DOCTORAL PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego

Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders

Program Directors: Philip Holcomb (SDSU) and Seana Coulson (UCSD)

The SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders (JDP-LCD) is designed to educate a new generation of scientists who are interested in applying state-of-the-art research skills to the study of language and communicative disorders. Our interdisciplinary program, the only program of its kind in California, provides training in typical (spoken and signed) language, language disorders, multilingualism, and in the neural bases of language learning, use, and loss. Our doctoral program ranked fourth on the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index rankings compiled by Academic Analytics and released by The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2007. The National Research Council (NRC) ranked our doctoral program among the top ten in the nation in their most recent rankings. The majority of our graduates hold university faculty positions or research scientist positions in labs here in the US and abroad.

Goals:

1. To provide doctoral training in the study of language and communicative behavior with an interdisciplinary focus that integrates state-of-the-art knowledge from the fields of communicative disorders, cognitive science, neurosciences, psychology, and linguistics represented by the expertise of core faculty from SDSU and UCSD.
2. To prepare professionals, educated in the interface between behavioral and cognitive neuroscience methodologies, who will provide critical leadership in research and health services.
3. To prepare PhD-level scientists in the field of language and communicative disorders to serve as faculty in university programs and scientists in a variety of settings to carry out much-needed research on the processes of language development, disorders, assessment and intervention.
4. To prepare researchers to carry out much-needed research in communicative behavior and disorders in bilingualism.

Resources and Support:

Our program at SDSU resides in a clinical, research, and academic building with state-of-the-art Speech-Language and Audiology clinics, high-tech labs, and great instructional facilities. These resources, combined with the outstanding facilities at UCSD, provide doctoral students with the best possible training environment. Several different funding sources are used to support doctoral students, including faculty grants, program scholarships, graduate assistantships, and in-state and out-of-state fee support. Prospective students may also be interested in our recently renewed NIH NIDCD training grant (Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders; PI: Tracy Love) and a newly awarded OSEP training grant (Project INTERSECT; Site Director: Alyson Abel); information about both funding sources—including how to apply—is available on our website: https://slhs.sdsu.edu/phd/.

ASHA Clinical Certification:

Although this is a research PhD program, the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at SDSU offers a separate clinical graduate program in Speech-Language Pathology. It may be possible to complete a clinical fellowship or obtain academic and clinical training concurrently with doctoral studies. Access to clinical training is not automatic nor is it guaranteed.

Application Deadlines for current cycle:

Step 1: CalState Apply – December 1, 2023
Step 2: CSDCAS JDP-LCD Supplement – January 12, 2024

Both steps must be completed for the application to be reviewed.
Details and instructions for our two-step application process are available on our website: http://slhs.sdsu.edu/phd/admissions/application