PhD Chemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology

Programme overview

The PhD in Chemistry requires 30 hours of coursework, seminars, doctoral thesis and a minor, with candidacy normally reached by the end of the second year. Graduates pursue R&D in industry or government, intellectual property law, technical consulting and university faculty positions.

Faculty: College of Sciences | Department: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry | Duration: Coursework usually in first two years; candidacy usually by end of year two | Study mode: full-time | Location: Atlanta, GA, United States

What you will study

Requirements are 6 hours in specialization areas, 10 hours of seminars, 5 hours of thesis and a 9-hour minor. Areas include inorganic, analytical, organic, physical, biochemistry and polymer chemistry, with courses such as CHEM 6170 Inorganic Chemistry I, CHEM 6370 Organic Reaction Mechanisms and CHEM 6491 Quantum Mechanics.

Career pathways

Research and development in industry or government, intellectual property law, technical consulting, and faculty positions at universities and colleges.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

International applicants (Georgia Tech graduate admissions): TOEFL iBT overall 4.5 with Reading, Listening and Writing at least 4 and Speaking at least 3.5 under the scoring used from January 2026 (earlier scale: 90 overall, 19 per section), or IELTS Academic 7 overall with at least 6.5 in Reading, Listening and Speaking and 5.5 in Writing; scores are valid for two years, Duolingo is not accepted, and applicants with a degree from a regionally accredited US institution or an English-medium or approved-country degree can be exempt; individual programmes may set higher scores.

Requirements published at faculty level.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate applications use one online graduate application (gradapp.gatech.edu) for all programmes and campuses; deadlines vary by programme and are published on each programme page.

Apply through the official page: https://grad.gatech.edu/

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