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Programs Offered

The Doctoral Program

The History and Philosophy of Science Program at Notre Dame is a Ph.D. program. Graduate students pursue their studies on one of three tracks (History, Philosophy or Theology and Science), and have a second home in the corresponding department.

Our students meet all the Ph.D. requirements of their home department, as well as the additional HPS requirements, thereby emerging fully trained in their home discipline as well as in HPS. This is accomplished with three years of coursework, followed by at least two years of dissertation work.

Master's in the College of Science

Details of the degree requirements can be found in the HPS Handbook.

Every year we admit up to four students. Click for more on admissions.

Concurrent Master's Degree

We do not accept applications from students seeking a master’s degree. However, students already enrolled in a different Ph.D. program at the University of Notre Dame are eligible to enroll for a concurrent master's in HPS.

This non-research HPS M.A. degree requires the completion of 30 hours of coursework. Students may count up to nine hours of coursework toward both degree programs, subject to approval by the director of HPS and the director of graduate studies in the other program.

For more details, please consult the HPS Handbook, or contact the HPS Program Director.

Graduate Minor

A Graduate minor in HPS provides Notre Dame science, engineering, and arts and letters M.A. or Ph.D. students with the opportunity to develop skills and perspectives that enable them to analyze the many roles that science and technology play in the modern world. Training in the HPS Graduate Minor Program will therefore promote graduate students’ abilities to be thoughtful citizens, scholars, and policy-makers as science, technology, and medicine shape contemporary life ever more deeply.

The minor requires three HPS courses, and attendance at the HPS Colloquium for two semesters. For more details, please consult the HPS Handbook, or contact the HPS Program Director.