58 PhD programmes offered by the university

The Film and Media Studies Ph.D. program at University of California, Irvine (UCI) is dedicated to understanding film, television, and digital media texts in relation to questions of power, inequality, and difference.

A distinctive feature of the History program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is its strong emphasis on transnational and world history.

Earth System Science PhD students at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) join the global scientific community in the effort to define the causes and impacts of climate change and to develop effective solutions for a sustainable future.

The Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) has a very innovative Ph.D. program with strong interdisciplinary emphases.

The Language Science program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) offers an integrative approach to the scientific study of language, exploring interfaces between traditional frameworks while fostering a more complete understanding of the human communication system.

The Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy (UEPP) doctoral program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) trains scholars in the analysis of social problems related to the built, natural, and institutional environments.

The Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science and the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) jointly administer a Ph.D. program in philosophy with two independent tracks:  the Philosophy Track and the LPS Track.

The Sociology graduate program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) offers broad training in sociology, with several areas of concentrated expertise.

Since its inception, the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has directed its attention on cutting-edge problems beyond the scope of traditional chemical engineering, a trend now mirrored in most major academic institutions around the world.

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) offers a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a concentration in Computer Engineering.

​​This Ph.D. program in Criminology, Law and Society is offered at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). UCI offers graduate students the opportunity to earn emphases in several substantive areas.

The Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Computational Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is aimed at training scientists and engineers who will create advanced computational methods and tools to model and solve challenging problems at the intersections of scientific disciplines.

This school-wide graduate program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) leads to a Ph.D. degree in Engineering with a concentration in Materials and Manufacturing Technology.

The Ph.D. program in English at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is the number 1 department for literary and critical theory nationally. The research and teaching of department faculty represents and cuts across a range of fields, historical periods, and methodological approaches.

The Philosophy Department at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is committed to providing students a well-rounded graduate education, including central areas of contemporary philosophy and a solid foundation in the history of philosophy.

The Biomedical Engineering graduate program is housed at the Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and closely affiliated with the College of Medicine, School of Biological Sciences and School of Physical Sciences.

The Department of Economics at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) offers a Ph.D. program in Economics. Drawing upon the School’s strong quantitative tradition, it specializes in public choice, transportation economics, urban economics, econometrics, macroeconomics, and applied microeconomics.

The Department of Music at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) offers this PhD program in Music - Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT).