Overview
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, with more than 47,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick, is one of the major state universities in the nation. The Newark campus is part of a complex of higher education institutions that includes the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

There are currently 25 full-time graduate doctoral students carrying out research in the Psychology Department. The faculty-student ratio of 1:2 affords ample opportunity for students to interact with faculty members. Students in the Psychology Department are represented in policy decisions and are actively involved in the selection of new students.

The Location and Community
Rutgers' Newark campus is conveniently located in the center of a diverse and thriving educational, professional, and cultural community in the downtown area of New Jersey's largest city. Newark is also at the center of the nation's largest concentration of pharmaceutical industries. The campus is a modern complex serving more than 9,000 students and 500 faculty members. Rutgers-Newark is easily accessible by car or mass transit and is approximately 30 minutes by road or rail from midtown Manhattan. A free campus shuttle bus links the campus with the city's mass transit centers during the evening hours. The Psychology Department is located one block from the University's jogging track, fully equipped gymnasium, and swimming pool.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
Students entering the graduate program in psychology can take courses of study leading to a Ph.D. in psychology with specializations in biopsychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science, perception, and social psychology. Current research in the biopsychology of emotion and adaptive behavior focuses on the motivational, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms underlying behavior. Research in cognitive neuroscience offers training in neuroimaging methods, concepts, and experimental paradigms. Studies in working memory, motion perception, event perception, and spatial navigation are conducted using an fMRI scanner. Research in the area of cognitive science offers training in the computational and experimental study of cognitive processes. The curriculum provides basic instruction in computational and mathematical modeling methods, with a focus on connectionist systems, learning, memory, and categorization. The perception specialization offers training in the experimental study of motion and color perception as well as many advanced areas within vision science. The social psychology concentration focuses on attachment theory, conflict mediation, interracial feedback, social support, and the methods and techniques used most commonly in these areas.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of training opportunities in the adjacent Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, the College of Business (Information Sciences), the College of Nursing, the Department of Biological Sciences, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), and the New Jersey Institute of Technology as well as adjunct courses listed in related areas (such as linguistics, philosophy, or cognitive science) on the New Brunswick campus. A written qualifying examination is given after the completion of basic course work at the end of the second year. Upon satisfactory completion of these requirements, students advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree and must submit a thesis proposal, carry out their thesis research, and then defend their dissertation.

Facilities & Resources
The Psychology Department occupies about 42,000 square feet on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of Smith Hall. The department has its own servers (http://psychology.rutgers.edu, http://www.psych.rutgers.edu), computing laboratory, and a series of individual laboratories for neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and neuropharmacological research. There are more than 16,000 square feet for animal holding and testing. The Psychology Department with UMDNJ supports the Advanced Imaging Center with a state-of-the-art Siemens 3T Allegra head-only magnet (more information can be found at http://www.rutgers-newark.rutgers.edu/fmri) and 64-channel EEG (Neuroscan) and 32-channel EEG (Digital ANT) systems.

Additional recent equipment acquisitions include a virtual reality system for the study of spatial navigation and an optical motion capture system for the perception of biological movement. The department has a variety of human observation and testing rooms, one-way observation rooms, video equipment, high-speed graphics computers, and access to a Hewlett Packard Itanium II Workstation linked to the department's 28-node Opteron computer cluster and storage system, which can hold one trillion bytes of data.

Expenses and Aid
Tuition for the academic year is $12,240 (for New Jersey residents); graduate students receive tuition remission along with their source of support.

Financial Aid:
All students accepted into the program receive a full stipend and tuition remission through one of the wide range of scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships offered by the Rutgers Graduate School to full-time Ph.D. students whose records demonstrate superior academic achievement and scholarly promise. Stipends range up to $16,000 plus tuition remission and are renewable for four years. Students of minority groups may receive additional support through the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program and other programs. Applications for most forms of financial aid must be submitted by March 1. Students also receive financial support from the Psychology Department to attend conferences.

Housing/Living Expenses:
Graduate student housing (Talboft Apartments) is available at a cost of $7,624 per year (single occupancy). Additional housing is available in University brownstone apartments.

How to Apply
Students apply to enter the program on a full-time basis. Students should apply to the Psychology Department and mention the area of study they are most interested in. For application forms and additional information on financial aid and housing, students should contact the Rutgers-Newark Admissions Office, Graduate Desk, Blumenthal Hall, 249 University Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07102. Application materials can also be downloaded from http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu/. The application deadline for the fall semester is February 1 and for the spring semester, November 1. Students should include scores for the General GRE and the Subject GRE in their area of interest.

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