For a list of current Core Faculty, please click here.

Applications are accepted at any time during the academic year and at any time in a student's academic training. However, it is best to join the emphasis earlier (by the end of your second year) rather than later so that you can be sure to meet all of the requirements. The QMSS Coordinating Committee typically meets once a quarter to review applications.

Yes.  If you would like to change your course plan (in consultation with your graduate advisor and QMSS advisor), please send a message to the Chair of the QMSS Committee.  If the course you’d like to take/switch is already an approved QMSS course, then most changes can be approved without delay.  If your request involves something more complicated, then your request will be forwarded to the QMSS Committee for discussion and approval. Our goal is to help you obtain the training you need for your research and career plans.  So changes to your course plan can easily be made to meet your goals.  But please do keep the QMSS Committee informed so that your new course plan can be documented in our files, and so that we can insure that your new plan will satisfy the QMSS requirements. 

Yes, you can take any QMSS course on a Pass/No Pass basis (assuming that this grading option is also consistent with the requirements for your PhD Program).

Yes, discuss this with your QMSS advisor and then submit a copy of your syllabus (and/or other supporting material) to the QMSS Coordinating Committee for approval. We suggest that you do this before taking the class so that you’ll know in advance whether or not it will satisfy QMSS requirements.

Yes.  Please discuss this with your QMSS advisor and then submit a copy of your syllabus (and/or other supporting material) to the QMSS Coordinating Committee when you submit your Application and Course Contract.

Yes. Discuss this with your QMSS advisor and then submit a copy of your syllabus (and/or other supporting material) to the coordinating committee for approval.

The QMSS Seminar/Colloquia series will be listed as an interdisciplinary course and will be formally located in a different department each year (it will typically be listed in the home department of the faculty member who is coordinating the class that year). Check the QMSS website each quarter for the current course number.  Updated information will also be sent via email to all QMSS students.

No, you can register for the seminar during any 3 quarters of your graduate training. However, it is best to participate in the seminar earlier rather than later so that you can get to know QMSS faculty outside of the Psychology Department and so that you can learn things that may be helpful to you as you develop and conduct your research program over the course of your graduate training. Also, although you are only required to take 3 quarters of the seminar/colloquia series, you are welcome (and encouraged) to attend more.

Yes.  The QMSS Seminar/Colloquia series is open to the entire campus community.  Non-QMSS students and faculty are invited and encouraged to attend.

Your QMSS talk can be presented at any time.  You do NOT need to wait for your dissertation, and you do not need to talk only about your dissertation. Indeed, we encourage people to present their talk prior to their dissertation year so that they can receive helpful feedback prior to project completion. Also, students who wait until the last minute sometimes run into trouble because they are ready to graduate (sometimes in the summer) and have not given their QMSS talk.

No, an incomplete will not appear on your transcript.  We hope that every student who enrolls in QMSS will be able to successfully complete the program. But we also understand that your training needs and goals may change during the course of your graduate career.  If you enroll in QMSS but then decide not to complete the program, there is no penalty and no mark on your transcript. 

No, the QMSS Emphasis will not appear on your diploma, but it will appear on your official transcript. In addition, after your QMSS program completion is certified by the QMSS Chair and by the Graduate Division, you will receive a QMSS Certificate of Completion, which is suitable for framing. 

Once you have completed all program requirements, you are ready to submit your final paperwork!  Click here to download the Program Completion Form. Submit your completed form (via email or Docusign) to the current QMSS Director (the Chair of the QMSS Coordinating Committee).  The Director will review and sign your form and submit it to the Graduate Division. The Graduate Division will verify completion of the emphasis and convey this information to the Registrar, which will in turn include the QMSS emphasis on the final transcript. You will also receive a Certificate of Completion from the QMSS Coordinating Committee.  Congratulations on finishing the QMSS program!