Financial Support

We provide five and a half years of financial support to all students (including international students) maintaining satisfactory academic progress. With the approval of the dissertation committee, this support can be extended for an additional semester (the end of the sixth year). The department provides a competitive funding guarantee ($46,126 for students entering in the 2024-25 year) and coverage of all fees and non-resident tuition. Graduate student fees cover the cost of comprehensive health and dental insurance throughout the doctoral program. Support for the graduate program is provided by training grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), federal, state, and private funds as well as university and extramural fellowships.  Students may also be appointed as Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) and Graduate Student Instructors (GSI).

The MCB Department administers four NIH training grants (T32) in the following research areas:  Molecular Biology Across Scales (David Bilder / Elçin Ünal, Co-Program Directors; NIGMS GM148378); Genomics (Daniel Rokhsar/ Rasmus Nielsen, Co-Program Directors; NHGRI HG00047); Immunology and Pathogenesis (Ellen Robey/ Gregory Barton, Co-Program Director; NIAID AI100829); and Genetic Dissection of Cells and Organisms (Noah Whiteman/ Nicole King, Co-Program Directors; NIGMS GM132022). 

California Residency

U.S. citizens who are not residents of California are expected to take the steps necessary to gain residency during their first year. Some examples of what is required to obtain residency in California include: registering to vote and voting in California elections; filing California state income taxes; registering your car in and obtaining a driver's license from the State of California; designating California as your permanent address; and establishing and maintaining active bank accounts in California and closing all out-of-state accounts. Nonresident tuition for the period during which students are establishing California residency (first year) is also covered by the department.  Residency is handled by the Office of the Registrar and further information can be obtained at their website: https://registrar.berkeley.edu/tuition-fees-residency/residency-for-tuition-purposes/

Fellowships

Berkeley and Chancellor's Fellowships – awarded to outstanding applicants to doctoral programs in all fields;

The University allocates a small number of fellowship nominations to each department, which enables Ph.D. programs to select outstanding candidates applying for admission for a fellowship award. 

The fellowships provide funding: $36,000 annual stipend ($30,000 academic year, $6,000 summer) plus tuition/fee coverage. MCB students that are awarded a fellowship receive supplemental funding from the department to ensure they meet the program's minimum funding guarantee of $46,126 annually (for students entering in the 2024-25 academic year). 

All prospective students are urged to apply for any extramural predoctoral fellowships for which they may be eligible, including those from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, Department of Defense, and private and corporate fellowships.