Graduate

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The Deptartment of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo offers graduate students high-quality teaching, robust faculty-student interaction within a vibrant academic community, and the successful placement of our graduates in both academic and extra-academic positions.

Graduate students can receive excellent training in a variety of subfields, including philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE), applied ontology, metaphysics, philosophy of science, history of early modern philosophy, and bioethics. Within the department's two areas of notable strength – PPE and applied ontology – students will acquire skills in cross-disciplinary research that apply philosophical ideas and methods in the real world. PPE uses a combination of political philosophy, formal and experimental methods, and social science to gain new insights into complex social and political problems and how they can be solved. Applied ontology helps to solve problems in information and data science. Graduate students within the department benefit from individual faculty mentorship, extensive opportunities for community engagement and professional development, and an active scholarly community.

See the updated list of faculty publications, courtesy of PhilPapers, here.

Learn more about applying and enrolling.

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UB Graduate School Forms For Students

NOTE: Supporting materials must be submitted electronically, using the upload section near the bottom of the application. Acceptable formats include PDF, MS Word .doc or .docx, Text, HTML, jpeg or other standard image file

Contact Information

UB Philosophy Flyer

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Zoom image: The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is distinguished by its deep focus on core research strengths, allowing students to work at the cutting edge with leading scholars. The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is distinguished by its deep focus on core research strengths, allowing students to work at the cutting edge with leading scholars.
  • PhD in Philosophy
    2/19/26
    The Ph.D. consists of 72 credits (the equivalent of 24 courses), which includes approx. 2.5 years of coursework, a topical, and a dissertation. Students may transfer up to 24 credits from prior graduate coursework toward their Ph.D.
  • MA in Philosophy
    2/19/26
    Requirements for the MA degree are courses amounting to 30 hours of graduate credit including a Master's project under the supervision of a member of the philosophy faculty. Courses within the Department are normally counted on a three-hour-per-course basis. Courses may also be taken outside the Department with advance approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.
  • MS in Applied Ontology
    2/19/26
    The University at Buffalo's Master of Science in Applied Ontology is the first fully online master’s program in this groundbreaking field. Applied ontology blends philosophy and information science to solve one of today’s biggest challenges—helping systems, organizations and disciplines speak the same data language.
  • Advanced Certificate in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
    2/19/26
    Earn an Advanced Certificate in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at UB and build skills in modeling, experimental methods and normative analysis.
  • Fellowships and Scholarships
    2/19/26
    Applicants to our Ph.D. program are automatically considered for funding. No additional application is necessary. Funded students receive an assistantship of $23,690 per year for five years (which may increase in subsequent years), plus a tuition scholarship that covers all tuition expenses, and discounted health insurance. Ph.D. students have no TA, RA, or teaching duties during their first year in the program but are expected serve as TAs for professors teaching lower-level courses or as research assistants.
  • Placement Record
    7/30/24
    Openings for academic positions teaching philosophy at the college level are highly competitive. In recent years the ratio of potential candidates to available openings was as extreme as 8 to 1. This could equate to more than 2,000 candidates for fewer than 250 openings. The opposite is true about job openings in the professional field of Applied Ontology, where the ratio of potential candidates to available openings is estimated in the range of 1 to 8. This could equate to fewer than five candidates for dozens of job openings in this field.
  • Ontology Focus
    2/19/26
    The University of Buffalo is a world center of research in applied ontology, opening the doors for our graduate students to successful careers in informatics and data science in fields such as biomedicine, finance, defense and security.
  • Graduate Student Awards
    2/19/26
    The Philosophy Department has several prizes that are awarded annually to our graduate students. The awards, made possible by the generous support of benefactors, include:
  • Graduate Philosophy Association
    2/19/26
    The Graduate Philosophy Association (GPA) is an organization representing philosophy graduate students attending the University at Buffalo. We sponsor graduate students for conferences, organize events, and represent the interests of the graduate students in the department. The GPA is active in promoting a positive environment for the student community and promoting interaction with the larger philosophical community. 
  • Graduate Admissions
    2/19/26
    Applications are welcome from students whose philosophical interests correspond with those of our faculty members, particularly in those areas in which our department has notable strengths (e.g., PPE, applied ontology, metaphysics, history of early modern philosophy, bioethics).