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General Description of Training
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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, Developmental 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 advisor 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.
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