phd degree price

How Much Does an Online PhD Program Cost?

Considering getting your PhD? You are not alone. American universities have awarded nearly 60,000 doctorate degrees in 2016 and has been on a steady incline since 2000 when 40,000 PhDs were awarded. Among these doctorate recipients are many who chose to get their PhDs online.

Online PhD programs are now offered by over 200 accredited schools in a variety of disciplines ranging from computer science , business management, to educational leadership.

Getting an online PhD is, most times, far less expensive than the traditional classroom setting alternative. You can save money on everything from the cost of transportation to actual tuition.

So how much does on online PhD actually cost? Tuition prices vary depending on the aschool’s academic strength and the doctoral discipline you decide to study. The cost of the top online PhD programs , including tuition, books, registration and online coaching, can range from $4,000 to upward of $20,000.

[Check out our ranking of the 50 Most Affordable Online PhD Programs ]

For business professionals holding MBAs, an online PhD in business is very popular. Online business degrees are now available at over 400 accredited colleges and universities. The average tuition for a doctorate degree in business is around $11,000, according to recent surveys. Online PhD programs in Organizational Leadership are also very popular. The average tuition for such a PhD is about $19,500. Online psychology doctorates are another popular program, with programs averaging around $15,000.

An online PhD in Education tends to be the most expensive of doctoral programs. The average price of is over $21,000. Many school administrators, who work throughout the academic year, favor online graduate programs so they can study while working. These doctorate candidates have the benefit of taking summer courses as well. A PhD in Education candidate has a choice of nearly 100 accredited online schools to choose from.

In addition to cost-saving in transportation expenses, an online PhD in your chosen field can be a boost to your income as well. The investment in an online course can bring greater annual income and, in the long run, reduce the overall cost of tuition.

For those with established careers or have been a long time away from the college classroom, online higher degrees have become quite popular. After a long day at work, it is easier for the adult student to be at home or the local library working on his or her thesis. Many online college professors accommodate the working student by scheduling thesis reviews online at the convenience of the student. So if you have employment constraints, responsibilities to family needs, and want to earn a larger paycheck, getting your doctorate online may be the best option. You may miss the chatter of the classroom and the face-to-face counsel of your thesis advisor, but you may find experience quite rewarding and less expensive.

Embrace the convenience of online learning and shape your own path to success.

Explore schools offering programs and courses tailored to your interests, and start your learning journey today.

2023-2024 Graduate and Professional Tuition Rates

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Tuition rates for the academic year 2023-24 

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Graduate School (Master's / Doctorate)

Please note: Ph.D. students in the Biomedical Sciences and in the Graduate School of Business are assessed the standard graduate tuition rates.

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Graduate School of Engineering

Graduate School of Business (GSB)

Mba program .

MSx: M.S. in Management for Experienced Leaders  

$138,640 Annual tuition

This is the annual rate, comprising 4 quarters: Summer 2023-Spring 2024

School of Medicine (SoM) 

$21,781  per quarter

Stanford Law School  

$23,870  per quarter

Law/GSB Joint Program 

$24,265  per quarter

Multiple-Career Graduate Tuition   

For details, please see    Joint Degree Programs and Tuition Schedules

Tuition Agreement for Students with Multiple Programs (TAGM)

Postdoc & Non-Matriculated

Special Registration Statuses for Graduate & Professional Students

Graduate part-time enrollment ( 3-7 units; autumn, winter, spring ).

Graduate students who need only 3-7 units to complete degree requirements or qualify for TGR status may be eligible for part-time enrollment. For more information on eligibility for part-time graduate enrollment and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Graduate Part-time Enrollment (OAE Accommodation) ( 3-7 units; Autumn, Winter, Spring )

This registration status is for graduate students who have been recommended for an approved reduced course load by the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) . For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Graduation Quarter

$150 per quarter

Graduate students who have completed all degree requirements and need a registration status in order to graduate may qualify for a graduation quarter.  For more information on eligibility for graduation quarter and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page .

Medical School Research Rate

$3,619  per quarter

For more information on eligibility and for information on how to apply, please see the School of Medicine Registrar's Office Reduced/Research Tuition Rate Eligibility web page.

TGR (Terminal Graduate Registration) / TGR Final Registration

$3,816  per quarter  TGR students who carry 0-3 units are assessed the TGR rate of $3,816.

Graduate students who have completed all degree requirements (including minimum residency units) but are working on finishing a thesis, project or dissertation may qualify for TGR. For more information on eligibility for TGR and for information on how to apply, please see our special registration page  and our TGR page .

Tuition Charge Updates During the Add/Drop Period

Up until the add/drop deadline (Final Study List Deadline) , when you adjust your enrollment and move into a new tuition bracket, your tuition charges will update automatically within 24-48 hours. 

Please note:

• After the Final Study List Deadline , there are no tuition reductions for withdrawn courses. Courses dropped after the deadline are considered “withdrawn.” They will show with a “W” on your transcript, and will count towards your tuition charges.
• For Engineering Grad, GSB, SLS, and SoM students: Waitlisted courses count toward your tuition assessment. 
• If you have requested a Special Registration Status , your tuition will not be updated until the eForm is processed. You can review eForm processing timelines and log back into your eForm at any time to see the status of your request.

To review your student financial account details: 

• Log into Axess (Student role) > “My Finances” tab > Bill & Payment System > View & Pay My Bill
• Click on the "Account Activity" tab
• Choose a quarter to review and click the down arrow ( v ) on the right to see details

Doctoral Programs

In this section, phd in public policy.

• PhD in Political Economy & Government

PhD in Health Policy

Phd in social policy.

• Job Market Candidates

Health care and politics. Inequality and public policy. Economics and disruption.

You see today's most compelling global issues as complex, interrelated, and urgent. You believe that fresh ideas—and research to carry them through—are critical to building stronger communities and a more just world.

In collaboration with the  Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  (Harvard Griffin GSAS),  Harvard Kennedy School immerses you in rigorous learning that bridges academic disciplines and draws from leading faculties across the university’s graduate schools. When you pursue a doctoral degree at HKS, you are among extraordinarily bright minds, you’ll work with committed faculty members who are leaders in their fields, and you’ll have unparalleled access to resources across Harvard University.

Prepare yourself for a career in academia or policymaking that demands advanced knowledge of economics, political science, and social policy. Translate your ideas into action that can untangle our world’s unprecedented challenges. Join us.

Information for Students Affected by Hurricane Milton

With Hurricane Milton making landfall, the University is offering accommodations to students affected by the storm.

To help assist our students affected by Milton, the University is offering the following accommodations:

• Students who are directly impacted by the hurricane and who are currently registered in courses for the Nursing Session 2 July, August, September or October 2024 terms have the option of receiving a free eight-week course extension without mentor approval; or, a 100% tuition credit for their course(s) to a future term. Affected students should submit a Request for Course Extension Form or a  Request for Course Withdrawal Form indicating “Hurricane Milton” as the reason for the request. Please note that TECEP exams in these terms cannot be extended, nor credited for tuition after the exam has been taken.
• Impacted students who are currently on a course extension for the July 2024 term can request a second eight-week extension on their current term at no additional cost.
• The University will follow the New Jersey State Guidelines for U.S. military students residing in or deployed to the affected region.

Request an Accommodation: Students affected by the hurricane and flooding who need an accommodation should contact the Office of the Registrar by email at [email protected] or by phone at 609-777-5680.

Accommodation requests should be submitted by Oct. 25. Requests after that date can be accommodated if the student provides documentation of the reason for the late request.

Doctoral Degrees

Elevate your skills, deepen your knowledge and take the next step in your future with a doctoral degree from Thomas Edison State University (TESU). Earning your doctoral degree can help prepare you to make a positive impact in your workplace or community. At TESU you’ll enjoy flexibility, mentorship and quality instruction as you earn top credentials in your chosen field of study.

It’s your time to lead, achieve and transform. A doctoral degree from TESU can help you reach the top of your field. You’ll enjoy the flexibility of our online programs, as well as the mentorship and quality instruction TESU is known for.

More About Graduate Admissions

Our Doctoral Programs

At TESU, we offer three doctoral programs: Doctor of Business Administration, Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Education.

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Advance your career with a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree. Our fully online doctoral degree program helps prepare you for high-level work as an executive, educator or consultant in three areas of study: General Management, Organizational Leadership or Human Resource Management.

Learn More About the DBA

I was always an overachiever, and I always told myself I was going to get to the summit of education. ...Thomas Edison gave me the best platform to accomplish it. ...With the DBA, my career took flight that, without the DBA, I would not have.

Mimi Nkwepo, DBA ‘23

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

As the healthcare industry continues to grow and change, nurses like you play a critical role in advancing the quality and safety of patient care. A Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from Thomas Edison State University helps prepare nurse leaders to improve patient outcomes, spur positive transformation in their organizations and translate research into practice.

Prepare yourself to lead at the highest level in your healthcare organization with our fully online doctoral degree program specializing in Systems-Level Leadership. Through mentored practice, you will enhance your skills in organizational leadership, economics and finance, healthcare policy, population-focused care and technology.

Learn More About the DNP

My DNP coursework helped me recognize gaps in nursing practice and identify available health information technology solutions.

Rocio Dela Riva, DNP ‘21

Read Rocio’s Story

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This fully online Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program enables students across a spectrum of executive, administrative and consultancy roles in industry, military and higher education to acquire the knowledge, competencies and skills necessary to advance in their careers and lead organizations.

The degree’s areas of concentration include human resources management, organizational consulting, healthcare management, industrial and organizational psychology and research methods.

Learn More About the Ed.D.

Biochemist David Baker receives Nobel Prize

Media Contact: Leila Gray - 206-475-9809, [email protected] or [email protected]  

[ Editor's note: A press conference with Nobel Laureate David Baker is planned for 10:30 a.m. Pacific time today at the University of Washington in Seattle.  Access the live stream of the press conference on UW Medicine's YouTube channel.]

Computational biologist David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of the UW Medicine  Institute for Protein Design , has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computational protein design.

He shares the Nobel Prize with Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper of DeepMind, who were honored for protein structure prediction.

The award, announced today, Oct. 9, by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, will be presented in a ceremony Dec. 10. 

"Joining the ranks of Nobel Laureates is a testament to David Baker's dedication and innovation," said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce. "The University of Washington is proud to be a place that fosters groundbreaking and impactful research, and extends its heartfelt congratulations to David on this remarkable recognition."

“I am thrilled that David Baker has been named a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry,” said Dr. Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine. “His relentless pursuit of excellence and visionary approach to protein science has helped crack the code for understanding protein structure."

Dellit added, "David’s success in harnessing the power of computational protein design to deepen our understanding of protein prediction and design has allowed for the creation of novel proteins to tackle some of the greatest challenges in medicine, technology, and sustainability.”

Proteins are the workhorses of biology, essential for countless cellular functions. Baker and his colleagues have for decades used computing power to learn how long chains of chemicals called amino acids fold into protein structures. The resulting 3-D shapes of protein molecules determines how they function in living systems and is important for understanding biology and developing new medicines.  Recently, artificial intelligence has been tapped by Baker and others to predict protein structures with unprecedented accuracy and speed. This has greatly expanded scientists’ ability to model the building blocks of life . 

Baker is also known for collaborating on the development of an online video puzzle game called " Foldit ” with colleagues at the UW Center for Game Science. This game enables people with no background in science to help solve protein structure problems. More than 400,000 people have played the game, and Foldit players have been named as co-authors in some of Baker’s published work. These citizen scientists have contributed to research on a wide range of medical challenges including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and the Ebola virus.

Baker has worked on designing new proteins not found in nature, including molecules that carry out specific tasks. His lab has created new proteins that neutralize viruses, target cancer cells, and even serve as catalysts for chemical reactions. His research contributed to the development of the world’s first computationally designed protein medicine, a vaccine for COVID-19 pioneered by colleagues at UW Medicine. 

To date, Baker has published more than 640 peer-reviewed research papers, been awarded over 100 patents, and co-founded 21 biotechnology companies. Ninety of his doctoral and postdoctoral trainees have gone on to independent faculty positions. His dedication to open science has fostered a collaborative community of researchers worldwide, and he has ensured that the most advanced tools and insights developed through his work are shared freely to accelerate scientific discovery.

Baker was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People in health by TIME and a Clarivate Citation Laureate for the influence of his published research on the work of other scientists. STAT News also listed Baker among its 50 influential leaders and changemakers in the life sciences in 2024.

He is the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at UW Medicine. He is member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Baker, 62, was born in Seattle and grew up not far from the University of Washington campus. Both his parents were UW faculty members. He completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University in 1984 and earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989 under Randy Schekman, who won a Nobel Prize in 2013. Baker completed his postdoctoral training in biophysics with David Agard at the University of California, San Francisco, in 1993. Baker has been a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine since 1993. 

He is married to UW Medicine biochemist Hannele Ruohola-Baker, a noted stem-cell biology researcher. They are the parents of a daughter, Amanda, and a son, Benjamin. In his free time, Baker is an avid hiker. 

Baker is the eighth University of Washington faculty member to receive a Nobel Prize. He is the sixth Nobel Laureate from the UW School of Medicine. Those six include three whose primary affiliation was with Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Linda Buck, E. Donnall Thomas and Leland "Lee" Hartwell).

Past UW Nobel Laureates:

• 2016 – David Thouless , Physics (deceased)
• 2004 – Linda B. Buck , Physiology and Medicine (Affiliate Faculty)
• 2001 – Leland H. Hartwell , Physiology and Medicine (former faculty)
• 1992 – Edmond Henri Fischer , Physiology and Medicine (deceased)
• 1992 – Edwin G. Krebs , Physiology and Medicine (deceased)
• 1990 – E. Donnall Thomas , Physiology and Medicine (deceased)
• 1989 – Hans Georg Dehmelt , Physics (deceased)
• David Baker bio
• Photos of David Baker taken today, Oct. 9, 2024
• Downloadable, broadcast-ready video and still images of David Baker
• David Baker October 2023 video profile (YouTube)
• David Baker TED Talk (YouTube)
• UW Medicine news releases on David Baker

For details about UW Medicine, please visit  http://uwmedicine.org/about .

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93-year-old completes doctorate from Liberty 60 years after starting degree

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October 8, 2024 : By Christian Shields - Office of Communications & Public Engagement

When Liberty University graduate Dr. Virginia J. Morelock, 93, of Orange County, Calif., earned her Ed.D.: Curriculum & Instruction: Elementary Education  last month, she finished an educational journey over 60 years in the making.

Growing up as the daughter of a school principal and superintendent and a home economics teacher, Morelock was exposed to the world of education from an early age. Wanting to follow in her parents’ footsteps, she earned her bachelor’s degree in science and math from the University of Wisconsin and went on to teach in Wisconsin and Ohio, earning her master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.

After her husband’s death, Morelock moved to Los Angeles to work as an elementary teacher. While there, she began taking doctoral classes at UCLA but halted her studies after one semester when she married again in 1963.

Over the next 30 years, Morelock, the mother of four, taught at the elementary, junior high, and senior high levels, serving her last 15 years as a ninth grade science teacher. Following her retirement at the age of 62, she contented herself to a quiet life of quilting.

When her second husband passed away in 2019, Morelock decided to finish the degree that she had started so many years before. After researching which school would best meet her educational needs, she chose Liberty University Online Programs because of its discounts and support of military veterans and their families (her husband served in the U.S. Air Force).

“I have spent my entire life doing things for others, and I do not regret the way I have spent my life, but now it is time to do something for me,” she told her family when she began classes. “I do not have a lengthy bucket list; I just have one thing. I have always wanted to finish my doctorate. I will need the support of all of you, but I want to do this. I want to complete my doctorate before I die.”

As an older student, Morelock knew she would face some challenges, including adjusting to new technology. She even admits to misplacing some assignments and having to redo them. But she credits her grandson, who along with his family currently lives with her, and Liberty’s “invaluable” IT HelpDesk with helping her navigate the software and ensure that she turned in every assignment on time. Despite a rough start in her first class, she said she was able to right the ship and finish with a B. But that would be her only B — she received A’s in every one of her remaining classes.

Morelock also faced the challenge of completing her studies legally blind. She did this with the help of a typist and Liberty adjunct instructor Dr. Mandy Vipperman, who assisted her in refining her capstone project, in which she focused on parental involvement (or lack thereof) at her neighborhood elementary school where her children attended.

“I am tenacious,” she said. “I start something, and I finish it. My kids encouraged me. I am one of those people where if I start something, I finish it. It may take me a while, but I’ll get it done.”

Morelock said she was “in seventh heaven” upon hearing that she had completed her final defense and earned her doctorate. She celebrated the accomplishment with a party at home with her family. She plans to visit Liberty’s campus in May to walk across the stage at Commencement and have the opportunity to meet her professors.

Now as a Liberty graduate, she hopes to inspire more current and future students to reach their own personal goals just as she did for so many children through the years.

“Whatever your dream is, don’t ever give up,” she said. “Keep working towards it, and if you persist, you will make that dream come true. You have got to be persistent

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Princeton’s John Hopfield receives Nobel Prize in physics

The new Nobel laureate joined an on-campus press conference by video from a cottage in England and was met with rounds of applause from a standing-room only crowd. Speaking at the event were (from left) James Olsen, chair of the Department of Physics, Mala Murthy, director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and President Christopher L. Eisgruber. Gadi Dechter (at right), vice president for communications and government affairs, asked Hopfield questions submitted by the press.

Princeton University professor John Hopfield has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics "for  foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks."

He shares the prize with Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto.

"This year’s two Nobel Laureates in Physics have used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted in awarding the prize today.

John Hopfield

"John Hopfield created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data," the academy said. "Geoffrey Hinton invented a method that can autonomously find properties in data, and so perform tasks such as identifying specific elements in pictures."

Word of the award reached Hopfield at a thatched cottage where he is staying in England. “My wife and I went out to get a flu shot and stopped to get a coffee on the way back home," he said. They returned to find a flood of congratulatory emails that he described as “astounding” and “heartwarming.”

Hopfield said he was grateful for the opportunity to speak as a Nobel laureate about the vital throughline between basic scientific research and technological innovation that changes people's lives. “The science which advances technology is the science that gets done for curiosity’s sake much earlier," he said. This theoretical research, he said, is "the generator of technologies which are so interesting, useful and one relies on to keep making things work better."

Hopfield is the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences, Emeritus, and professor of molecular biology, emeritus. He holds associated faculty status in physics and neuroscience. He taught for 16 years as a professor of physics and helped establish the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

“John Hopfield’s brilliant scientific career has transcended ordinary disciplinary boundaries, enabling him to make lasting contributions to physics, chemistry, neuroscience, and molecular biology,” said Princeton President Christopher L .  Eisgruber . “His pathbreaking research on neural networks, for which he is honored today, exemplifies beautifully the power of curiosity-driven research to advance the frontiers of knowledge and create new tools for addressing some of the world’s most profound challenges.”

A 'foundational figure' who ' fundamentally changed the world'

“John Hopfield was a foundational figure in neuroscience at Princeton,” said Mala Murthy, director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

“Hopfield networks are inspired by the brain and enable machines to store memories and recall them with only partial information," said Murthy, who is also the Karol and Marnie Marcin ’96 Professor and professor of neuroscience at Princeton. "This work paved the way for the deep learning revolution that has now touched nearly every aspect of society. We are so pleased for John and this deserving honor.” 

“We are all delighted for John for this remarkable recognition of his groundbreaking work,” said Bonnie Bassler, chair of Princeton’s Department of Molecular Biology. “John’s discoveries show how research at the interface of disciplinary boundaries can transform our understanding of nature and deliver practical applications that benefit society.

“John combined physics, biology and neuroscience approaches to probe the brain, developing neural networks to explain how the brain recalls memories,” said Bassler, who is also the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology at Princeton. “Those discoveries led to the creation of artificial neural networks that are now routinely used by machines like smartphones and self-driving cars. The Nobel recognition is truly deserved as John’s contributions have fundamentally changed the world.”

“John is a visionary scientist who transcended boundaries and illuminated the deep connections between theoretical physics and a wide range of phenomena across myriad fields of science,” said James Olsen, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics. “As a member of the physics department in the 1960s and ’70s, John was a passionate teacher and mentor to generations of undergraduate and graduate students inspired by his brilliance and unique approach to studying nature.”

Former Nobel laureate David MacMillan, Princeton’s James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry, had these words for Princeton’s newest laureate: “Huge congratulations for a remarkable achievement that has and will continue to benefit all of humankind. Buckle up and enjoy the weird and wonderful ride!”

For the Nobel Prizes, “the world stops for a moment and recognizes the special importance of fundamental research and scholarship,” President Christopher L. Eisgruber (right) said in opening remarks honoring Nobel laureate Hopfield at the press conference. Mala Murthy, director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, is at left.

Celebrating unfettered curiosity  

Hopfield elaborated on the science and its impact at a press conference held on campus at Taylor Auditorium, where he was greeted with multiple rounds of energetic applause from a standing-room only crowd as he participated remotely.

Eisgruber led off the event, followed by remarks from Murthy, Olsen and the new Nobel laureate.

For the Nobel Prizes  “the world stops for a moment and recognizes the special importance of fundamental research and scholarship,” Eisgruber said in his opening remarks. “I think here at Princeton University, we have a tradition of celebrating these prizes the way that some universities celebrate national athletic championships.”

Eisgruber highlighted Hopfield’s breadth of expertise, noting that “Professor Hopfield truly exemplifies Princeton’s commitment to curiosity-driven learning as a way to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Hopfield joined from his summer home in rural England to share his thoughts and answer media questions that had been submitted before the event.

“When I first worked in the areas for which I have been given undue honor,” he said with quiet modesty, “there were disciplines, and you didn't cross discipline boundaries. ‘A gentleman biologist does not venture an opinion about a physics theory.’” 

The conventional wisdom of the era, he continued, instructed scientists not to explore the fringes of their fields, because “the way to build a strong physics or strong biology department is to know where the  center  of your field is.” 

Hopfield cheerfully ignored that advice, spending his peripatetic career wandering freely within the interstitial spaces between disciplines. He called on universities to support such blue-sky research — projects where the outcomes are truly unknown. “It could be a disaster, or it could be a triumph.” 

Hopfield’s remarks were received with enthusiasm by the on-campus audience. Responding to a Washington Post question about how his groundbreaking, interdisciplinary work fit into the field of physics, he asked his own question — “What defines the field of physics?” — that drew a sustained round of applause.  

He also spoke about risks posed by the artificial intelligence that owes so much to his early work, saying that AI is now in the position that gene editing was a few decades ago, when he served with other scientists to draw ethical guardrails around the new technology.

The science behind the Nobel Prize

“John Hopfield was a founding father of the field of artificial neural networks, and he was inspired by biology,” said David Tank, Princeton’s Henry L. Hillman Professor of Neuroscience . His primary papers on the topic, published in 1982 and 1984, have been cited almost 30,000 and almost 10,000 times, respectively.

His Nobel Prize celebrates insights he imported from physics into the field of neural networks.

In particular, he connected the physics concept of “dynamical attractors” with human memory. Hopfield’s genius was to see that human memory also has “attractors” that the brain is drawn back to.

“Every experience changes your neural connection, your connectome, and later on, your brain can recur , can come back to a similar activity pattern,” said Sebastian Seung, the Anthony B. Evnin Professor in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Computer Science. “That's the storage and retrieval of a memory. And John Hopfield reconceptualized that model using mathematics and concepts from dynamical systems theory.”

Recurrent neural networks, known in the field as Hopfield networks, are one of the foundational elements of all modern artificial intelligence.

His work “led to an entire class of artificial neural networks called recurrent neural networks because the neurons in the circuit feed back onto themselves,” said Tank.

“Recurrent neural networks are now a huge part of systems neuroscience,” Tank said. “In the fly connectome work that was just published in Nature, there’s a central complex called the ring attractor. And why is the word attractor in there? Because of John Hopfield.”

Modern artificial intelligence systems are often a mix between recurrent systems and those based on deep learning and back propagation, which developed from work done by Geoffrey Hinton, with whom Hopfield shares today’s Nobel Prize.

Excellence within and across the fringes

Hopfield is a true polymath, making groundbreaking advances in physics, neuroscience, biophysics, molecular biology and chemistry.

He was born to two physicists who had met as graduate students at the University of California-Berkeley. Unemployed because of the Great Depression, Hopfield’s father took a yearlong job creating the physics exhibit for the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, where Hopfield was born. He went to Swarthmore College, then earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1958. After graduating, he spent two years on the technical staff at Bell Labs and a year at the École Normale  Supérieure in Paris, then joined the Berkeley faculty.

In 1964, Hopfield came to Princeton, joining the faculty of the Department of Physics. The next year, his insatiable curiosity and intellect won him a place on NASA’s Tycho Study Group, modeling the moon’s surface.

“More than any other individual, John saw how a theoretical physicist could engage with the beautiful and sometimes mysterious phenomena of life,” said Bill Bialek, the John Archibald Wheeler/Battelle Professor in Physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics. “He inspired and influenced many of us, directly and indirectly, over many decades.”

In 1969, as a professor of physics, Hopfield won the Buckley Prize from the American Physical Society for his seminal research into light-emitting diodes (LEDs). That same year, he won a Guggenheim Fellowship to study in Cambridge, England.

Princeton’s Department of Physics faculty for the 1974-75 academic year included today’s Nobel laureate John Hopfield (center, in turtleneck) with (highlighted, from left) renowned physicist John Wheeler, 2019 laureate Jim Peebles, and 1980 laureate Val Fitch. Just visible in the back row is David Gross, winner of the 2004 Nobel.

In 1970, his attention turned to biology. His 1974 paper on “kinetic proofreading” in cells was a major contribution to the world of chemistry.

“Hopfield published influential papers on the theory of electron transfer reactions, the most fundamental reactions in chemistry,” said Gregory Scholes, the William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry. “The ‘Hopfield coefficient,’ signaling the mixing of a molecular and a photon state, carries his name.”

In 1980, his eagerness to use computers to model the nervous system required more hardware than Princeton had at the time, prompting him to cross the country again, this time to join the faculty of Caltech, where he created and chaired the Computational and Neural Systems Program, the first of its kind.

During those years, Hopfield met and mentored then-graduate student Carlos Brody, who is now Princeton’s Wilbur H. Gantz III ’59 Professor of Neuroscience.

“John was a wonderful Ph.D. mentor, who inspired deep thinking in all his students,” Brody said. “He had a way of listening to what we were telling him, pausing to think, and then coming back with a question that got to the very heart of the matter, often seeing the truly important parts, well beyond the day-to-day minutiae, before we ourselves saw them.”

In 1983, Hopfield won the MacArthur “Genius” Award, which funded his research for the next five years. In 1997, he returned to Princeton, where he began recruiting faculty who worked across disciplinary boundaries, like his Bell Labs colleague David Tank, who joined the faculties of physics and molecular biology.

Hopfield's pitch? “He basically said, ‘Why should you come to Princeton? Because Princeton is unique. It has incredible opportunities available. And if you really want to help build something and develop something new, you should come to Princeton,’" Tank recalled. "And I made my decision that night.”

“Just a few moments with John was enough to give you a discovery,” said Seung. “That's an experience you don't have with many people. It means a greatness is exuding from that person.”

In 2001, Hopfield won the Dirac Medal, awarded by the International Center for Theoretical Physics on behalf of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency), for “important contributions in an impressively broad spectra of scientific subjects.

'Inspired by his intellect and thoughtfulness'

Olga Troyanskaya is among Princeton’s preeminent AI researchers and director of the groundbreaking Princeton Precision Health initiative. But when she first met Hopfield, in 2003, it was as a prospective faculty member, interviewing for a job. “I still remember being so inspired by his intellect and thoughtfulness,” she said.

More than two decades later, Troyanskaya, a professor of computer science and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, notes the extraordinary impact of Hopfield’s early research. “His development of the first recurrent neural networks, Hopfield networks, was a pioneering breakthrough both as a computational approach and for understanding the principles of how biological systems function,” she said. 

Around that time, Hopfield and Sam Wang co-advised Gayle Wittenberg. They found that biological synapses, like artificial ones, act like little on/off switches, which can make a memory more stable. “Despite giving us the idea, John was characteristically humble and declined co-authorship, basically giving us credit,” said Wang, a professor of neuroscience.

“John loves a good problem,” said Wittenberg, who earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology and neuroscience in 2003. “I remember his 66th birthday. Olly Downs, a fellow grad student, and I brought a cake into the Hopfield Lab. Trying to decide whether to go for the 66 candles, or two number 6’s — ultimately, we put 7 candles on the cake, lighting only the first and the sixth. He was quiet for a couple of minutes as we watched those two candles burn down, and then he broke into laughter on recognizing the binary code. I will never forget the sparkle in his eye when he solved the problem.” (The number 66 is represented in binary as 1000010.)

Wittenberg, who is VP of neuroscience data science and digital health at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, continued: “When you see John working, or teaching, after a few minutes you do a double take, and realize he has this same demeanor of a person who is ‘at play.’ Understanding how the world works, seeing one of nature’s clever secrets finally revealed, is met with joy. I think each problem shared with a student, in a way, was meant to give them that same feeling.”

“John was always humble about his accomplishments," said Downs, who earned a Ph.D. at Princeton in 2005 and is now the chief technology and AI officer at Curinos. “When I was a teaching assistant for his class on neural computation, he would teach what was already commonly known as the Hopfield Network, but he called it only ‘associative networks.’”

In 2004, Hopfield became the vice president of the American Physical Society, then assumed the presidency a year later.

In 2008, he retired from teaching, transferring to emeritus status just as the Princeton Neuroscience Initiative was launching under the leadership of Tank and Jonathan Cohen, an M.D./Ph.D. who is a professor of psychology and neuroscience, and Princeton’s Robert Bendheim and Lynn Bendheim Thoman Professor in Neuroscience.

Sebastian Seung, the Anthony B. Evnin Professor in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Computer Science, talks about Hopfield’s influence on generations of Princeton faculty and students during a reception in Frick atrium celebrating the new Nobel laureate.

Celebrating a mentor and friend

Following the campus press conference, the audience was invited to a reception in the Frick atrium, where Eisgruber again greeted the crowd — this time with a Champagne toast — and several of Hopfield's colleagues gave remarks, including professors Tank, Bialek and Seung. Each scholar called Hopfield an inspiration and mentor.

“Why did I come to Princeton? Because John Hopfield was here too,” said Tank.

Bialek called Hopfield “an incredibly warm and supportive human being.”

“It is a pleasure not only to celebrate the recognition of his work — the recognition really of a whole field – but it's also wonderful to have the pleasure of recognizing a great friend,” he said.

Seung said Hopfield’s seminal discoveries across multiple disciplines have helped answer profound questions about the universe. “That is the mark of the genius of this man, and why he is so inspirational to all of us.”

Many in the crowd expressed the excitement of being at Princeton when a Nobel laureate was selected.

"I am very inspired," said Luca Di Carlo, a postdoc from Italy in physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute. "Research is tough, we may feel unattached from reality — it's reassuring to be reminded that we are actually making an impact and that our community is making a difference."

Megan Matter and Christina Preston, both fourth-year graduate students in chemistry, remembered arriving at Princeton in 2021, when MacMillan won his Nobel in chemistry . This year, their adviser, Erin Stache, assistant professor of chemistry, sent a group message to her team early in the morning about Hopfield's Nobel. "It's always very exciting," said Matter, "and it's great to see machine learning be celebrated."

Cameron Khan, who earned his undergraduate degree in 2023 and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry, felt lucky to be on campus for multiple Nobel celebrations in recent years. “It’s very special to be a student here,” Khan said.

Hopfield  joins a number of  other Princeton faculty and alumni who have been awarded Nobel Prizes .  This year's prize amount is 11 million Swedish kroner, or about $1 million, which the laureates share. Emily Aronson and Jamie Saxon contributed to this story.

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Nobel Physics Prize Awarded for Pioneering A.I. Research by 2 Scientists

With work on machine learning that uses artificial neural networks, John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “showed a completely new way for us to use computers,” the committee said.

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Two Scientists Awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics

John j. hopfield and geoffrey e. hinton were awarded the prize “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has today decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Hopfield, Princeton University, U.S.A., and Geoffrey Hinton, University of Toronto, Canada, for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor Cade Metz and Katrina Miller

John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton received the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries that helped computers learn more in the way the human brain does, providing the building blocks for developments in artificial intelligence.

The award is an acknowledgment of A.I.’s growing significance in the way people live and work. With their ability to make sense of vast amounts of data, artificial neural networks already have a major role in scientific research, the Nobel committee said, including in physics, where it is used to design new materials, crunch large amounts of data from particle accelerators and help survey the universe.

The machine learning breakthroughs of Dr. Hopfield and Dr. Hinton “have showed a completely new way for us to use computers to aid and to guide us to tackle many of the challenges our society face,” the Nobel committee said .

Neural networks — systems that learn skills by analyzing data and are named after the web of neurons in the human brain — are a part of everyday internet services, including search engines like Google, talking digital assistants like Apple’s Siri and chatbots like OpenAI ChatGPT. These services are rooted in mathematics and computer science, not physics.

But research by Dr. Hopfield and Dr. Hinton in the late 1970s and early 1980s helped influence the development of the digital neural networks that have become part of the fabric of the modern internet.

“If there was a Nobel Prize for computer science, our work would clearly be more appropriate for that,” Dr. Hinton, a recipient of the 2018 Turing Award who has been called the “godfather of A.I.,” said in a phone interview with The New York Times. “But there isn’t one.”

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