Nutritional Sciences Ph.D. Program | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

By earning a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State, you will distinguish yourself as one of the true leaders in the field of nutrition.

With a strong focus on leadership, nutrition research, and multidisciplinary training, marked by the integration of resources and expertise across departments and colleges, the Penn State Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences (GPN) strives to address extremely complex and far-reaching issues that include:

increasing knowledge of requirements for nutrients necessary for optimal growth and well-being, including the interactions among nutrients, the environment, and disease
improving methods for assessing nutrient intake and nutritional status
determining the impact of food, phytochemical, and nutrient intake, as well as dietary patterns on health promotion and disease prevention
increasing knowledge of factors affecting food preferences, dietary intake patterns, and health habits, as well as developing various intervention strategies and evaluating their nutritional impact at the individual and population level
improving techniques and behavioral strategies to guide consumers in selecting health-promoting foods and nutritionally adequate diets
increasing knowledge of the mechanisms of metabolic regulation in humans and other animals, including cellular, molecular, and physiological aspects
training the next generation of scientists and clinicians in childhood obesity prevention

The general requirements of this rigorous doctoral program include a candidacy examination, core requirements, courses in your chosen program of studies, a comprehensive examination, the proposal and production of your dissertation, and a final oral examination.

The National Research Council has ranked Penn State’s GPN among the nation’s top programs.