The aim of the exposure science curriculum and training is to provide predoctoral students with an interdisciplinary education to understand the concepts of exposure science, attain skills to perform research, and address problems in the field of exposure science. This education will lead to an understanding of the underlying principles that result in human contact with chemical, physical, or biological agents occurring in the environment, and advance knowledge of the mechanisms and dynamics of exposure events either causing or preventing adverse health outcomes. The exposure science curriculum draws from multiple academic disciplines when developing course requirements and dissertation research.

Exposure science is a critical component in the examination of potential health effects caused by human contact with pollutants in our daily lives. It is a multidisciplinary science used to determine the frequency and intensity of human contact with environmental agents in single or multiple media using indirect measurement (such as microenvironmental measurements, questionnaires, GPS tracking, and video technology), direct personal monitoring, biological monitoring, and mathematical modeling. It evaluates exposure from all modes through which contaminants may travel. Exposure science and exposure assessment interface with toxicology, epidemiology, traditional environmental science, risk assessment, and other disciplines. Research can involve exposure and pharmacokinetic modeling, personal and microenvironmental monitoring, human activity pattern investigation, measuring individual or multiple exposure routes, evaluating biological markers and determining the bioavailability of contaminants with the goal of understanding exposure and the resulting health impact to the general population, individuals, and susceptible subgroups.

Students are expected to complete a series of coursework that provides the foundation in environmental sciences, exposure science, core areas of statistics, epidemiology, and health sciences along with elective courses for their area of concentration. They conduct a laboratory rotation to facilitate the selection of a dissertation adviser, participate in a seminar series, and attend a journal club. The aims of the seminars and journal club are to provide an in-depth exposure to new developments in the field, become a critical reviewer of the literature, and learn how to make scientific presentations and write research papers. Students have access to state of the art laboratory equipment for biological, chemical, and physical analyses and mathematical modeling.

Students in the program are expected to have some background in the physical and biological sciences as well as mathematics. Courses are taken to fill gaps in background education as well as to provide intensive training in the particular area in which the student plans to carry out research. A minimum of 36 course credits and at least 24 research credits are required. The departmental courses offered at Rutgers provide rich resources for this purpose. Most students are expected to take four to five years to complete degree requirements.