B.)

Master of Arts (MA)
The Masters of Arts Degree in Biostatistics is completed in 4 semesters. Candidates for this degree are expected to earn 48 units with courses in biostatistics, statistics, public health, and biology. Students pursuing the MA degree in Biostatistics will be expected, upon completion of the program, to be well-versed in the following areas:

Understand the foundations of statistical inference, e.g., maximum likelihood estimation, regression.

Have grounding in theoretical framework and ability to apply existing estimators in following categories:

Computational statistics

Multivariate analysis

Categorical data analysis

Survival analysis

Longitudinal data analysis

Causal inference

Clinical trials

Statistical genomics

Statistical computing

Have fluency in statistical programming languages for both analysis using classic methods and implementation of novel methods.

Identify and apply sound and pertinent methods to address statistical inference questions in biological, public health, and medical research.

Effectively communicate research findings, orally and in writing.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
All Biostatistics PhD students are required to hold a master’s degree in Biostatistics or a related field. The PhD degree requires 4-6 semesters of course work in biostatistics, statistics, and at least one other subject area (e.g., biology, environmental health, epidemiology). There are no unit or course requirements for the PhD, so a program of courses appropriate to a student’s background and interests may be developed. Courses cover traditional topics as well as recent advances in biostatistics and in statistics. Those completing the PhD will have acquired a deep knowledge and understanding of these subject areas. Since graduates with doctorates often assume academic careers in research and teaching, a high degree of mastery in research design, theory, methodology, and execution is expected as well as the ability to communicate and present research findings and area of expertise in a clear, understandable manner.

Many doctoral graduates accept faculty positions in schools of public health, medicine, and statistics and/or math departments at colleges and universities, both in the United States and abroad. Some graduates take research positions, including with pharmaceutical companies, hospital research units, non-profits, and within the tech sector.

Biostatistics Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with Designated Emphasis (DE)
Students enrolled in the UC Berkeley Biostatistics doctoral (PhD) program are eligible to apply for interdisciplinary study in a Designated Emphasis (DE), which we refer to as the Associated Programs. At UC Berkeley, acquiring a DE is like earning a “minor” with a PhD degree. Applications for Designated Emphasis are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year. However, students must apply prior to taking the qualifying exam and are strongly encouraged to begin the application process early in the third semester of graduate study. To be accepted to a Designated Emphasis, you must be a PhD candidate in one of the Associated Programs (e.g., Biostatistics). The two DE programs offered in biostatistics are:

Designated Emphasis in Computational and Genomic Biology (DE-CGB)
Designated Emphasis in Computational Science and Data Science and Engineering (DE-CSDE)
The goal of the DE-CGB program is to train a new generation of computational biology researchers by enhancing and facilitating interactions between faculty, postdoctoral scholars and students in the Associated Programs through a flexible and integrated research and teaching environment which transcends traditional departmental boundaries. Upon successful completion of all requirements and dissertation, your transcript and diploma will read, “PhD in Biostatistics with a Designated Emphasis in Computational & Genomic Biology.”

The DE in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) promises to bring a new paradigm to interdisciplinary research and education. The team-oriented approach provides our students with a solid foundation in the different facets of genomic research and ensuing competitive edge for the most desirable jobs in academia and industry, which increasingly require interdisciplinary training by combining high-performance computing, mathematical modeling, scientific and engineering theory, and analysis of large scale databases of observations. Upon successful completion of all requirements and dissertation, your transcript and diploma will read, “PhD in Biostatistics with a Designated Emphasis in Computational Science and Engineering.”

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The Berkeley Group in Buddhist Studies offers an interdisciplinary program of study and research leading to a PhD degree in Buddhist Studies. The group, which cooperates closely with the Departments of South and Southeast Asian Studies (SSEAS) and East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC), emphasizes the study of Buddhism in its many forms within its Asian historical and cultural context.

The Group emphasizes the study of Buddhist texts in their original languages, as well as the appreciation of the historical, social, and cultural milieux from which the Buddhist textual legacy emerged. At the same time, students in the PhD program are encouraged to broaden and deepen their understanding of Buddhist phenomena by incorporating archaeological, ethnographic, and visual materials and perspectives.

The goal of our program is not only to provide students with the linguistic, methodological, and conceptual skills to produce significant new research on Buddhist phenomena but also to have students bring their research into dialogue with ongoing issues and concerns in the humanities writ large.

The PhD program in Buddhist Studies is designed for students who intend to become scholars and teachers at the university level.

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The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

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The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

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The students in the Concurrent Degree Program with MCS and MBA (MBA/MCS) will begin the first year in the Master of Climate Solutions Colloquium, which is a year-long series of speakers, outings, and events while they are enrolled in the MBA core. The Colloquium, which features guest speakers including leaders in sustainable business, as well as civic and scientific leaders, is designed to create connections between the MBA core materials and climate topics during the first year.

In their second year, MBA/MCS students will fully immerse themselves in the MCS program, together with MCS standalone students, creating a strong cohort. They will take both business and climate/sustainability courses, and a project-based capstone course.

The capstone and the colloquium, which are required for both standalone MCS and MBA/MCS students, are explicitly designed to tie together content, themes, and skills that cut across business and climate/sustainability and to ensure practical application of core ideas and to facilitate contact between students and practitioners. The capstone projects will address a practical climate-related challenge or opportunity faced by a real organization, including private businesses. This experience will leverage the core climate skills and knowledge taught in the MCS, as well as the leadership and business skills emphasized in the MBA, to engage students with applying that to generate a solution to a real climate challenge.

MBA/MCS students will be positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in both Rausser College and Haas School of Business for a full five semesters. Unlike the MBA only peers, the MBA/MCS students get to have two summers of internship and other experiences.

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The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

“The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.”

Details

Overview

“The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.”

Details

Overview

“The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.”

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees

In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA Program offers a rigorous general management curriculum that gives you the knowledge and skills to be a leader in any type of organization. Our career services support you in gaining access to the best jobs at the world’s most selective firms, furthering your career or launching a new one.

You learn from faculty members recognized worldwide for their research and thought leadership, and you join a diverse and talented student community embodying the core values of Berkeley-Haas: Question the Status Quo, Confidence Without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. Living these Defining Principles, you become a leader who redefines the way we do business.

Concurrent Degrees
In addition to the regular MBA curriculum, students can also apply for one of three concurrent degrees: the MBA/MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree, the MBA/MCS (Master of Climate Solutions) degree, the MBA/MEng (Business Administration and Engineering) degree, or the JD/MBA (Law) degree.

Certificate Programs
Three certificate programs are available within the program, which can be earned by completing the appropriate elective courses. These include the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate, the Certificate in Business Analytics, and the Michaels Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students also have the ability to complete graduate certificates offered in other departments, including the interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Food Systems.

Details

Overview

The Berkeley Haas PhD Program offers six fields of academic study, for a curriculum of unusual richness and breadth. Since the program enrolls only 14 to 16 new PhD students each year, you will work very closely with the faculty members in their chosen specialties. This close partnership, coupled with the diverse academic and cultural backgrounds of our PhD students, fosters an atmosphere of close collaboration and intellectual curiosity.

The Berkeley Haas PhD Program is strongly oriented toward discipline and research. Emphasis is placed on preparing you to evaluate the state of knowledge in your particular field and to advance it through the application of theory from the social sciences, mathematics, or statistics.

Upon applying to the program, you are required to choose a field of study, which will not only determine your course work but also focus your future employment opportunities. You may choose from the following fields:

Accounting
Business and Public Policy
Finance
Marketing- Consumer Behavior Track or Quantitative Track
Management of Organizations- Micro Track or Macro Track
Real Estate

Details

Overview

At Berkeley, graduate work in chemical and biomolecular engineering emphasizes the excitement of original research in frontier areas of applied science. Graduate students may pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering, or they may apply to the Product Development concentration to obtain an MS in Chemical Engineering. While formal courses are necessary to provide scientific fundamentals and intellectual breadth, the primary characteristic of Berkeley’s graduate experience is to participate in the quest for new knowledge. Graduate students and faculty collaborate as partners in scholarship, in learning, and in intellectual discovery.

Master’s Program
Professional Degree in Product Development Program (MS)
The PDP is a graduate-level degree program whose central aim is to fill the unmet need at national and international levels for graduates of chemical engineering and related disciplines who have knowledge and field experience in the complex process of transforming technical innovations into commercially successful products. In the space of one calendar year, PDP graduates will gain exposure to real-world product development practices in a range of chemical process-intensive industries including biotechnology, microelectronics, nanoscience, and consumer products (concentrations within the program). The PDP does not require a research thesis, but students will find completing the extensive coursework and field study assignment challenging. By combining elements of advanced technical knowledge with focused business-related training, the PDP aims to fill a specific niche in the “choice space” of graduate education options for engineering graduates.

PhD Program
The PhD program is designed to enlarge the body of knowledge of the student and, more importantly, to discover and develop talent for original, productive, and creative work in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Breadth of knowledge and professional training are achieved through advanced course work. To develop the creative talents of the student, a paramount emphasis in the PhD program is placed on intensive research, a project on which students work closely with one or more members of the faculty.

PhD students may choose to add a designated emphasis (DE) to their program. A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. Designated emphases open to students in this PhD program include Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE), Energy Sciences and Technology (DEEST), Communication, Computation and Statistics, Computational and Genomic Biology, and New Media.

M.S. in Bioprocess Engineering
The Master of Bioprocess Engineering (MBPE) program is designed to provide students with a unique opportunity to integrate classroom fundamentals, hands-on laboratory applications, and heavy interaction with a range of biotechnology companies spanning the biopharmaceutical, industrial biotech, and food tech industries.”

Details

Overview

At Berkeley, graduate work in chemical and biomolecular engineering emphasizes the excitement of original research in frontier areas of applied science. Graduate students may pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering, or they may apply to the Product Development concentration to obtain an MS in Chemical Engineering. While formal courses are necessary to provide scientific fundamentals and intellectual breadth, the primary characteristic of Berkeley’s graduate experience is to participate in the quest for new knowledge. Graduate students and faculty collaborate as partners in scholarship, in learning, and in intellectual discovery.

Master’s Program
Professional Degree in Product Development Program (MS)
The PDP is a graduate-level degree program whose central aim is to fill the unmet need at national and international levels for graduates of chemical engineering and related disciplines who have knowledge and field experience in the complex process of transforming technical innovations into commercially successful products. In the space of one calendar year, PDP graduates will gain exposure to real-world product development practices in a range of chemical process-intensive industries including biotechnology, microelectronics, nanoscience, and consumer products (concentrations within the program). The PDP does not require a research thesis, but students will find completing the extensive coursework and field study assignment challenging. By combining elements of advanced technical knowledge with focused business-related training, the PDP aims to fill a specific niche in the “choice space” of graduate education options for engineering graduates.

PhD Program
The PhD program is designed to enlarge the body of knowledge of the student and, more importantly, to discover and develop talent for original, productive, and creative work in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Breadth of knowledge and professional training are achieved through advanced course work. To develop the creative talents of the student, a paramount emphasis in the PhD program is placed on intensive research, a project on which students work closely with one or more members of the faculty.

PhD students may choose to add a designated emphasis (DE) to their program. A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. Designated emphases open to students in this PhD program include Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE), Energy Sciences and Technology (DEEST), Communication, Computation and Statistics, Computational and Genomic Biology, and New Media.

M.S. in Bioprocess Engineering
The Master of Bioprocess Engineering (MBPE) program is designed to provide students with a unique opportunity to integrate classroom fundamentals, hands-on laboratory applications, and heavy interaction with a range of biotechnology companies spanning the biopharmaceutical, industrial biotech, and food tech industries.”

Details

Overview

This isn’t your traditional Master’s program.

UC Berkeley’s Product Development Program (PDP) is a 9-month Master’s in Chemical Engineering built to propel you straight into industry leadership. Unlike a standard research degree, we seamlessly combine technical expertise with essential business strategy — teaching students how to translate scientific and chemical innovations into impactful, real-world products.

The PDP offers the flexibility to tailor your coursework across multiple disciplines, including Haas business classes, and complete real-world consulting projects with industry clients. This gives you the versatile skill set needed for non-traditional roles like Product Manager, R&D Director, or Founder. Step into a global network of 500+ alumni, where 80% of graduates secure top roles within 6 months.

Details

Overview

The Chemistry PhD program is designed towards developing the ability to do creative scientific research. Accordingly, the single most important facet of the curriculum for an individual is his or her own research project. In keeping with the goal of fostering an atmosphere of scholarly, independent study, formal course requirements are minimal and vary among disciplines. Advisers tailor course requirements to best prepare the student for the chosen research field.

The doctoral program includes the following concentrations, each of which has specific degree requirements:

Physical Chemistry: In general, the Physical Chemistry Graduate Program encompasses experimental physical, analytical, nuclear, biophysical, and theoretical chemistry.
Synthetic Chemistry: The Synthetic Chemistry Graduate Program includes emphases in preparation of organic or inorganic compounds, development of methods for their synthesis, and their characterization and use.
Chemical Biology: The Chemical Biology Graduate Program covers research areas at the interface of chemistry and biology, ranging from the synthesis of bioactive materials to the characterization of living systems.

Details

Overview

The mission of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley is to improve equity, the economy and the environment in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and metropolitan regions by creating knowledge and engagement through our teaching, research, and service. We aim to design and create cities, infrastructure, and public services that are sustainable, affordable, enjoyable, and accessible to all.

Wisely and successfully intervening in the public realm, whether locally, nationally, or globally, is a challenge. Our urban future is complex and rapidly changing. Resource scarcity and conflict, technological innovation, retrofitting of existing built environments, and social empowerment will alter the ways in which planning has conventionally been carried out.

We believe the planning academy has a special responsibility to always address social justice, equity, and ethics; to teach and research means of public participation, collective decision making, and advocacy; and to focus on reforming institutions, urban governance, policy, and planning practices to make these goals possible.

Master of City Planning (M.C.P.)
The two-year Master of City Planning (M.C.P.) program comprises a solid core of knowledge in the field of city and regional planning, including history and theory, planning skills and methods, planning law, and urban economics. The program offers the opportunity to specialize in one to two of the four concentration areas: Environmental Planning and Healthy Cities (EPHC); Housing, Community and Economic Development (HCED); Transportation Policy and Planning; and Urban Design.

Accreditation
The M.C.P. program at UC Berkeley is one of the oldest accredited planning programs in the country. The Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) last reviewed the M.C.P. program in Fall 2022, and in Spring 2023 issued reaccreditation for five years. For more information about PAB, please visit http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org/.

Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) Designated Degree Program
The M.C.P. degree is an approved field of study within the U.S. government’s official STEM fields list. For international students, practical work experience in your field of study, typically after completion of a degree for a maximum of 36 months (12 months of “regular” OPT with a 24-month extension possible). For further details regarding STEM extensions, contact the Berkeley International Office (BIO).

Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning
The Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley provides training in urban and planning theory, advanced research, and the practice of planning. Established in 1968, the program has granted more than 170 doctorates. Alumni of the program have established national and international reputations as planning educators, social science researchers and theorists, policymakers and practitioners. Today the program is served by nearly 20 City and Regional Planning faculty with expertise in community and economic development, transportation planning, urban design, international development, environmental planning, and global urbanism. With close ties to numerous research centers and initiatives, the program encourages its students to develop specializations within the field of urban studies and planning and to expand their intellectual horizons through training in the related fields of architecture, landscape architecture and environmental planning, civil engineering, anthropology, geography, sociology, public policy, public health, and political science.

Details

Overview

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Berkeley is a place of intellectual vitality. This vitality is evident in its creative and forward-looking curricula and classroom teaching, its attentive academic mentoring, and the innovative research conducted by students and faculty.

CEE focuses on developing future leaders for the engineering profession, for academia, and for applying engineering methods in the broader societal context. CEE conducts cutting-edge research, defining what constitutes the evolving domain of civil and environmental engineering.

We offer both Master’s (the Master of Science and the Master of Engineering) and Doctoral degree programs. We support seven programs of study for the MS and the PhD, each of which has its own prerequisites for admission and degree requirements. CEE offers three programs of study for the MEng. CEE also offers three concurrent degree programs and one certificate program.

Master of Engineering (MEng)
This professional degree emphasizes solving technical, sociological, environmental, economic problems involved in the design, construction, and operation of engineering structures, processes, and equipment. Studies include courses in the engineering sciences necessary to the engineering interpretation of the latest scientific and technological developments. Courses in design, operation, sustainability, resiliency, humanities, and economics provide a basis for the analysis and solution of problems in professional engineering.

Students in this degree program select a concentration in (i) Systems Engineering, (ii) Transportation Engineering or (iii) Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering. There are options for either full-time or part-time enrollment.

The details of the Systems Engineering and Transportation Engineering concentrations can be found in their program webpages. There are specific course requirements for each concentration.

For the Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering concentration, students take courses on (i) sustainable energy for expediting the shift to clean energy sources and enhancing the efficiency of energy use, (ii) sustainable Resources for developing a circular economy, and (iii) resilient adaptive strategies for adapting to a changing climate, from extreme heat and severe droughts to wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes. Students may also choose a sub-concentration if desired in the areas of (a) Construction Systems, (b) Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate, (c) GeoSystems Engineering, (d) Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials, (e) Systems Engineering, and (f) Transportation Engineering. However, there are specific course requirements for each sub-concentration.

CEEs MEng program is offered in conjunction with the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership.

Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
These degrees emphasize the application of the natural sciences to the analysis and solution of engineering problems. Advanced courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the life sciences are normally included in a program that incorporates the engineering systems approach for analysis of problems.

Students in these degree programs select one of the following seven concentrations:

1. Construction Systems: Construction is a large, vital, and exciting field now disrupted by deep technology like AI, robotics, embedded sensors and nano-materials. The industry is reshaping itself for example by increased use of modular and off-site production with radically new supply chains, virtualization and development of digital twins, and innovative management thinking such as Lean Construction.This program will educate you to lead tomorrow’s automation of the construction industry.

You will learn to leverage these disruptions to realize the next generation of adaptable, resilient, sustainable smart buildings and infrastructure. We teach construction systems as a computational and management science, integrating technology with applications for example to realize state-of-the-art structural and geotechnical designs, to launch you as a technologist, entrepreneur, researcher, academic, or management professional geared to drive construction industry transformation.

Our curriculum includes:

– Construction viewed as a socio-technical system including its data science, optimization, and simulation aspects,

– Construction viewed as a project-based production system including its organizational, financial, planning, control, legal, and contractual aspects,

– Integration with structural and geotechnical design,

– Technology including the use of robots, cloud computing, machine learning, sensing, scanning, and information modeling such as BIM and VDC,

– Large-scale systems thinking including societal-scale mobility, energy flows, and urban forms,

– The freedom to take courses in other disciplines.

Our graduates find a wide range of employment opportunities in private industry and in the public sector, for example in tech companies, consulting, design, building, transportation, and industrial construction firms, as well as in public- and private owner organizations, both domestically as well as internationally.

As we are located in the San Francisco Bay Area – the center of major local, national, and international construction activity – our Program is strongly interlinked with industry. Our class projects and research leverage the ability to go observe as well as study specific local and international projects. We draw on examples from residential-, commercial building-, industrial-, and heavy/civil construction throughout our curriculum. We also invite industry practitioners to present guest lectures describing industry challenges and solutions.

2. Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate: Energy, climate, and infrastructure systems are closely tied together, and these connections manifest in many forms. Our society cannot function without energy and infrastructure systems. Energy systems with the lowest possible greenhouse gas footprint are a key to mitigating climate change. Civil infrastructure systems are a backbone of society, and they are also major users of energy that needs to be reduced for a more sustainable development.

The objective of the Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate (ECIC) Program is to educate a cadre of professionals who will be able to analyze from engineering, environmental, economic, and management perspectives complex problems such as energy efficiency of buildings, environmentally informed design of transportation systems, embodied energy of construction materials, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels, and address such overarching societal problems as mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation of infrastructure to a changing climate. ECIC also promotes research at the intersection of energy, infrastructure and climate science.

3. Environmental Engineering: Management of environmental resources to protect human health and the systems that support life is one of the biggest challenges facing modern society. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of these challenges, Berkeley’s Environmental Engineering Program provides you with the education needed to address current and future environmental issues. Graduate coursework and research is focused in three Areas of Emphasis:

Air Quality Engineering (AQE)
Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology (EFMH)
Water Quality Engineering (WQE)
You are encouraged to develop a broad set of problem-solving skills through courses and research in related fields such as:

Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Energy & Resources Group
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Integrative Biology
Mechanical Engineering
Plant & Microbial Biology
School of Public Health

4. GeoSystems: The GeoSystems Program encompasses a broad area of teaching and research in geotechnical and geological engineering, environmental geotechnics, and applied geophysics. The focus is on the evaluation of engineering properties of geologic materials and on providing engineering solutions for dealing with geologic environment and processes, and natural hazards.

To this end we pursue studies of the mechanical behavior of soil and rock masses, laboratory and field characterization of material properties, development and application of geophysical techniques for site and subsurface characterization, development of advanced analysis methods, and evaluation of static and dynamic (seismic) performance of soil deposits, earth structures, and underground space.

The GeoSystems graduate program has a long tradition of excellence and its graduates are leaders in the industry and academia. The strength and breadth of Berkeley’s GeoSystems is enhanced by close ties with faculty in other areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Close interaction of the faculty with consulting companies and practitioners also provides opportunity for exposure to the state-of-the-art practice through invited lectures and site visits to ongoing engineering projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Due to the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field we welcome students with a wide range of backgrounds in Engineering and Earth Sciences.

5. Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials: CEE’s Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials (SEMM) Program has an international reputation for excellence. Many of the fundamental developments underlying the state-of-the-art in structural engineering, mechanics, and materials were pioneered by SEMM faculty and students. This tradition of excellence continues today through vigorous programs of basic and applied research, and careful attention to instruction.

The active involvement of SEMM faculty in the forefront of research projects and in the solution of challenging real world engineering problems results in an instructional program that is up-to-date and relevant. SEMM offers excellent opportunities for study and research leading to advanced degrees in the areas of structural analysis and design, mechanics of structures and solids, and materials in structures and construction.

The curriculum provides a strong basis for advanced professional practice, research, or teaching. Programs of study can be tailored easily to fit individual needs and interests, whether broad-based and multidisciplinary, or narrowly focused and highly technical. Graduates from the SEMM Program have gone on to become world leaders in private practice, government service, education, and research.

6. Systems (Civil Systems): The focus of the Systems Engineering Program (Systems) is understanding complex large-scale systems and developing tools for their design and operation. Such systems encompass built elements in the broad sense (infrastructures transportation, structures, etc.), societal systems (social networks, populations enterprises), and natural systems (land water, air). These systems are at the core of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the 21st Century.

The understanding of how such systems work requires knowledge about the constitutive laws that govern them, such as traffic flow, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and smart networks. It also requires an understanding of the theoretical paradigms that are used to model, control and optimize such systems. These include the theories of computation, control theory, optimization, behavioral economics, sensor networks, statistics, and signal processing.

In response to these challenges, the Systems Program provides courses that cover both field knowledge and technical/theoretical tools. This is reflected in the curriculum. We offer masters and doctoral degree programs providing the key skills, e.g., technological, mathematical, or social scientific, as well as the knowledge for a broad range of engineering domains. Our graduates lead the next generation of research, start-ups, industrial corporations, and public-sector organizations.

7. Transportation Engineering: Graduate study in transportation at the University of California, Berkeley prepares you for a professional, teaching, and research career. Emphasis is on the acquisition of advanced knowledge concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, performance, and evaluation of transportation systems, including their economic and public policy aspects. The program stresses development of analytic, problem-solving, design, and management skills suitable for public and private sector professional work.

Transportation Engineering faculty with diverse backgrounds and research interests, including emeriti professors, teach transportation courses. In addition, faculty from City and Regional Planning, Economics, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Business Administration, Political Science, and other departments offer courses related to transportation.

Students also have the opportunity to work and interact with research staff at the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Students in the PhD program have the option of pursuing a designated emphasis (DE) to supplement their study (see below).

Concurrent Degrees
The concurrent degree program is a formal arrangement of two existing, but separate, master’s degree programs, which result in the students earning two master’s degrees. CEE offers the following concurrent degree programs:

Program in Structural Engineering and Architecture (MArch/MS)
Program in Transportation Engineering and City and Regional Planning (MCP/MS)
Any CEE graduate program and Public Policy (MPP/MS)

For further information regarding these programs, please see the department’s website.

Certificate
Certificate in Engineering and Business for Sustainability: The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program trains UC Berkeley graduate students to understand the complexity and urgency of their role in engineering, business, and environmental management, and to work across boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems. This program allows students to tap into multidisciplinary educational resources from the College of Engineering, Haas School of Business, Energy and Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy, College of Natural Resources, and the School of Public Health, to learn how to have a lasting beneficial impact on the global environment. This program is open to all Berkeley graduate students who meet the EBS Certificate course requirements. For further information regarding this program, see the department’s website.

Designated Emphasis
Berkeley Ph.D. students are eligible to pursue a Designated Emphasis as part of their doctoral studies. Common Designated Emphases for CEE doctoral students include:

Computational and Data Science and Engineering
Global Metropolitan Studies
Development Engineering

A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. You are required to complete the academic work in the area of specialization and all the requirements of the doctoral program. You must be admitted to the DE before taking the qualifying examination. A complete list of Designated Emphases is here.

Details

Overview

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Berkeley is a place of intellectual vitality. This vitality is evident in its creative and forward-looking curricula and classroom teaching, its attentive academic mentoring, and the innovative research conducted by students and faculty.

CEE focuses on developing future leaders for the engineering profession, for academia, and for applying engineering methods in the broader societal context. CEE conducts cutting-edge research, defining what constitutes the evolving domain of civil and environmental engineering.

We offer both Master’s (the Master of Science and the Master of Engineering) and Doctoral degree programs. We support seven programs of study for the MS and the PhD, each of which has its own prerequisites for admission and degree requirements. CEE offers three programs of study for the MEng. CEE also offers three concurrent degree programs and one certificate program.

Master of Engineering (MEng)
This professional degree emphasizes solving technical, sociological, environmental, economic problems involved in the design, construction, and operation of engineering structures, processes, and equipment. Studies include courses in the engineering sciences necessary to the engineering interpretation of the latest scientific and technological developments. Courses in design, operation, sustainability, resiliency, humanities, and economics provide a basis for the analysis and solution of problems in professional engineering.

Students in this degree program select a concentration in (i) Systems Engineering, (ii) Transportation Engineering or (iii) Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering. There are options for either full-time or part-time enrollment.

The details of the Systems Engineering and Transportation Engineering concentrations can be found in their program webpages. There are specific course requirements for each concentration.

For the Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering concentration, students take courses on (i) sustainable energy for expediting the shift to clean energy sources and enhancing the efficiency of energy use, (ii) sustainable Resources for developing a circular economy, and (iii) resilient adaptive strategies for adapting to a changing climate, from extreme heat and severe droughts to wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes. Students may also choose a sub-concentration if desired in the areas of (a) Construction Systems, (b) Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate, (c) GeoSystems Engineering, (d) Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials, (e) Systems Engineering, and (f) Transportation Engineering. However, there are specific course requirements for each sub-concentration.

CEEs MEng program is offered in conjunction with the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership.

Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
These degrees emphasize the application of the natural sciences to the analysis and solution of engineering problems. Advanced courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the life sciences are normally included in a program that incorporates the engineering systems approach for analysis of problems.

Students in these degree programs select one of the following seven concentrations:

1. Construction Systems: Construction is a large, vital, and exciting field now disrupted by deep technology like AI, robotics, embedded sensors and nano-materials. The industry is reshaping itself for example by increased use of modular and off-site production with radically new supply chains, virtualization and development of digital twins, and innovative management thinking such as Lean Construction.This program will educate you to lead tomorrow’s automation of the construction industry.

You will learn to leverage these disruptions to realize the next generation of adaptable, resilient, sustainable smart buildings and infrastructure. We teach construction systems as a computational and management science, integrating technology with applications for example to realize state-of-the-art structural and geotechnical designs, to launch you as a technologist, entrepreneur, researcher, academic, or management professional geared to drive construction industry transformation.

Our curriculum includes:

– Construction viewed as a socio-technical system including its data science, optimization, and simulation aspects,

– Construction viewed as a project-based production system including its organizational, financial, planning, control, legal, and contractual aspects,

– Integration with structural and geotechnical design,

– Technology including the use of robots, cloud computing, machine learning, sensing, scanning, and information modeling such as BIM and VDC,

– Large-scale systems thinking including societal-scale mobility, energy flows, and urban forms,

– The freedom to take courses in other disciplines.

Our graduates find a wide range of employment opportunities in private industry and in the public sector, for example in tech companies, consulting, design, building, transportation, and industrial construction firms, as well as in public- and private owner organizations, both domestically as well as internationally.

As we are located in the San Francisco Bay Area – the center of major local, national, and international construction activity – our Program is strongly interlinked with industry. Our class projects and research leverage the ability to go observe as well as study specific local and international projects. We draw on examples from residential-, commercial building-, industrial-, and heavy/civil construction throughout our curriculum. We also invite industry practitioners to present guest lectures describing industry challenges and solutions.

2. Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate: Energy, climate, and infrastructure systems are closely tied together, and these connections manifest in many forms. Our society cannot function without energy and infrastructure systems. Energy systems with the lowest possible greenhouse gas footprint are a key to mitigating climate change. Civil infrastructure systems are a backbone of society, and they are also major users of energy that needs to be reduced for a more sustainable development.

The objective of the Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate (ECIC) Program is to educate a cadre of professionals who will be able to analyze from engineering, environmental, economic, and management perspectives complex problems such as energy efficiency of buildings, environmentally informed design of transportation systems, embodied energy of construction materials, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels, and address such overarching societal problems as mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation of infrastructure to a changing climate. ECIC also promotes research at the intersection of energy, infrastructure and climate science.

3. Environmental Engineering: Management of environmental resources to protect human health and the systems that support life is one of the biggest challenges facing modern society. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of these challenges, Berkeley’s Environmental Engineering Program provides you with the education needed to address current and future environmental issues. Graduate coursework and research is focused in three Areas of Emphasis:

Air Quality Engineering (AQE)
Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology (EFMH)
Water Quality Engineering (WQE)
You are encouraged to develop a broad set of problem-solving skills through courses and research in related fields such as:

Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Energy & Resources Group
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Integrative Biology
Mechanical Engineering
Plant & Microbial Biology
School of Public Health

4. GeoSystems: The GeoSystems Program encompasses a broad area of teaching and research in geotechnical and geological engineering, environmental geotechnics, and applied geophysics. The focus is on the evaluation of engineering properties of geologic materials and on providing engineering solutions for dealing with geologic environment and processes, and natural hazards.

To this end we pursue studies of the mechanical behavior of soil and rock masses, laboratory and field characterization of material properties, development and application of geophysical techniques for site and subsurface characterization, development of advanced analysis methods, and evaluation of static and dynamic (seismic) performance of soil deposits, earth structures, and underground space.

The GeoSystems graduate program has a long tradition of excellence and its graduates are leaders in the industry and academia. The strength and breadth of Berkeley’s GeoSystems is enhanced by close ties with faculty in other areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Close interaction of the faculty with consulting companies and practitioners also provides opportunity for exposure to the state-of-the-art practice through invited lectures and site visits to ongoing engineering projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Due to the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field we welcome students with a wide range of backgrounds in Engineering and Earth Sciences.

5. Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials: CEE’s Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials (SEMM) Program has an international reputation for excellence. Many of the fundamental developments underlying the state-of-the-art in structural engineering, mechanics, and materials were pioneered by SEMM faculty and students. This tradition of excellence continues today through vigorous programs of basic and applied research, and careful attention to instruction.

The active involvement of SEMM faculty in the forefront of research projects and in the solution of challenging real world engineering problems results in an instructional program that is up-to-date and relevant. SEMM offers excellent opportunities for study and research leading to advanced degrees in the areas of structural analysis and design, mechanics of structures and solids, and materials in structures and construction.

The curriculum provides a strong basis for advanced professional practice, research, or teaching. Programs of study can be tailored easily to fit individual needs and interests, whether broad-based and multidisciplinary, or narrowly focused and highly technical. Graduates from the SEMM Program have gone on to become world leaders in private practice, government service, education, and research.

6. Systems (Civil Systems): The focus of the Systems Engineering Program (Systems) is understanding complex large-scale systems and developing tools for their design and operation. Such systems encompass built elements in the broad sense (infrastructures transportation, structures, etc.), societal systems (social networks, populations enterprises), and natural systems (land water, air). These systems are at the core of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the 21st Century.

The understanding of how such systems work requires knowledge about the constitutive laws that govern them, such as traffic flow, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and smart networks. It also requires an understanding of the theoretical paradigms that are used to model, control and optimize such systems. These include the theories of computation, control theory, optimization, behavioral economics, sensor networks, statistics, and signal processing.

In response to these challenges, the Systems Program provides courses that cover both field knowledge and technical/theoretical tools. This is reflected in the curriculum. We offer masters and doctoral degree programs providing the key skills, e.g., technological, mathematical, or social scientific, as well as the knowledge for a broad range of engineering domains. Our graduates lead the next generation of research, start-ups, industrial corporations, and public-sector organizations.

7. Transportation Engineering: Graduate study in transportation at the University of California, Berkeley prepares you for a professional, teaching, and research career. Emphasis is on the acquisition of advanced knowledge concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, performance, and evaluation of transportation systems, including their economic and public policy aspects. The program stresses development of analytic, problem-solving, design, and management skills suitable for public and private sector professional work.

Transportation Engineering faculty with diverse backgrounds and research interests, including emeriti professors, teach transportation courses. In addition, faculty from City and Regional Planning, Economics, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Business Administration, Political Science, and other departments offer courses related to transportation.

Students also have the opportunity to work and interact with research staff at the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Students in the PhD program have the option of pursuing a designated emphasis (DE) to supplement their study (see below).

Concurrent Degrees
The concurrent degree program is a formal arrangement of two existing, but separate, master’s degree programs, which result in the students earning two master’s degrees. CEE offers the following concurrent degree programs:

Program in Structural Engineering and Architecture (MArch/MS)
Program in Transportation Engineering and City and Regional Planning (MCP/MS)
Any CEE graduate program and Public Policy (MPP/MS)

For further information regarding these programs, please see the department’s website.

Certificate
Certificate in Engineering and Business for Sustainability: The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program trains UC Berkeley graduate students to understand the complexity and urgency of their role in engineering, business, and environmental management, and to work across boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems. This program allows students to tap into multidisciplinary educational resources from the College of Engineering, Haas School of Business, Energy and Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy, College of Natural Resources, and the School of Public Health, to learn how to have a lasting beneficial impact on the global environment. This program is open to all Berkeley graduate students who meet the EBS Certificate course requirements. For further information regarding this program, see the department’s website.

Designated Emphasis
Berkeley Ph.D. students are eligible to pursue a Designated Emphasis as part of their doctoral studies. Common Designated Emphases for CEE doctoral students include:

Computational and Data Science and Engineering
Global Metropolitan Studies
Development Engineering

A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. You are required to complete the academic work in the area of specialization and all the requirements of the doctoral program. You must be admitted to the DE before taking the qualifying examination. A complete list of Designated Emphases is here.

Details

Overview

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Berkeley is a place of intellectual vitality. This vitality is evident in its creative and forward-looking curricula and classroom teaching, its attentive academic mentoring, and the innovative research conducted by students and faculty.

CEE focuses on developing future leaders for the engineering profession, for academia, and for applying engineering methods in the broader societal context. CEE conducts cutting-edge research, defining what constitutes the evolving domain of civil and environmental engineering.

We offer both Master’s (the Master of Science and the Master of Engineering) and Doctoral degree programs. We support seven programs of study for the MS and the PhD, each of which has its own prerequisites for admission and degree requirements. CEE offers three programs of study for the MEng. CEE also offers three concurrent degree programs and one certificate program.

Master of Engineering (MEng)
This professional degree emphasizes solving technical, sociological, environmental, economic problems involved in the design, construction, and operation of engineering structures, processes, and equipment. Studies include courses in the engineering sciences necessary to the engineering interpretation of the latest scientific and technological developments. Courses in design, operation, sustainability, resiliency, humanities, and economics provide a basis for the analysis and solution of problems in professional engineering.

Students in this degree program select a concentration in (i) Systems Engineering, (ii) Transportation Engineering or (iii) Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering. There are options for either full-time or part-time enrollment.

The details of the Systems Engineering and Transportation Engineering concentrations can be found in their program webpages. There are specific course requirements for each concentration.

For the Sustainability and Resiliency Engineering concentration, students take courses on (i) sustainable energy for expediting the shift to clean energy sources and enhancing the efficiency of energy use, (ii) sustainable Resources for developing a circular economy, and (iii) resilient adaptive strategies for adapting to a changing climate, from extreme heat and severe droughts to wildfires, flooding, and earthquakes. Students may also choose a sub-concentration if desired in the areas of (a) Construction Systems, (b) Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate, (c) GeoSystems Engineering, (d) Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials, (e) Systems Engineering, and (f) Transportation Engineering. However, there are specific course requirements for each sub-concentration.

CEEs MEng program is offered in conjunction with the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership.

Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
These degrees emphasize the application of the natural sciences to the analysis and solution of engineering problems. Advanced courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and the life sciences are normally included in a program that incorporates the engineering systems approach for analysis of problems.

Students in these degree programs select one of the following seven concentrations:

1. Construction Systems: Construction is a large, vital, and exciting field now disrupted by deep technology like AI, robotics, embedded sensors and nano-materials. The industry is reshaping itself for example by increased use of modular and off-site production with radically new supply chains, virtualization and development of digital twins, and innovative management thinking such as Lean Construction.This program will educate you to lead tomorrow’s automation of the construction industry.

You will learn to leverage these disruptions to realize the next generation of adaptable, resilient, sustainable smart buildings and infrastructure. We teach construction systems as a computational and management science, integrating technology with applications for example to realize state-of-the-art structural and geotechnical designs, to launch you as a technologist, entrepreneur, researcher, academic, or management professional geared to drive construction industry transformation.

Our curriculum includes:

– Construction viewed as a socio-technical system including its data science, optimization, and simulation aspects,

– Construction viewed as a project-based production system including its organizational, financial, planning, control, legal, and contractual aspects,

– Integration with structural and geotechnical design,

– Technology including the use of robots, cloud computing, machine learning, sensing, scanning, and information modeling such as BIM and VDC,

– Large-scale systems thinking including societal-scale mobility, energy flows, and urban forms,

– The freedom to take courses in other disciplines.

Our graduates find a wide range of employment opportunities in private industry and in the public sector, for example in tech companies, consulting, design, building, transportation, and industrial construction firms, as well as in public- and private owner organizations, both domestically as well as internationally.

As we are located in the San Francisco Bay Area – the center of major local, national, and international construction activity – our Program is strongly interlinked with industry. Our class projects and research leverage the ability to go observe as well as study specific local and international projects. We draw on examples from residential-, commercial building-, industrial-, and heavy/civil construction throughout our curriculum. We also invite industry practitioners to present guest lectures describing industry challenges and solutions.

2. Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate: Energy, climate, and infrastructure systems are closely tied together, and these connections manifest in many forms. Our society cannot function without energy and infrastructure systems. Energy systems with the lowest possible greenhouse gas footprint are a key to mitigating climate change. Civil infrastructure systems are a backbone of society, and they are also major users of energy that needs to be reduced for a more sustainable development.

The objective of the Energy, Civil Infrastructure and Climate (ECIC) Program is to educate a cadre of professionals who will be able to analyze from engineering, environmental, economic, and management perspectives complex problems such as energy efficiency of buildings, environmentally informed design of transportation systems, embodied energy of construction materials, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels, and address such overarching societal problems as mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation of infrastructure to a changing climate. ECIC also promotes research at the intersection of energy, infrastructure and climate science.

3. Environmental Engineering: Management of environmental resources to protect human health and the systems that support life is one of the biggest challenges facing modern society. In recognition of the interdisciplinary nature of these challenges, Berkeley’s Environmental Engineering Program provides you with the education needed to address current and future environmental issues. Graduate coursework and research is focused in three Areas of Emphasis:

Air Quality Engineering (AQE)
Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology (EFMH)
Water Quality Engineering (WQE)
You are encouraged to develop a broad set of problem-solving skills through courses and research in related fields such as:

Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Energy & Resources Group
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Integrative Biology
Mechanical Engineering
Plant & Microbial Biology
School of Public Health

4. GeoSystems: The GeoSystems Program encompasses a broad area of teaching and research in geotechnical and geological engineering, environmental geotechnics, and applied geophysics. The focus is on the evaluation of engineering properties of geologic materials and on providing engineering solutions for dealing with geologic environment and processes, and natural hazards.

To this end we pursue studies of the mechanical behavior of soil and rock masses, laboratory and field characterization of material properties, development and application of geophysical techniques for site and subsurface characterization, development of advanced analysis methods, and evaluation of static and dynamic (seismic) performance of soil deposits, earth structures, and underground space.

The GeoSystems graduate program has a long tradition of excellence and its graduates are leaders in the industry and academia. The strength and breadth of Berkeley’s GeoSystems is enhanced by close ties with faculty in other areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. Close interaction of the faculty with consulting companies and practitioners also provides opportunity for exposure to the state-of-the-art practice through invited lectures and site visits to ongoing engineering projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Due to the broad interdisciplinary nature of the field we welcome students with a wide range of backgrounds in Engineering and Earth Sciences.

5. Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials: CEE’s Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials (SEMM) Program has an international reputation for excellence. Many of the fundamental developments underlying the state-of-the-art in structural engineering, mechanics, and materials were pioneered by SEMM faculty and students. This tradition of excellence continues today through vigorous programs of basic and applied research, and careful attention to instruction.

The active involvement of SEMM faculty in the forefront of research projects and in the solution of challenging real world engineering problems results in an instructional program that is up-to-date and relevant. SEMM offers excellent opportunities for study and research leading to advanced degrees in the areas of structural analysis and design, mechanics of structures and solids, and materials in structures and construction.

The curriculum provides a strong basis for advanced professional practice, research, or teaching. Programs of study can be tailored easily to fit individual needs and interests, whether broad-based and multidisciplinary, or narrowly focused and highly technical. Graduates from the SEMM Program have gone on to become world leaders in private practice, government service, education, and research.

6. Systems (Civil Systems): The focus of the Systems Engineering Program (Systems) is understanding complex large-scale systems and developing tools for their design and operation. Such systems encompass built elements in the broad sense (infrastructures transportation, structures, etc.), societal systems (social networks, populations enterprises), and natural systems (land water, air). These systems are at the core of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the 21st Century.

The understanding of how such systems work requires knowledge about the constitutive laws that govern them, such as traffic flow, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and smart networks. It also requires an understanding of the theoretical paradigms that are used to model, control and optimize such systems. These include the theories of computation, control theory, optimization, behavioral economics, sensor networks, statistics, and signal processing.

In response to these challenges, the Systems Program provides courses that cover both field knowledge and technical/theoretical tools. This is reflected in the curriculum. We offer masters and doctoral degree programs providing the key skills, e.g., technological, mathematical, or social scientific, as well as the knowledge for a broad range of engineering domains. Our graduates lead the next generation of research, start-ups, industrial corporations, and public-sector organizations.

7. Transportation Engineering: Graduate study in transportation at the University of California, Berkeley prepares you for a professional, teaching, and research career. Emphasis is on the acquisition of advanced knowledge concerning planning, design, operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, performance, and evaluation of transportation systems, including their economic and public policy aspects. The program stresses development of analytic, problem-solving, design, and management skills suitable for public and private sector professional work.

Transportation Engineering faculty with diverse backgrounds and research interests, including emeriti professors, teach transportation courses. In addition, faculty from City and Regional Planning, Economics, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Business Administration, Political Science, and other departments offer courses related to transportation.

Students also have the opportunity to work and interact with research staff at the Institute of Transportation Studies.

Students in the PhD program have the option of pursuing a designated emphasis (DE) to supplement their study (see below).

Concurrent Degrees
The concurrent degree program is a formal arrangement of two existing, but separate, master’s degree programs, which result in the students earning two master’s degrees. CEE offers the following concurrent degree programs:

Program in Structural Engineering and Architecture (MArch/MS)
Program in Transportation Engineering and City and Regional Planning (MCP/MS)
Any CEE graduate program and Public Policy (MPP/MS)

For further information regarding these programs, please see the department’s website.

Certificate
Certificate in Engineering and Business for Sustainability: The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program trains UC Berkeley graduate students to understand the complexity and urgency of their role in engineering, business, and environmental management, and to work across boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems. This program allows students to tap into multidisciplinary educational resources from the College of Engineering, Haas School of Business, Energy and Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy, College of Natural Resources, and the School of Public Health, to learn how to have a lasting beneficial impact on the global environment. This program is open to all Berkeley graduate students who meet the EBS Certificate course requirements. For further information regarding this program, see the department’s website.

Designated Emphasis
Berkeley Ph.D. students are eligible to pursue a Designated Emphasis as part of their doctoral studies. Common Designated Emphases for CEE doctoral students include:

Computational and Data Science and Engineering
Global Metropolitan Studies
Development Engineering

A designated emphasis is a specialization, such as a new method of inquiry or an important field of application, which is relevant to two or more existing doctoral degree programs. You are required to complete the academic work in the area of specialization and all the requirements of the doctoral program. You must be admitted to the DE before taking the qualifying examination. A complete list of Designated Emphases is here.

Details

Overview

The Department of Classics offers both the MA and PhD in Classical Archaeology (the archaeology of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds). All students apply to the PhD program. Those with the BA as their highest degree are admitted to the MA program, while in some instances those who hold an MA in classical archaeology or a related field are admitted directly to the PhD program. Students admitted to the MA program receive the MA upon completion of the MA requirements and then apply for advancement to the PhD program.

The Program in Classical Archaeology accepts a broad definition of the field, recognizing its grounding in both the humanities and the social sciences. It accordingly provides a rigorous general preparation in the archaeology of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds while allowing students to develop one or more specializations in a variety of specific areas. Students are required to participate in archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean (in many cases, participating in projects directed by UC Berkeley faculty) and are also encouraged to work with the unusually rich array of artifactual, epigraphical, and papyrological materials housed on the UC Berkeley campus. At the PhD level students opt to focus on either Greek archaeology or Roman archaeology, with their specific fieldwork, course, and ancient and modern language requirements determined by this choice.

Students who complete the PhD program should be well-qualified candidates for college and university-level teaching positions in classical archaeology and — depending upon their specific course of study — curatorial appointments in ancient art.

Details

Overview

The program of studies which leads to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Classics at Berkeley is designed to give a thorough preparation in the fundamentals of classical scholarship while encouraging the pursuit of intellectual inquiry and the development of original research, according to the capacity and interests of the individual student. Every student must satisfy the examination and course requirements before being advanced to candidacy to write a dissertation. These requirements are intended to ensure that all classical scholars attain at least a minimum level of specific skills and all-around competence in ancient and modern languages, history, literature, the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, the fundamental techniques of scholarship, and in the ability to sustain informed and penetrating discussion. The dissertation is intended to demonstrate the student’s ability to make a successfully independent and original contribution to research.

In addition, the program has a practical professional aim. The holder of a UC Berkeley PhD in Classics should be able to teach any lower division course in Greek or Latin, any upper division course in the language of special emphasis, and graduate courses in at least one area in the language of special emphasis and/or in an area common to both languages. This is the minimal aim, but we encourage our scholars to go beyond it.

Details

Overview

The interdisciplinary Graduate Group in Comparative Biochemistry administers the PhD degree for students interested in a biochemical and molecular approach to problems in the biological sciences. Students work under the supervision of faculty from diverse disciplines including Molecular and Cell Biology; Nutritional Science and Toxicology; Plant and Microbial Biology; Chemistry; Chemical Engineering; Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; Public Health; and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Details

Overview

Our graduate program is recognized as one of the top Comparative Literature programs in the country. The Comparative Literature department is a vibrant place for the research and study of literatures and cultures in an interdisciplinary framework, from transnational and cross-cultural perspectives. Our faculty and graduate students develop new historical and theoretical frameworks and rethink those we have inherited to open new perspectives on social and cultural forms and relationships.

Comparative Literature provides students with tools for analyzing texts, writing, editing, translating, and thinking across disciplinary and national boundaries. Our graduates engage a variety of literary traditions and historical periods, from Latin American concrete poetry to Yiddish experimental fiction to the discourses of political and race theory. The department offers rigorous training in the following areas, which are particular strengths of our internationally recognized faculty: French, German, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew Studies, Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, East Asian Literatures and Arts, Performance Studies, Film and Media, Poetry and Poetics, Critical Theory, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Postcolonial Theory, English and American Literatures, Early Modern and Renaissance Studies, and Slavic Literatures and Cultures.

All members of the department are deeply invested in the academic development of our students and value their work and research as an integral part of the Comparative Literature community at UC Berkeley. The department aims above all to develop students’ creative and intellectual interests and talents. Graduate students receive the opportunity to pursue rigorous research in a variety of fields according to their interests, participate in discussions about political, aesthetic, and social issues, and develop a nuanced cross-cultural understanding of historical and social processes. Many graduate students present and publish scholarly writings in the most prestigious venues as well as producing translations and literary writings. All of our students work closely with cutting-edge scholars in their fields in small seminars, with extensive individualized work. Students participate in the designated emphasis programs on campus, including Critical Theory, Film and Media, Gender and Women’s Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies and Jewish Studies, or the Program in Medieval Studies. Students have opportunities to design and teach courses on their topics of interest. Our students form a well-integrated community, but have access to all of the resources of the entire Berkeley campus departments and faculty; in fact, our program requires that students take seminars in other departments for interdisciplinary training. We have one of the most successful placement records for our graduates of any program in the country, and of any Berkeley graduate program. Our doctoral graduates are prominent comparative literature and national literature faculty across the country and the world.

Details

Overview

Under the auspices of the Center for Computational Biology, the Computational Biology Graduate Group offers the PhD in Computational Biology as well as the Designated Emphasis in Computational and Genomic Biology, a specialization for doctoral students in associated programs. The PhD is concerned with advancing knowledge at the interface of the computational and biological sciences and is therefore intended for students who are passionate about being high functioning in both fields. The designated emphasis augments disciplinary training with a solid foundation in the different facets of genomic research and provides students with the skills needed to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to solve a wide range of computational biology and genomic problems.

Details

Overview

Computational Precision Health (CPH) is an exploding field across both academia and industry. This rapidly evolving field integrates the tremendous advances in data science and data availability that have occurred over the past decades with expertise in clinical medicine, public health, and health care systems to enable a paradigm shift in the ways we treat and prevent disease. Advances in data and analytics open the door to faster deployment of more effective health interventions, but this potential can only be achieved if the underlying computational and analytic tools are conceived, tested, and validated for the health and health care needs of diverse individuals and communities. The field of Computational Precision Health aims to realize this potential.

PhD
The PhD in Computational Precision Health leverages and bridges the complementary expertise and incredible resources of UC Berkeley and UCSF to create an unparalleled and truly unique learning environment. Students in the PhD in Computational Precision Health will develop skills and expertise in both the computational sciences (machine learning and AI, natural language processing, statistical inference and modeling, data standards, parallel computing and data at scale, etc.) and health sciences (clinical decision sciences and cognitive informatics, clinical delivery, clinical research, implementation science, health information policy, etc.)

Students will develop the ability to work in interdisciplinary teams from ideation to development, testing, and validation in the real world. Coursework will be complemented by extensive and early interaction with world-class faculty–through research rotations, seminar series, and practicums–at the intersection of computation and health, and will develop proficiency in cross-disciplinary research and communication. A focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, human-centered design accommodating diverse users, and the ethical implications and societal impacts of the work will be embedded throughout the program.

Fall 2025 PhD Applications are open on: TBC
More details on curriculum and CPH courses can be found on our website: computationalhealth.berkeley.edu.
Designated Emphasis
The Designated Emphasis in CPH is administered by the joint UC Berkeley/UCSF Computational Precision Health Augmented Graduate Group. The UCB CPH DE allows PhD students from affiliated UCB programs to incorporate CPH courses and advising into their PhD. CPH DE students will receive a solid grounding in the fundamentals of computational precision health, with training in the application of computation to the practice of medicine and public health. Students will be part of an interdisciplinary, intercampus community of UC Berkeley and UCSF scholars with diverse academic backgrounds, providing unique cross-campus opportunities, including direct exposure to the clinical care and health science environment offered at UCSF.

Details

Overview

The Department of Demography offers an interdisciplinary training program leading to the MA and PhD in Demography. Demography is the systematic study of human populations, a topic central to many pressing policy issues such as the economic development of low income countries; population aging; the environment; health and mortality; family and household change; immigration; and ethnicity. Demography also has strong intellectual and institutional ties to other fields such as sociology, economics, social history, anthropology, biology, public health, and statistics. The program at UC Berkeley is one of the few in the United States granting graduate degrees in demography, rather than offering demography only as a field of specialization within some other department. This training strategy permits greater concentration and depth in demography, as well as program flexibility and breadth in related subjects. The program stresses both quantitative aspects of demography and demography in the context of social science theory.

The master’s degree in demography is designed both as a final degree for those who wish to pursue a professional career at that level of training and as a second degree for students earning a doctorate in demography or a related discipline. The basic coursework for the master’s program is required for the doctoral degree as well.

Details

Overview

The Department of Demography offers an interdisciplinary training program leading to the MA and PhD in Demography. Demography is the systematic study of human populations, a topic central to many pressing policy issues such as the economic development of low income countries; population aging; the environment; health and mortality; family and household change; immigration; and ethnicity. Demography also has strong intellectual and institutional ties to other fields such as sociology, economics, social history, anthropology, biology, public health, and statistics. The program at UC Berkeley is one of the few in the United States granting graduate degrees in demography, rather than offering demography only as a field of specialization within some other department. This training strategy permits greater concentration and depth in demography, as well as program flexibility and breadth in related subjects. The program stresses both quantitative aspects of demography and demography in the context of social science theory.

The master’s degree in demography is designed both as a final degree for those who wish to pursue a professional career at that level of training and as a second degree for students earning a doctorate in demography or a related discipline. The basic coursework for the master’s program is required for the doctoral degree as well.

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Overview

The Berkeley Master of Design (MDes) is a three-semester, professional graduate degree that prepares students to work in creative and technical roles for designing products, services and environments enabled by emerging technologies. The MDes is jointly offered by the College of Engineering (COE) and the College of Environmental Design (CED); this collaboration is reflected in the interdisciplinarity of the program’s faculty, student body, curriculum, and pedagogical approaches.
The program’s interdisciplinary curriculum connects technical rigor, design theory, and social practice and prepares students for a broad range of creative and technical roles for designing innovative products, services, and environments. Graduates leave the program as engaged and responsive social practitioners, with a deep understanding of the foundations of design and emerging technology and an informed awareness of people, contextual needs and societal impacts.

Housed at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, the MDes provides a dynamic, hands-on curriculum that uniquely equips students to develop a critical perspective and navigate a range of technical languages and design methodologies. Studio-based coursework integrates programming, human-centered design process, and communication with hardware and software development. Exploratory project briefs encourage students to use design process to identify new problem spaces and to explore ideas through co-creative processes, iteration, and prototyping. A set of theory courses help shape students’ critical lens on design through analysis and discussion of the implications of practice within an evolving environmental and socio-technology landscape. Students further deepen their knowledge through technical electives and offerings in social practice or entrepreneurship relevant to their personal interests and career goals. The MDes students’ studies culminate in a Thesis Studio where they work in teams and bring their distinct perspectives to bear on applied projects.
The MDes is designed for early to mid-career professionals with an interest in pursuing graduate work at the intersections of design and technology. MDes students come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, and are motivated by the opportunity to immerse themselves in a vibrant, creative, interdisciplinary, and impact-driven design community.

Strong applicants will be able to articulate and demonstrate their interest in design as a creative, goal-oriented activity that contributes to the emergence of innovative, socially impactful new technologies and environments. Possible areas of relevant prior experience include, but are not limited to, academic, professional, or personal work in technology, social or environmental policy, entrepreneurship, and/or community engagement. Strong applicants will also be able to articulate and demonstrate their interest in working with diverse communities and learning from different disciplinary/personal backgrounds and perspectives.

All applicants must have requisite technical preparation, for example a technical degree, coursework, and/or certificate, or equivalent professional experience, because MDes students are expected to be capable of independently learning new software tools and programming languages, and to quickly deploy these tools and skills in courses and projects. Applicants without clear technical preparation from their academic or professional background should, at a minimum, develop intermediate programming experience prior to the start of the program, and have sufficient knowledge of some technical subject area at the level required to pass a technical elective.

Application Criteria
For detailed information about the MDes program’s application criteria, process and timeline, visit the MDes Apply page.

Graduate Division Admissions
Applying for Graduate Admission
Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. The Graduate Division hosts a complete list of graduate academic programs, departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application and steps to take to apply can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Admission Requirements
The minimum graduate admission requirements are:

A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;

A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and

Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.

For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page. It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here.

Where to apply?
Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page.

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Overview

Master of Development Engineering
Apply now to join UC Berkeley’s Master of Development Engineering degree!

The three-semester Master of Development Engineering program at UC Berkeley integrates training in engineering with entrepreneurship, design, business, and policy — among others — to support students in creating technological interventions in accordance with the needs and wants of individuals living in complex, low-resource settings.

The program’s curriculum enables students to further their expertise in one of the following five predefined areas:

o AI/Data Analytics for Social Impact:

Students take courses on how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data analytic tools give the social, civic, and international development sectors actionable insights.

o Energy, Water, and the Environment:

Students take courses on core natural resource challenges — in food, water and energy systems and their impacts on the environment — and on life cycle assessment, water resource management, agricultural impact, and energy technologies and policies.

o Sustainable Design Innovations:

Students take courses on sustainable design and social entrepreneurship, including principles of green design, the science of sustainability, resilient communities, sustainable economic models, green chemistry, product design, spatial modeling, affordable housing, public transportation, and equitable development.

o Healthcare Transformations:

Students take courses on the rapidly evolving landscape of global healthcare technologies and practices, including biomedical device design, health policy, health impact assessment, and the digital transformation of health care.

o Community- Based Ecosystem Stewardship:

Students take courses in Indigenous studies, environmental studies, regenerative ecology, health & food systems, community-based research, and equity-centered design thinking to develop methods to ethically address complex issues around climate change, natural resource governance, and community self-determination.

If a student has interests outside of these areas, it is possible to devise a Self-Designed Concentration in, for example, gender equity, global education, or technology, development and policy.

Find out more about the Master of Development Engineering program here: developmentengineering.berkeley.edu

Requirements
Core courses focused on Development Engineering (18 units over the 3 semesters)

First Fall Semester
DEV ENG C200: Design Evaluate & Scale Development Technologies (3 units): The course provides project-based learning experience in the development of human-centered products, services, or systems. The course teaches the mindsets, skill sets, and toolsets of design thinking with a focus on its use in development. The course is focused around the following modules that cover core phases of the design process: observe and notice, frame and reframe, imagine and design, and make and experiment. Students will also learn the theory of change and methods for assessing potential impact of technology interventions. Students will be expected to learn ethnographic interviewing, webs of abstraction, ideation, and basics of both hardware and software prototyping. The course will engage social impact designers from industry as speakers and coaches.

DEV ENG 203: Digital Transformation of Development (3 units): As technology use proliferates globally, there exists significant potential leverage to further understand and improve the lives and livelihoods of people in low-resource settings. Through careful reading of recent research and through hands-on analysis of large-scale datasets, this course introduces students to the opportunities and challenges for data-intensive approaches to development. Students should be prepared to dissect, discuss, and replicate academic publications from several fields, including development economics, machine learning, information science, and computational social science. Students also will conduct original statistical and computational analysis of real-world data. They will gain an introduction to sensors as well as tools and methods for spatial modeling and spatial data analysis.

Spring Semester
DEV ENG 202: Critical Systems of Development (3 units) : This course is intended to provide students in the Master of Development Engineering with the necessary background and knowledge to undertake projects and work experience of a global scope. Students will be exposed to a diversity of methodological frameworks, introduced to the skills needed to effectively participate in the field of sustainable development (such as systems mapping and landscape analysis), and to understand the history and ethics of global development. Students will be required to complete an annotated bibliography and a systems analysis of a problem of interest.

DEV ENG 204: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship (3 units): Social entrepreneurship entails market-oriented approaches to address social problems for sustainable, scalable outcomes. This course will enable students to frame complex problems and devise entrepreneurial approaches for addressing them. Students study the dynamics of societal challenges and the conceptual framework of social innovation and social entrepreneurship from theoretical and practical perspectives. Students also explore technology solutions to address global social problems with a systems thinking approach. Students additionally learn how to develop appropriate business models and implementation strategies for a social venture. Student projects will integrate the development engineering goals of creating technology interventions designed to improve human and economic development in complex low-resource settings. This course is the first of a sequence of two final project courses for candidates of the Master of Development Engineering.

Second (and last) Fall Semester
DEV ENG 220: Development Engineering Final Capstone Studio: From Theory, Through Reflection, To Praxis (6 units): The course combines three core components: the hands-on work of developing and refining a technological intervention for low-resource settings or the development of research that can act as an intervention for structural change and social justice; critical reflection on the role and ethics of development engineering in a complex world; and engagement with current practitioners to understand diverse perspectives in the field.

Elective coursework (18 units total, of which 12 should be in the concentration area)

Two electives are required each semester in addition to the above core courses. The list of currently approved elective courses can be found here. More information on each course can be found in the Course Catalog.

Summer internship
All students must complete a professional internship during the summer between their first and second years in the MDevEng program. The intention is for students to have an opportunity to connect the theory and practice of development engineering. Students will gain valuable learning experiences through working with non-governmental organizations, government agencies, for-profit companies, social enterprises, and community projects that focus on various dimensions of development engineering.

There is no course credit associated directly with the internship. However, students will receive academic credit through enrollment in DevEng 220: Development Engineering Final Capstone Studio: From Theory, Through Reflection, To Praxis, a Fall semester course that provides opportunity to implement learning through a capstone project guided by a Development Engineering faculty or other mentor as well as a forum for reflection on the summer internship.

The internship can be arranged domestically or internationally. The amount of time is flexible depending on the opportunity, but a minimum time expected for the internship is 240 hours

Final capstone project
This project enables students to work in teams to extend assignments from core courses, their internships, their own initiatives, or social entrepreneurship collaborations

The capstone project is a culmination of the program and will allow you to apply what you have learned, in your coursework and in your internships, towards the design and implementation of a solution to positively impact the life of a specific community. Your capstone project, guided by a Development Engineering faculty or other mentor, will drive your theoretical synthesis simultaneously to being a vehicle for achieving development goals. Throughout the capstone project you will be mentored by a faculty advisor, in a collaborative and interdisciplinary team, offering you an opportunity to connect with relevant faculty and demonstrate your capacity to work collaboratively towards bringing projects to fruition within a specific development context.

Each year, a portfolio of projects will be offered to students for their capstone selection. Students are put into teams based, to the extent possible, on their prioritized choice of projects as well as disciplinary skills needed for the project. Each student is supervised by two advisors, their MDevEng concentration advisor and their project advisor. Projects are submitted in printed portfolio format and comprehensive oral exam that will highlight the project’s achievements as well as the student’s roles and individual achievements. Projects are evaluated based on their analytical qualities (e.g. understanding of the problem or an area) as well as their measured impact.

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Overview

The UC Berkeley Master of Development Practice (MDP) is an interdisciplinary, professional degree program designed to prepare leaders in sustainable development to tackle the local, regional, and global challenges of the coming decades. Whether looking to focus a career on climate, energy, sustainability, poverty, political development, human rights, or another pressing global development challenge, our curriculum and resources are designed to provide the necessary knowledge and tools. Graduates go on to careers “with meaning” in non-profit, business and government organizations. Attracting experienced, engaged, and entrepreneurial students from around the world, its rigorous curriculum provides core scientific knowledge; skills in problem-solving, design and management; analytical and decision-making tools, and integrative perspectives. The program’s foundational core curriculum is supplemented by individually customized specialization, drawing from the unparalleled breadth and depth of the world’s top public university. The MDP’s focus is on practice with hands-on, experiential learning infused throughout the program. It emphasizes peer learning, enriched by a student cohort diverse in education, profession, and culture.

The UC Berkeley MDP program is a member of the Global Association of MDP programs — thirty-seven graduate programs in twenty-seven countries — sharing a common approach and designed around a set of core capabilities developed through a year-long consultative process supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

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