Location: Berkeley, California
Department: Vision Science Graduate Program
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PROGRAM BACKGROUND
Title of program
Vision Science Graduate Program
Year human factors/ergonomics program was established
1946
Accredited by HFES?
No
Contact person for more information, including applications
Alex Marquez, University of California, Berkeley, 380 Minor Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720;
(510) 643-6696 ; http://vision.berkeley.edu
Academic calendar
Semester
Gaduate degree offered
PhD
Goals, objectives, and emphasis of the program
The PhD degree program prepares students for careers in vision science related teaching, academia, and industry. The program includes core course work in the first year on the fundamentals of the vision science, followed by 4-6 years of research training under the guidance of a faculty member of the program. Areas of specialization include visual psychophysics, visual neurophysiology, ocular physiology, visual development, visuomotor mechanisms, and computational and machine vision. Areas related to human factors engineering include development of assisted visual technologies (e.g. augmented reality) and advances in visual display technologies. The program enthusiastically supports teaching and research on applied problems in vision science.
Number of degrees granted during last 3 years
PhD 21, MS 4
Can students attend part-time?
No
Are required courses offered during summer?
Research activities in summer
Does the university have an HFES student chapter?
No
APPLICATION PROCESS
Application deadlines
Application opens in September and closes in January
Application fee
$135 (subject to change without notice)
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Minimum requirements
GPA: 3.0
GRE: optional
Bachelors degree or equivalent preferably with strong STEM subjects and an emphasis on life-sciences.
Importance of other criteria as admission factors
Research: high
Work experience: medium
Letters: high
Interview: high
Tuition and fees
Resident: $6,132/semester
Nonresident: $12,254/semester (subject to change without notice)
ADMISSIONS
Number of students applying to the program last year
Approx. 50
Number of students accepted into the program last year
10
Number of students entering the program last year
10
Anticipated number of openings per year for the next two years
7
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Percentage of students in program receiving financial assistance
100%
Amount received per year (minimum – typical – maximum)
Graduate student stipends adhere to the published UAW-ratified levels
Types of assistance available
University fellowship, NIH predoctoral training grant support.
When should students apply for financial assistance?
With application
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Graduate degrees offered
PhD
Number of units required
12 per semester
Exams required
Qualifying oral exam
Language requirements
English
Research required
Full-time culminating in a dissertation
Practical experience required
Prior research or laboratory experience is highly advantageous but not required.
Typical number of years required to obtain degree
PhD: 5
Is there a non-thesis option?
No
CURRICULUM
Required courses (units)
VS 260A Optical and Neural Limits to Vision (3)
VS260B Introduction to Ocular Biology (3)
VS260C Introduction to Visual Neuroscience (3)
VS260D Seeing In Time, Space and Color (3)
VS298 Oxyopia Seminars (1)
VS201B Student Evening Research Seminar (SERS) (2)
VS201A Survey of Laboratories (2)
VS230 Ethics (2)
VS375A/375B Teaching Methods (1)
VS299 Research (1-12)
Electives (units)
Number of courses outside department that are required
Statistics
Average or typical class size in a required course
7
RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES
Research and support facilities available to students in the program:
Research facilities available at Berkeley to graduate students in vision science are unexcelled anywhere in the world. Federally supported research facilities include modern visual psychophysics laboratories plus computers. The optometry laboratory, housing 6,000 volumes and subscribing to 200 periodicals, is part of the larger University of California library, one of the finest in the world.
Teaching opportunities available to students in the program:
All students in the PhD program are required to teach a minimum of 2 semesters. Students can teach up to 8 semesters if they need support. Typically, these graduate student teaching appointments are to instruct the laboratory sections involved in the first 2 years of the optometry curriculum.
Current research activities and projects being carried out by program faculty and/or students:
Aging and visual performance, ocular motility constraints, visual requirements for vehicle guidance, data compression for computer graphics, detection and identification of warning signals, special requirements related to ocular diseases.
STUDENT STATISTICS
Current number of active students in program, by gender
15 men, 25 women
Current number of first-year students in program
10
Based on current graduate students in the program,
the mean score on admission tests and undergraduate
GPA by degree being sought are
PhD: GRE 1353 v + q, GPA 3.5
FACULTY
https://vision.berkeley.edu/faculty/