The Open Graduate Education program builds on the traditions of free inquiry and collaborative research at Brown. It aligns the training of doctoral students with the spirit of Brown's Open Curriculum for undergraduate students, a cornerstone of the University's pedagogy. The Graduate School launched the Open Graduate Education program as a six-year pilot project in October 2011, supported by a $2 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the program continues today.

The objective of the Open Graduate Education program is to enable students to combine fields in unique ways and acquire expertise in more than one area. Consequently, there is no constraint on the choice of the secondary field — as long as the master's program participates in the program — and the field may be either close to or quite far removed from that of the doctoral studies.

The program is designed to enable participating doctoral students to write unique dissertations, pursue research, and forge career pathways that require knowledge in more than one field. The overarching goal of the Open Graduate Education program is to provide Brown doctoral students with the opportunity to broaden their intellectual and scholarly horizons, without sacrificing depth of study, as they prepare to launch their careers.

Information Session

Thursday, December 12 | 4-5 pm | Register
In person and online via Zoom.

Each year, the Open Graduate Education program allows about 10 doctoral students -— from any discipline — to pursue a master’s degree in a secondary field. Participants are selected on the basis of an application. Attending an information session is highly encouraged for interested students. 

Doctoral students may apply for the Open Graduate Education program through UFunds (under Graduate School Distinctive Opportunities). Applications are typically due in February. Students may apply in any year during their doctoral program. In the application, they must submit a plan that outlines a course of study for the remainder of their doctoral program and the secondary master’s degree. Open Graduate Education students are eligible for two semesters of fellowship funding, and they have the opportunity to apply for an additional semester of fellowship funding.

Visit UFunds

Application Deadline

February 10, 2025 at 5 p.m.

Application Components

• CV (or a Word document generated from the Graduate School Digital CV submission)
• An attached PDF that addresses the following questions:
  • Rationale for the proposed degree combination
  • Career plans and how they could be enabled by the secondary field
  • Courses planned to take as part of the master’s program
  • Proposed path to complete both the doctoral and master’s degrees within six years (i.e., course sequencing, and which courses in which year — be as specific as possible)
• Recommendations from both the director of graduate study (DGS) of the Ph.D. program and the DGS of the proposed master's program. If the student has been assigned a research advisor, an additional recommendation is required from that advisor.

Recommendations must be submitted in UFunds, under “Request Recommendation From.” Enter the email addresses of the DGS of the Ph.D. program, the DGS of the proposed master’s program and the student’s research advisor (if applicable). Recommenders will receive emails from ufunds@brown.edu requesting that they complete recommendation forms to accompany the application.

Students interested in seeking a Master of Public Health must submit an additional application to the School of Public Health.