The department offers programs leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees are available in collaboration with the School of Medicine. Postdoctoral training is an integral part of the program.
The first year is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary program (IGPBS) taught by faculty members from the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Molecular and Integrative Physiology; Pathology and Laboratory Science; and Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics.
The advanced curriculum includes specialized training in physical biochemistry, protein structure-function, and advanced molecular genetics. The Ph.D. candidacy examination usually is taken at the end of the second year. It consists of written and oral comprehensive examinations. The written component is a grant proposal in the format of the National Institutes of Health. The oral comprehensive examination is a defense of the grant proposal and a test of the student's basic science knowledge.
The Ph.D. degree requires about 35 credit hours of courses emphasizing theoretical concepts as well as practical aspects of laboratory work. It is especially important that students develop the ability to apply this knowledge and experience to an independent research problem. The program is flexible in accommodating the individual student's prior educational and ultimate goals. Completion of the requirements for a Ph.D. generally requires four or five calendar years. The M.S. requires about one year of course work and a year of supervised research leading to a thesis. Candidates for combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees enter this program through the graduate and medical schools. Graduates of the M.S. and Ph.D. programs have been placed in industrial and academic research positions.
The applicant should have a bachelor's degree, mathematics through calculus, two semesters of organic chemistry, and background in the biological sciences. Physical chemistry is recommended. Applicants are urged to take the general aptitude and advanced sections of the Graduate Record Examination.
Please be advised that in the case of applications from outside of the United States, we require that a recent TOEFL score be included with the application (a minimum score of 570 is needed in order to be considered for admission as a regular graduate student.) In addition, the University now requires that non-native English speakers pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE) as a graduation requirement.
Teaching and research assistantships are available to qualified students. These pay $21,700.
To assure consideration for admission in the fall, applications should be received by January 1 to be considered for recruitment in February and March. Applications for assistantships and fellowships should be received by February 1 preceding the academic year for which assistance is requested. In general, students are accepted for the fall semester before late April.
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