Ph.D. in Chemistry

New York University

The Doctor of Philosophy is a research degree. It signifies that the recipient is able to conduct independent research and has both a broad basic knowledge of all areas of chemistry and a comprehensive knowledge of one field in particular.Since graduate students arrive with a variety of backgrounds, some with M.S. degrees from other institutions in the United States and abroad, the program of courses for each student is designed in consultation with the director of graduate studies, taking each student’s specific background, experience, and interests into account.Chemistry, the so-called central natural science, bridges physics and biology. The atomistic and molecular structure and properties of matter are fundamental to the investigation of the physical world and to the understanding of living systems. Nanotechnology and genomics are comparatively new sciences that owe their very existence to progress in chemical analysis and theory during the past generation.The Department of Chemistry at New York University has a long and illustrious history, dating back to well before the founding of the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the University in 1876. The Department has been designated by the ACS as a landmark in commemoration of this event. Professor John W. Draper, chairman of the department and first president of the ACS, was an early pioneer in the development of photography, working with Professor Samuel F.B. Morse. The late Gertrude B. Elion, co-recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology, earned a master's degree in chemistry in our department, and more recently, Phil Baran a BS recipient added a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant to his growing list of accolades as a professor at Scripps Research Institute.

Graduate School of Arts and Science