Prospective applicants to the NRES graduate program should follow the guidelines below:
Thank you for your interest in graduate school opportunities in the NRES department at the University of Nevada, Reno! Below we have outlined our application process for potential applicants.
- Spend some time reading through our faculty's research interests to determine which faculty member has research interests that best align with yours. List of our faculty.
- Send an inquiry letter and your curriculum vitae (CV) to the faculty member(s) you identify as being a good match to your own research goals. A good resource of what information should go into the inquiry letter. It is a good idea to have read some of the faculty member's recent papers and be familiar with their research program before contacting them. This is a critical step in the process. We rarely accept a graduate student who has not first identified and discussed opportunities with a specific faculty member ahead of time.
- If the faculty member is interested in discussing opportunities further with you, they will often communicate this to you via email or by phone. At the end of that conversation, it is a good idea to ask the faculty member if they encourage you to put in an application to one of our graduate programs.
- If you are encouraged to apply, you will be directed to one of our graduate programs. You should be familiar with the requirements for entry into each program. These websites will (ultimately) direct you to the formal application. Each program has a different deadline, but as a general rule, try to get your application in as early as possible.
We typically support students on a mix of teaching and research assistantships, and we offer full funding (2 years for MS) for all accepted students. To be considered for teaching assistantships, applications must be received by December 1 (for Fall admission) and October 1 (for Spring admission). The GRE (and other similar standardized tests) is not mandatory for acceptance into our program. Application requirements for international students.
If you have any additional questions about our faculty or the graduate programs, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Kevin Shoemaker (NRES Graduate Program Director; NRESGraduateProgram@unr.edu)
Please note that Dr. Shoemaker will be on Sabbatical Leave between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025). Dr. Paul Verburg will be acting Director during that period and can be reached using the same email address listed above.
