Graduate Admissions


The Department of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois has enjoyed a long tradition of identifying, training and graduating many of the world's top plant biologists. Our graduate students have gone on to highly successful and productive careers at universities and in the private sector the world over. Our graduate training program offers a diverse yet individually tailored and focused opportunity for students to develop expert-level skills in current research methodologies, critical thinking and ancillary professional attributes essential to a successful and satisfying career in plant research at the molecular, physiological and/or ecological levels. In consultation with their research advisors and graduate committees, our doctoral students craft programs of study and research that often involve novel collaborations with faculty and students in related disciplines of, among others, Crop Sciences, Animal Biology, Entomology and units in our sister school of Molecular and Cellular Biology. The material below should help guide you through our graduate application and admissions process. Of course, should you have any questions, feel free to contact the department or specific faculty members or graduate students directly.

 

∧ topWho Should Apply

 

Pursuit of a Ph.D. in modern biology requires commitment, discipline, focus, creativity and, most of all, an abiding curiosity about and desire to understand life's inner and/or global workings. As a community of scholars dedicated to such pursuits, we seek students who share our passion for biology and welcome our graduate students as collaborators to be entrusted with substantial responsibilities in seeing through the research visions that we collectively develop. Graduate research in modern biology is therefore not a path to be taken lightly. Yet it is one with deep and satisfying rewards. If you feel such a career path is right for you, and have the commitment and documented attributes necessary to succeed in it, we will be happy to consider having you join our department for graduate study. Women and members of minority groups are of course encouraged to apply.

Applicants should have a broad but solid foundation in undergraduate-level biology (plant, animal and microbial, from molecular to integrative and ecological), physics, chemistry, mathematics and statistics. Deficiencies in certain areas will not necessarily preclude admission, but may necessitate remedial coursework following admission. Other specific admission requirements are provided below, under How to Apply.

Prior, active experience in a biology research program (not just a lab course) as an undergraduate is of course an invaluable credential. Make sure to tell us about any research experiences you have had, and of course any publications that came from them. However, prior experience in research is not a prerequisite for entrance into our graduate program.

 

Before You Apply

 

Learn about us. We have tried to provide a comprehensive description of our department and our graduate program in this these web pages. Please explore them to learn about our graduate program, our faculty, research opportunities, our current graduate students and other aspects of graduate study here at the University of Illinois. Don't be afraid to discuss your plans and uncertainties with friends, advisors and faculty at your current institution, to supplement what you learn here about Plant Biology at the University of Illinois.

Contact us. We strongly encourage you to contact directly, by telephone or email, one or more of our faculty members whose research areas interest you. Such a dialogue helps us learn about each other. Don't be afraid or intimidated to call or email a member of our faculty or one of our graduate students if you have a question - any question - that you would like to have answered to help you decide on which faculty member's research to focus in your application's personal statement. For general questions about the department, the University or our application process, please feel free to email the Department or the Associate Head or call us at (217) 333-3260 and we'll find the right person to answer your question.

Visit us. While it is neither required for admission nor feasible for all students, we encourage you to visit potential graduate research advisors before submitting your application. A visit to the University that includes personal interviews with the Department Head and prospective graduate advisors is by far the best way to learn about our program. During your visit, we will give you a tour of our facilities as well as an opportunity to meet with current graduate students. They are, of course, invaluable points of contact, giving you a first-hand, ground-level view of life as a working member of our graduate program. Please do not hesitate to contact the Department or Associate Head if you wish to schedule a visit. We will arrange accommodation, campus tours and visits with graduate students and faculty for you, and we may be able to defray some of your travel expenses. Information and travel directions for visiting the University of Illinois can be found at the campus website. Also note that we invite a group of our most promising graduate applicants to visit the campus in February of each year.

 

∧ topHow To Apply for Graduate Study in Plant Biology at UIUC

 

Application for graduate study should be made for Fall semester admission. Please contact the Department regarding Spring semester admission.

Our application procedure is divided into two separate parts, one for the University, one for the Department. First, you must apply online to the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Second, you must provide specific application documents to the Department of Plant Biology directly. Please note that decisions regarding acceptance into the graduate program in Plant Biology are made entirely within the Department itself.

 

Grad Admissions Link
  • Application to the Graduate College of University of Illinois. The University's closing date for applications is March 15. Application can only be made via the World Wide Web. The University no longer accepts paper applications. Please go to http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/admissions/apply/.

    The department codes for Plant Biology are:

    10KS0320MS (Masters Program)

    10KS0320PHD (PhD Program)

     

    Application fees are US$60 for domestic applicants and US$75 for international applicants. Fees can only be paid electronically, by credit card.

  • Application for graduate study to the Department of Plant Biology. Admission to the graduate program in the Department of Plant Biology requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent and an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0). The following are to be submitted directly to the Department:
    • Three (3) letters of recommendation
    • Official transcripts from all post-secondary schools you have attended (colleges and universities)
    • Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores: Verbal, quantitative and analytical (required); Advanced biology or biochemistry (recommended). No minimum scores are set for consideration for admission.

    In order to have official GRE and/or TOEFL scores sent directly to our department, please use the following codes:

    • GRE Codes:
        Department Code 0205 (Botany)
        Institution Code 1836
    • TOEFL Codes:
        Department Code 37 (Botany)
        Institution Code 1836

    The postal address for the Department of Plant Biology is as follows:

    Department of Plant Biology

    265 Morrill Hall

    505 S. Goodwin Avenue

    Urbana, IL 61801

∧ topAbout your application

 

Please prepare and submit your application in a timely and careful manner. The following are some guidelines regarding its preparation:

  • Submit your application to the Department as early as possible. All materials should be received by the Department by January 1 in order for you to receive priority consideration for financial assistance. Please contact us if you cannot get your application materials to us by January 1 and we will do our best to accommodate you.
  • Acceptance of an applicant into our graduate program is never contingent upon the student's need of financial aid to enroll at the University. So please answer this question accordingly on the University's online application.
  • When completing the online application, please provide a "Field(s) of Specialization" pertinent to those represented by research programs witin the Plant Biology Department. This will help us direct your application to appropriate faculty members.
  • Please choose carefully those whom you ask to write letters of recommendation for you. At least one letter must be from a person closely familiar with U.S. university system of education. Referees should be people not only personally acquainted with you, but of equal importance, ones who, from their own career experiences, are in a position to judge your qualifications for a career in biology research and teaching. At least one letter of reference should come from an active scientist with whom you have recently worked and interacted closely over an extended period of time. Letters are of rather lesser value when they come from teaching assistants or professors whose only interaction with you has been at a distance, as a student enrolled in her or his course. It is also valuable to us if one or more of your references assesses your ability to communicate in English in the technical language of the sciences.
  • Your Personal Statement is a critically important part of the application you submit. We look for a clear, logical presentation, not necessarily constrained by any stated word limit while at the same time not burdened with extraneous personal narrative or philosophy. Please help us get to know you by providing explicit information addressing the following questions:
    • What experience and background do you have that is likely to help you not only succeed but excel in a program of graduate study and research in Plant Biology?
    • Whose research in particular, among our Plant Biology faculty, appears to be most appropriate to your interests and why? Please be specific.
    • What are your long-term career plans? What is it about your stated goals that attracts you to them? What sort of professional position do you envision yourself in ten years from now? Do you plan to do a postdoc after your Ph.D.? Do you want to work in academia, the private sector or do you see graduate research as a means to a less conventional end such as research management, science writing or public policy?

∧ topSpecific Information for International Applicants

 

Applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores. The minimum acceptable TOEFL score set by our Graduate College is 550. The Department will occasionally accept students with this score, although we feel that a score of 600 gives a better indication of adequate English-speaking ability. However, the TOEFL does not properly assess whether a student's facility with technical and scientific English is adequate for its intensive daily use, as required of graduate study in biology. Poor competence in technical and scientific English can result in correspondingly poor grades in required classes, jeopardizing a student's meeting adequate progress standards in our graduate program.

The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is highly recommended, and required for students wishing to be considered for a teaching assistantship. The Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK), which is administered here at UIUC, is required upon enrollment.

International applicants may submit their application materials for the Department in one package, provided that each letter of recommendation is in a separate sealed envelope and that all official transcripts are in envelopes provided and sealed directly by the issuing institution. We must receive official copies of GRE and TOEFL scores directly from ETS (Educational Testing Service) for your application to be considered. Transcripts from international applicants cannot be evaluated until we receive official TOEFL scores. Applications are not considered complete until all parts are received.

 

After You Apply

 

Confirmation of Application's Receipt. You may receive reminders after our initial receipt of application materials from you that certain materials have not been received or that the fee has not been paid. When all your application materials have been received by the Department, you will be sent an email confirming this. If you have not received such notification and feel that it is overdue, feel free to contact the department.

Our Decision Process. All complete applications are given equal consideration. Completed applications are reviewed by the Graduate Affairs Committe and by all faculty members in the Department seeking new students in their research programs for the coming year. Final decisions on applications are made by the Department's Graduate Affairs Committee. Interest in an applicant expressed by one or more faculty members is of key importance in the committee's decision-making process. No priority is ever given to students who will not need financial aid, nor to students of any particular race, nationality or ethnicity.

Your Visit to the UIUC Campus. As mentioned above, you have the option to visit us before you submit your application. In addition, we invite our most attractive candidates to visit, as a group, sometime in February. At that time, interviews and meetings are held with the Department Head, the Graduate Affairs Committee and individual faculty members of interest to the candidate. Also included in the visit will be a tour of campus facilities and an informal program of short seminars given by faculty introducing their work and summarizing recent research results. Of course, plenty of time is provided for social interactions with our current graduate students, whose organization (PBAGS) plays an active and essential role in organizing and hosting these visits.

Acceptance Decisions: Ours and Yours. Decisions regarding the disposition of applications are made during the early months of the calendar year. Decisions on international applications often take longer than those from US applicants because, for example, we are required to have GPAs from non-US institutions translated by the UIUC Graduate College before we can evaluate them and render decisions. All offers of admission are accompanied by guarantees of financial support for five (5) years of graduate training in a Ph.D. program. Specifics regarding the nature and duration of provided financial support (teaching assistantship, research assistantship or fellowship) will accompany your offer of admission. You will have until April 15 to accept or decline our offer, after which we have the right to withdraw the offer and extend it to another candidate.

 

∧ topApplication Checklist

 

  • Contact faculty member(s) and/or graduate student(s) whose research is of interest to you (optional but strongly encouraged)
  • Visit our department (optional)
  • Complete the University of Illinois electronic application (all parts) at http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/admissions/apply/
  • Pay application fees: US$60 (domestic), US$75 (international) (electronically by credit card)
  • Have all official post-secondary school transcripts mailed directly to the Department of Plant Biology
  • Have official GRE (and TOEFL for international applicants) scores mailed directly to the Department of Plant Biology
  • Have three (3) letters recommendation mailed directly to the Department of Plant Biology