University of Virginia Health System

MSTP DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

GRADUATE PROGRAM GUIDELINES FOR MSTP STUDENTS

The following outline (four pages) serves as a guideline for the formulation of a program of study and research. It is expected that the student's Ph.D. research advisor will have an appointment in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. A committee comprised of the faculty of the department and the graduate student advisor will consider modifications in the program reflecting individual special cases.

I. Committees:

A. A Central Graduate Program committee consisting of the graduate student advisor and the faculty. Various sub-committees for special jobs will be appointed by GSAS.

B. A Proposal committee will be formulated when the student has chosen a research advisor, who will henceforward be the chairman of the student's committee. It will include at least two other Biochemistry faculty members considered to be the most appropriate. Additional University faculty members may be included.

C. A Research committee will be formulated when the student has chosen a research advisor, who will henceforward be the chairman of the student's committee. It will include at least two other faculty members considered to be the most appropriate within the University community. The advisor and the student subject to these guidelines will choose this committee. The Proposal and Research committees are not required to have the same membership.

D. A Thesis defense committee will be composed of the research committee plus any additional members required by the following guidelines:

1. At the time of the defense, at least three committee members must be faculty members of the Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Department.

2. The University requires that the examining committee, under the chairmanship of the advisory professor, consist of not fewer than four members of the GSAS faculty, one of whom must be from another department, and serves as a representative of the Graduate Committee.

(The GSAS faculty are those faculty who are tenured or tenure-track).

P.O. Box 800733 • Charlottesville, VA 22908-0733 •434-924-1940 • Fax: 434-924-5069 P.O. Box 800733 • Charlottesville, VA 22908-0733 •434-924-1940 • Fax: 434-924-5069

E. The student is responsible for providing in writing a list of committee members and all dates of committee meetings to the Graduate Student Advisor.

II. Course work:

The backgrounds of students admitted to the program are diverse, and the program attempts to educate all students up to a level of basic understanding in several areas deemed fundamental to modern biochemistry and molecular genetics. In addition, it is hoped that students will become more expert in some one area related to their research, thus gaining a measure of confidence. It is likely that most students would have had (or would make up remedially) calculus, physical chemistry, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, genetics and several courses in biology. They will then be required to satisfy the following departmental requirements:*

BIMS 503 Macromolecular Structure and Function 4

BIMS 811 Gene Structure & Expression 5

BIMS 710 Research Ethics 1

Topical research courses and other graduate courses in 18

appropriate fields such as biology, chemistry,

biochemistry, math, physics, etc., selected by the

student with the advice of the Central/Proposal/

Research committees.

Journal Club 4

Colloquium 4

__________________________________________________________________________

Sub-total 36

Credit from two years of Medical curriculum 18

Grand Total 54

The GSAS requirements for the Ph.D. degree are that students complete a minimum of 72 hours of graduate urse work and at least 54 of these hours must be in courses other than non-topical research. Every effort should made to see that these students complete the 54 hours of course work and topical research by the end of the cond year, after which the student should register for non-topical research only, thereby going on reduced tuition s. Even though these students will not be registered for Journal Club and Colloquium after their second year, endance and participation in these Departmental functions will be expected. MSTP students are exempted from "Cell Structure and Function" (Micr 812) and the "Systems Physiology and Pharmacology" courses that are uired for students entering our program without any post-baccalaureate coursework.

III. Rotations:

The purpose of rotations is to expose a student to several, perhaps unrelated areas of research that might interest him or her. It is assumed that MSTP students will have benefited from exposure to several research areas and advisors during their first two years of the Medical School curriculum. Hence the Biochemistry and Molecular P.O. Box 800733 • Charlottesville, VA 22908-0733 •434-924-1940 • Fax: 434-924-5069

Genetics program has no formal rotation requirements for MSTP students. MSTP students normally will be admitted to the Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics program only after they have selected an advisor.

IV. Advancement to Candidacy for the Ph.D. Degree--Research Proposal and Oral Examination:

The student will prepare a research proposal and defend it orally before his or her proposal committee. This exam will be open to the faculty only. The student will be advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree upon a satisfactory performance in this exam.

A. Function: to review the student's ability to formulate a research problem and to design a research program aimed at elucidating the problem. A general questioning period will be included on subjects determined by the committee.

B. Timing: Must be completed within eighteen months of admission to the Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics graduate program. The proposal is presented to the three-member proposal committee (See section I.B.).

C. Format: The basic elements of a formal faculty research grant proposal should be present. These elements would include: Background and Significance; Specific Aims; and Experimental Design and Methods. The format of the following granting agencies would be appropriate: NIH, NSF, ACS, etc. Unlike most faculty grant proposals, there is no requirement for preliminary results or supporting data from the student. The proposal must contain ideas/hypotheses that are new and untested.

A student may choose from a large variety of topics for a proposal, although many students will find their dissertation problem to be convenient. It is recommended that the student view this examination as a testing ground for their thoughts, ideas and plans but not as a preliminary defense of their thesis work. The student's dissertation work is not to be constrained by the proposal, nor should the proposal be constrained by the student's dissertation work.

After this meeting, the committee should be able to formulate plans for more courses, etc. if they see major deficits in the student's training.

V. Thesis:

A. The dissertation will describe a completed research project of publishable quality. It is anticipated that if the research committee has done its job, this result will be guaranteed.

B. Defense of thesis will occur approximately two weeks after a copy of the dissertation has been reviewed by the examining committee (See section I.D.). The contents of this dissertation, except for grammar or presentation, should be familiar to the three research committee members, so that it would not be rejectable on research grounds at this juncture. Matters of style, etc., should be gone over in rough drafts by the thesis committee members before the final typing. These guidelines shall not limit the actions of the thesis committee, which may, at its discretion, require a rough draft earlier or may schedule a preliminary examination prior to the actual defense.

The defense of thesis shall consist of a public thesis seminar followed by the oral examination by the examining committee. The time and place of the thesis seminar and examination must be announced in advance and shall not conflict with normal departmental functions (i.e. classes and seminars). The examination portion of the defense shall be open to the faculty only.

VI. Guidelines and deadlines:

The graduate committee for each student will refer to an outline of the finalized graduate student program, including deadlines, recommended course requirements, financial support, etc. with a final section that has a checklist for the things that have to be done before a student graduates. These will be kept on file in the Departmental office.

August 20, 1991
revised March 16, 1998
revised June 21, 2004