All Ph.D. students in the department receive full financial aid, including competitive stipends. First-year students are supported through a combination of teaching assistantships and fellowships. After the first year, students are generally supported by a combination of research and teaching assistantships, training grants and special fellowships.

After their first year, students devote nearly all their time and energy to research, leading to the preparation and submission of a Ph.D. dissertation. UCLA graduate students have the opportunity to explore special interests in choosing a research adviser to oversee their dissertation research. Faculty and students work closely together. Students learn how to plan and carry out well-controlled scientific experiments and how to interpret the results of these experiments. The department also funds travel by students to national and international scientific conferences for the presentation of research findings. The results of this research are published in the finest scientific journals. In fact, according to a recent ACS Directory of Graduate Research, the average number of papers published by each UCLA graduate student is among the highest in the country-a result of the individual attention received by members of the research groups. Each fall, the department awards a variety of endowed prizes and fellowships to those students judged to, have made the most significant contributions to chemical and biochemical research during the previous year.

All graduate students in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry are required to teach for three quarters prior to graduation. Teaching is an important educational and professional experience. New teaching assistants are provided with an extensive TA training program and teaching mentors. The department also recognizes the important contributions of graduate student teachers each year in an awards ceremony, during which the most outstanding teaching assistants receive generous prizes.