The PhD Program in Psychology conducts cutting-edge research aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of mental processes and behavior. As a PhD student in the Psychology Department, you will undertake innovative and interdisciplinary research, delve into social, cognitive, and neural levels of analysis, and address phenomena that have a direct impact on society.

Program Outcomes

The graduate program's coursework has been designed to further students' professional development and research skills, with an emphasis on effective written communication. As a student in this program, you will receive extensive feedback on writing from personalized faculty committees. In addition, students will gain instruction in oral communication, synthesizing psychological research literature, conducting independent scientific research, statistical competence, professional visibility, and teaching competence.

The graduate program in psychology offers a PhD program in experimental psychology and an interdisciplinary PhD in cognitive sciences. Both tracks are designed to prepare scholars for entering scientifically-oriented research and teaching jobs.

All students are admitted to the PhD program, which is comprised of a pre-master's and a post-master's part. The program is not designed to grant a terminal master's degree; instead, it is expected that students will proceed to PhD study.

Application Requirements

Application Fee
Resume/CV
GRE General and Subject test scores are optional
Official TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test, if applicable.
Transcripts
Three Letters of Recommendation
Personal Statement: In 2,000 words or less:
1. describe your previous experience with the type of research you are interested in;
2. outline how that experience will facilitate your graduate education; and
3. describe why you are choosing to pursue graduate education in the Tufts Psychology Department specifically. Your goal should be to outline how well your interests and experience aligns with the Tufts Psychology Program, a specific laboratory, or laboratories. If you are applying for the Cognitive Science Program, please describe why you are interested in that interdisciplinary program.
Optional Writing Sample: You may provide a writing sample that provides additional indication of your writing and research experience. This could include a scientific publication, experimental write-up, honors thesis, or other scientific writing.
Optional Additional Materials: You may submit additional supporting materials that further demonstrate fit with a lab or an indicated supervisor, if you have not outlined this in your personal statement. (Examples include: online courses, bootcamps, poster presentations, relevant professional development opportunities, certifications in programming languages, videos of an experiment currently in progress, videos of scientific presentations, relevant blog posts, and relevant publications.)

Tuition and Financial Aid

See Tuition and Financial Aid information for GSAS Programs.

Faculty

Samuel Sommers

Professor and Department Chair of Psychology

social perception and judgment; psychology of racial equity and group diversity.

Stephanie Badde

Stibel Family Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Science

Perception

Robert Cook

Professor

Animal Cognition and Learning

Academic Leave

J.P. de Ruiter

Professor of Psychology and Computer Science

Cognition and Psycholinguistics

Ariel Goldberg

Associate Professor

Psychology of Language, Linguistics

Xandra Kredlow

Dean of Arts and Sciences Assistant Professor

Clinical neuroscience

Gina Kuperberg

Dennett Stibel Professor of Cognitive Science

Cognitive Neuroscience, Language (semantics), Clinical cognitive neuroscience

Keith Maddox

Professor and Co-Director Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Leadership Program

Social Cognition, Stereotyping, Prejudice, Discrimination

Klaus Miczek

Moses Hunt Professor of Psychology

Psychopharmacology

Paul Muentener

Associate Professor

Conceptual Development, Causal Reasoning, Language & Thought

Aniruddh Patel

Professor

Music Cognition

Alexander Queen

Senior Lecturer

Clinical Psychology, Anxiety and Depressive Disorders

Elizabeth Race

Associate Professor

Cognitive Neuroscience

Jessica Remedios

Associate Professor

Social Cognition

Lisa Shin

Professor

Clinical Neuroscience

Holly Taylor

Professor

Spatial Cognition, Language, Memory

Ayanna Thomas

Professor and Dean of Research for Arts and Sciences

Memory and Aging

Heather Urry

Professor

Emotion and Emotion Regulation

Nathan Ward

Associate Professor

Applied Cognition

Concentrations

The department's areas of concentration reflect the research strengths of the faculty. These include:

Biological Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Experimental Psychopathology
Social Psychology
Joint PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science

Spotlight

Shining a Light on the Biological Origins of PTSD

Cecilia Hinojosa, Phd in Psychology '21, is the first author on a new research paper which finds a brain marker that indicates vulnerability to developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Hinojosa is now a postdoctoral researcher at Emory University.