Information for prospective applicants who plan to apply to the Bridge to the Doctorate program through the UVA Psychology Department

Step 1: Identify Program Area and Potential Faculty Mentors

As a first step, you will need to decide on the area of concentration within the Psychology Department that you would like to apply to join. There are seven program areas: Clinical, Cognitive, Community, Developmental, Quantitative, Social and Systems & Behavioral Neuroscience. 

Once you decide on an area of concentration, you should identify 1-2 faculty members within that area who you could work with. Be sure to review faculty profiles to ensure that they would be a good fit for your research interests. 

Step 2: Contact Faculty 

After identifying potential faculty mentors, you should send them an email asking if they would be open to admitting a student through the Bridge to Doctorate program that year. In the Psychology Department, students in the Bridge to Doctorate program work very closely with a primary research mentor. This faculty member serves as the primary point person for the student’s research training. Thus, students must identify a faculty member who would be willing to admit and supervise a student through this program before they apply. Any of the department’s primary faculty are eligible to serve as mentors to students through the Bridge to Doctorate program.

Step 3: Complete Application

Lastly, you should complete all application materials by March 1st, 2023 to be considered for admission. In your Statement of Purpose, be sure to explicitly state your research interests, the concentration area you are applying to, and the 1-2 faculty mentors who you are applying to have as your research mentors for the program.

If prospective applicants have additional questions about the Bridge to the Doctorate program specific to the Psychology Department, they can email the Psychology Dept Program Director: Professor Noelle Hurd at nh3v@virginia.edu