Biological Sciences, Ph.D.

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The Department of Biology offers a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) program in the broad field of biology. Students work with graduate faculty on diverse research projects, generally belonging to one or more of the following areas: microbiology and virology, cellular biology, immunology, & physiology, molecular biology and genetics, and bioinformatics and systems biology. In addition to an integrated Ph.D. degree in biological sciences, the department offers a Ph.D. program with interdisciplinary specialization in bioinformatics. A minimum of 73 hours of graduate credit are required for the Ph.D. in biological sciences and 85 hours for the interdisciplinary specialization in bioinformatics.

Degree Requirements

Core Courses (8-9 hours)

BIOL 8000 - Responsible Conduct in Research 1 Credit Hours
Student Seminars (1-hour x 4)

Quantitative Course

Select one quantitative course from the following.

BIOL 6010 - Mathematical Biology 3 Credit Hours
BIOL 6640 - Fundamentals of Bioinformatics 4 Credit Hours
BIOL 6744 - Biostatistics 3 Credit Hours
BIOL 8041 - Research Design and Analysis in Neuroscience 4 Credit Hours

Elective Courses (10-12 hours minimum)

BIOL 6000- and/or 8000-level classes except for BIOL 6900 per Individual Development Plan (IDP) agreed upon by the doctoral student and the faculty advisor and approved by the Graduate Director. BIOL 7000-level courses are not applicable.

Qualifying Exam

Research (53 hours)

Students register for BIOL 8800 Research before the Dissertation Committee, chaired by the faculty advisor, approves the Dissertation proposal and BIOL 8999 Dissertation Research after the proposal is approved.

Dissertation

Dissertation is submitted to the Dissertation Committee and publicly defended.

Concentration Requirements

Bioinformatics Concentration