PhD in Psychology in Austin United States | University of Texas at Austin

The Psychology Department brings together outstanding faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students to carry out our scientific and educational missions. At its core, Psychology seeks to understand the complexities of human behavior in a multitude of ways - how the brain gives rise to behavior, how behavior is affected by mental illness, injury, and disease, and finally, how to develop effective interventions to promote mental wellbeing. Our science examines everything from the single neuron to broad cultural and societal contributions to behaviorand the full range in between. As a 21st-century science, psychology is constantly exploring and incorporating emerging new approaches to our work, often by breaking down traditional academic and scientific boundaries.
Students graduate work will largely consist of courses, seminars, reading, and research in their graduate area, and all graduate students should discuss their proposed coursework with their area head prior to registration. There are, however, some departmental requirements that everyone must satisfy. These requirements are primarily designed to insure that students acquire a reasonable breadth of experience within psychology.
The primary goal of graduate training in the Department of Psychology is to prepare students for academic or other scientific careers in research and teaching. Students develop expertise in one of several areas of specialization: Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Cognition, Brain, and Behavior, Developmental Psychology, Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology, Perception, Brain, and Behavior, and Social Psychology. The program culminates in the PhD degree.
The length of time required to obtain a PhD varies from area to area, but students are expected to proceed as rapidly as is commensurate with an adequate breadth and depth of training. For a student in clinical psychology, a reasonable goal is six years of graduate work, including the internship, for a non-clinical student, four to five years is feasible.
Only students who wish to earn a doctorate are admitted. Most students enter the program with only a bachelor's degree. Some of these students earn a master's degree while progressing to the doctorate, others do not. Some students enter the program with a master's degree from another institution. These students must follow the same general sequence (outlined below) as students entering with a bachelor's degree. The time required to complete the program is, perhaps, one semester less for students who enter with a master's degree from another institution.