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The past decade has witnessed unprecedented advances in our understanding of fundamental biological processes yielding new experimental approaches to understand and to manipulate gene expression, along with new insights into the underlying basis of human disease. At the same time the mysteries of the cell, as well as the dilemmas of old and new diseases, continue to challenge our best scientists and physicians. Faculty members at the University of Virginia are engaged in pioneering research on many of the most important problems in medical science:
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| As our knowledge of the biological and biomedical sciences has grown, we have gained a much greater appreciation of the complexity of cells and human diseases, and recognize that successful biomedical scientists can no longer be an expert in only one area or one technique, but must be able to make use of information, technologies, and experimental strategies that go beyond the boundaries defined by traditional university departments. As someone interested in pursuing a career in science, it is critical that you obtain a wide breadth and depth of training in graduate school that will ensure your ultimate success, whether you choose a career in academia, industry, education, or any of the many other career opportunities that will be available to you.
Our goal is to provide students with the requisite knowledge and skills with which to pioneer major advances in our understanding of the complex biology of cells and tissues, and to lead efforts to cure and/or better treat human disease in the 21st Century. To help meet the challenges of modern biological/biomedical research training, the University of Virginia faculty have adopted an interdepartmental structure for graduate training that optimizes the research training opportunities available to you, and the flexibility to chose a mentor and advanced graduate specialty training area ideally suited for your professional interests and aspirations. To ensure personalized attention, entering students are asked to identify one of seven graduate program groups within the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program that best suits their initial professional interests. However, students are free to change their program selection as their interests evolve during their first year, and have access to a plethora of research interests from over 200 biological/biomedical science faculty in the School of Medicine and College of Arts and Sciences on the main University of Virginia campus. As you look through our Web pages, we hope you will sense the excitement of our faculty and students with their research, their dedication to excellence, and their enthusiasm for teaching and learning. Completion of a Ph.D. Program is not easy. Indeed, there are many long hours of studying, and many days and evenings in the laboratory. However, the rewards are very significant. There is little that can match the joy and excitement of discovery, the satisfaction of understanding a complex process, and the knowledge that what you are doing may lead to improvements in the health of mankind. We believe that the Ph.D. Programs at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are among the best in the country* and we invite you to join us. |
| *The University of Virginia remains the No. 2 best public university in the 2008 edition of the U.S. News and World Report rankings. In the 11 years since U.S. News began ranking public universities as a separate category, U.Va. has ranked either No. 1 or No. 2. |
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| Entering students are admitted to The University of Virginia as members of the BIMS Graduate Program Group to which they initially applied. The total number of students admitted each year is approximately 45-55 with between five and fifteen being admitted to any one Group, depending on the interests and quality of the applicant pool. With the advice of their Group Advisory Committee, first year students generally take courses and perform at least three three-month laboratory rotations, during which time they may elect to change Graduate Groups.
At the end of the first year students will generally select a thesis adviser and also a department or academic program from which they will take a Ph.D. qualifying examination (in year two) and eventually be awarded a Ph.D. degree. Graduate advisers can be any approved full-time or affiliated University of Virginia faculty member, regardless of their department or the student's graduate group. |
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| The BIMS Graduate Program represents an amalgamation of the faculty in the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Neuroscience, Pathology and Pharmacology and in the School of Medicine, as well as affiliated BIMS Departments/Programs in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and School of Engineering at the University of Virginia. BIMS also has a significant number of clinician investigators from various School of Medicine departments. The program is divided into several interest-based "Groups" whose identity may change with the changing interests of faculty and shifts in biomedical technology and priorities, but at present comprise the following: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics; Biomedical Engineering; Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology; Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases; Molecular Medicine (Physiology, Pharmacology, Pathology); Neuroscience; and Structural & Computational Biology and Biophysics.
Each BIMS graduate Group draws its faculty from multiple departments and has a specific set of recommended courses and activities for students. Entering students apply to, are admitted to and then affiliate with a Graduate Group, thereby placing them with that cohort of students and faculty that most closely reflects their scientific interests. Nevertheless, the courses, faculty, students, and most importantly, laboratory research opportunities in all Groups remain completely accessible at all times, regardless of a student's Graduate Group affiliation. Most students also elect to affiliate with one of our many Advanced Graduate Training Areas that offer an wide range of opportunities for research and professional training in select areas of contemporary research including Biotechnology, Cancer, Cardiovascular Research, Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Pharmacology and many more. These advanced opportunities may evolve over the course of the first year, or for students who have already identified a specialty area may be initiated immediately. We feel that this design is unique among major biomedical research institutions in the country and offers students the optimum blend of flexibility as well as immediate opportunities for specialization.
Integration of training through the BIMS Graduate Program Groups is accomplished through many mechanisms including offering graduate core courses, school wide orientation activities, a monthly Distinguished Lecture Series, an Annual BIMS Poster Symposium, an annual student run Graduate Biosciences Society Spring Research/Student Awards Symposium, specialized training workshops (e.g. on research ethics, grant writing, use of gene databases, etc.), career workshops/symposia, and numerous social activities. |
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The goal of our graduate training programs is to provide students the necessary knowledge, intellectual capabilities, and technical skills to conduct outstanding state-of-the-art research in a wide range of exciting biological and biomedical areas. Ph.D. training is begun in one of the seven Interdisciplinary BIMS Graduate Program Groups that provide students a broad foundation for their eventual specialized training in individual laboratories and Advanced Graduate Specialty Training Areas. The latter includes many NIH sponsored disease-oriented training programs such as Biodefense, Biotechnology, Cancer, Cardiovascular Research, Cell and Molecular Biology, Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience, that build upon the skill set developed in early years of training. A wide plethora of research projects are available ranging from studies of single molecules to studies in human patients. Indeed, a hallmark of our graduate programs is that all students gain a keen appreciation of how their research findings may advance the understanding of human diseases and possibly be translated into improved clinical care. Ph.D. training program is individually tailored for each student, and typically requires 4-5 years to complete. The first year is largely devoted to completing course work including graduate core courses in Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Genomics/Proteomics, Molecular Physiology-Pharmacology, and Biochemistry. Students may also choose from a wide range of advanced elective specialty courses in their areas of interest. These courses include offerings by individual graduate program groups that are designed both to help students further define their research interests as well as to provide a strong foundation of knowledge in the student’s chosen field of study. First year students also complete laboratory rotations to assist them in selection of a Ph.D. mentor and Advanced Graduate Specialty Training Area. Directors of the Advanced Graduate Specialty Training Areas also give overviews of their training programs at monthly lunch meetings attended by all first year students to help students in identifying a mentor and degree program. First year students also participate in a number of valuable and exciting professional training activities within their graduate program groups including monthly Research-In-Progress” Meetings featuring student presentations, a weekly Journal Club, and a Seminar Series featuring leading researchers in your area of interest from all over the world. Second year students complete additional advanced level graduate courses in their chosen specialty area, may elect to do additional lab rotations in their chosen advanced graduate program area if they have not already selected a Ph.D. mentor, and begin work on their thesis projects. Students must pass a Ph.D. candidacy exam given by their degree program at the end of their second year prior to beginning full time dissertation work. Training for the third year through degree completion is largely done under the guidance of the Ph.D. thesis adviser and thesis committee, although given the multidisciplinary nature of biomedical research, an increasing frequency of students elect to do research with a primary mentor as well as a co-mentor(s). Each mentor plays an integral role in fostering the student’s professional development and success. Students may receive their Ph.D. degree from any department or interdisciplinary degree program in which their primary or secondary mentors hold an appointment. |