Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

Saint Louis University’s chemistry Ph.D. program offers specializations, including traditional areas of analytical, physical, organic and inorganic chemistry, as well as cross-disciplinary areas of materials and biological chemistry. Students must complete intensive research culminating in a dissertation. SLU's Ph.D. in chemistry requires a minimum of 39 post-baccalaureate credits, with at least 27 credits of coursework and 12 credits of dissertation research.

Duration - 5 Years
Credits - 39

Applicants should possess sufficient GPA and TOEFL (if applicable) scores, and a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, usually in chemistry or biochemistry, although other science majors will be considered.

Admission normally requires a minimum of 18 semester credits (minimum 2.8 GPA) of upper-division undergraduate chemistry courses including: organic chemistry (two semesters), quantitative analysis (one semester) and physical chemistry (two semesters). Students who do not meet these criteria may complete these prerequisites as part of their graduate program, though not for graduate credit.

Students who have not completed equivalent coursework in upper-level undergraduate “Inorganic Chemistry” and “Instrumental Analysis” will also be required to complete these courses but they can be taken for departmental graduate credit.

English Language Proficiency Requirements

To ensure a successful academic experience at Saint Louis University, we require international applicants to demonstrate they are proficient in the English language by submitting scores from any one of the following standardized tests:

IELTS minimum score of 6.5; Internet-based TOEFL (IBT) minimum score of 80; Paper-based TOEFL (PBT) minimum score of 550; PTE minimum score of 54; Duolingo minimum score of 125.

Application Deadlines

Students who want to be considered for the summer and fall semesters must submit their application by Jan. 15. Students who want to be considered for the spring semester should apply by Oct. 1.