Start Your Application
Applicants must fulfill the general admission criteria for the Graduate School at the University of Tennessee.
Quick facts:
– Fall 2026 applications will open on August 1st.
– Complete our inquiry form to be notified when it opens.
– All applicants are considered for fully funded Graduate Research Assistantships.
NOTE: It can take 10-15 days for your material to be fully processed by our program and the Graduate School.
NOTE: Admission is contingent upon a student’s ability to be granted a site-access badge for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Application Process
- Complete the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, graduate school application
- On the “Program Selection” page:
- Mark “Degree Seeking” under New Graduate Student.
- Mark “On Campus” under Where would you like to study?
- Select “Knoxville” from the Campus drop-down box.
- Mark “Engineering, Math, & Computers” under What are your areas of interest?
- Mark “Doctoral” under What is your anticipated degree?
- Select the appropriate program in the Program drop-down box:
- Energy Science & Engineering
- Data Science & Engineering
- Life Sciences PhD
- Select “Genome Science and Technology” under Concentration
- Select “Fall 2025” under What entry term are you looking to start?
- Submit all material required by the program and the Graduate School
Please review the drop-down menus below for more detailed information on our requirements.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
Minimum Graduate School Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree from accredited institution
- US degree holders: 2.7 out of possible 4.0 GPA; graduate coursework must have earned 3.0 GPA or higher.
- Non-US degree holders: 3.0 out of 4.0 GPA or higher; graduate coursework must have earned 3.3 GPA or higher.
- Applicants may be required to submit English language certification test scores
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a field of science or engineering.
- Applicants with non-STEM degrees may be admitted on a case-by-case basis.
- Additional coursework may be required to satisfy co-requisites and prerequisites.
Program Required Materials
- A copy of your resume or CV
- Please provide a detailed and chronological CV/Resume that includes:
- All education and employment history
- Any gaps between positions
- All relevant activities, honors, and publications
- Please provide a detailed and chronological CV/Resume that includes:
- A statement of intent
- Please submit a single PDF or Word document responding to each prompt. Individual responses to each prompt should be around 250 words or less.
- Describe your research interest and career goals.
- Describe your participation in any meaningful research and/or employment experience and how it has prepared you for our programs.
- Describe any previous teaching experience [for GST candidates].
- List any advisors you are interested in working with and let us know if you have been in contact with any of them.
- Is there anything else you would like to highlight that you have yet to discuss in other areas of the application?
- Please submit a single PDF or Word document responding to each prompt. Individual responses to each prompt should be around 250 words or less.
- Two letters of recommendation
- Letters from Principal Advisor/Supervisor and from your Most Recent Institution are preferred.
- Recommenders should complete their letters by responding to the following prompts:
- How long have you known the applicant?
- In what capacity do you know the applicant?
- Please describe the applicant’s relevant skills to our program and their likelihood of success in an interdisciplinary research PhD setting (i.e. initiative, perseverance, problem-solving, etc.)
- Your recommender will upload their letter through the application portal. The letter should be in PDF or Word format on letterhead.
Application Fee Waivers
The deadline for requesting application fee waivers is Sunday, January 12th at midnight (Eastern Time).
Steps for eligibility:
1. Submit your application
2. Submit all required materials
3. Email [email protected] with a request for review
NOTE: Application fee waiver review is exclusively for the three PhD programs operated by the Bredesen Center. We are not able to grant fee waivers for specializations operated by traditional departments.
GRE Test Scores (Optional)
The GRE is optional. If you feel that your scores will add value to your application, we welcome you to submit them.
NOTE: It can take 10-15 days for your scores to be fully processed by our program and the Graduate School.
General Admissions Timeline
August 1: Fall 2025 applications officially open
January 15: Final Deadline to submit completed applications and all required material
Late January: Admissions Committees review all applications that were submitted by January 15
Early February: Select Applicants receive offers of admission and invitations to our recruit visit
Early March: Explore UT and ORNL, network with faculty, and learn more at our recruit visit
April 15: National Signing Day – deadline to accept offers in accordance with the CGS Resolution
*Specific dates are subject to change, while the process remains uniform.
Admissions Rubric
As a resource for future applications, please review the rubric linked below. This is used by our Bredesen Center admissions committees to evaluate application material.
