It is also the home department for the multidisciplinary Vision Science Group at UC Berkeley, whose graduate students earn either MS or PhD degrees.

Designed for optometry residents, the Joint Residency/MS in Vision Science Program prepares clinicians for careers in teaching, academic and industry research, and private practice.

The program has expanded significantly in the last few decades, as the array of new scientific inquiry included fields such as neurobiology, cell biology, infectious disease, bioengineering, molecular genetics, and adaptive optics.

As the host school for vision science research and graduate studies on the University of California, Berkeley campus, Berkeley Optometry has didactic and research affiliations with faculty and students in departments such as public health, electrical engineering and computer science, bioengineering, molecular and cell biology, neuroscience, psychology, chemistry, and chemical engineering.

In the BCSDP, professional trainees work under one or more mentors who are from departments and research groups on the University of California Berkeley and San Francisco campuses, in areas such as Vision Science, Optometry, Public Health, Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Infectious Disease, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Health & Medical Science, and Molecular & Cell Biology.

The University of California Clinical Research Center (UCB-CRC) in the School of Optometry works with industry, foundations, and government to design and evaluate innovations in patient vision care.

The center relies upon clinicians and faculty from various scientific and research disciplines at the University of California, Berkeley, including Optometry, Vision Science, Public Health, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Psychology, Neuroscience, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Genetics, and Physics.

Pre-doctoral training positions for optometry students are available in a wide array of research areas, including pharmaceuticals, optics, and functional vision assessment and enhancement.

In 1907 he chaired a committee of three optometrists appointed by the CSAO who met with Benjamin Ide Wheeler, president of the University of California, about establishing a "Course in the Science of Optometry."

This would be the first of more than 100 meetings between optometrists led by Schneider and the university, comprising an arduous sixteen-year campaign, finally ending when optometry courses became part of the upper division curriculum (undergraduate years 3–4) within the Department of Physics on August 17, 1923.

During the transition from 1966 to 1969, a few students of high academic standing were allowed to complete the additional (then optional) sixth year for the first-ever Doctor of Optometry (OD) degrees awarded by the University of California.

Completion of an undergraduate degree (BS or BA) became a prerequisite for admission in 2002, and in 2003, the Optometry curriculum became part of the University of California Graduate Division as a four-year professional doctoral-level program.