Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program

The Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group (BMBGG) administers the granting of M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biochemistry, whether the research is conducted within the BMB department or in other cooperating departments. The program of study is flexible to accommodate students with a wide range of backgrounds, including biochemistry, chemistry, biology, genetics, microbiology, physics, and medicine. The graduate program is structured to aid students in the successful completion of their graduate training in biochemistry by providing access to leading researchers in biochemistry and related fields, offering a core curriculum, seminars, and teaching and research opportunities.

The core curriculum is broad, and students are expected to specialize through appropriate choice of advanced courses from the many offerings taught by faculty in their areas of research expertise. Students in either the M.S. or Ph.D. degree program take the two-semester, comprehensive, core biochemistry courses Biochemistry I and II, and the one semester Molecular Biophysics course. All students are expected to attend a weekly graduate student seminar and individual research group meetings. For the M.S. degree, students must complete 22 to 24 hours of course work and do research leading to a satisfactory thesis. Admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. requires satisfactory performance in the two core biochemistry courses, and, early in the second year, preparation and defense of a research proposal on a topic selected by the student in consultation with their supervisory committee. This defense serves as the preliminary examination for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. Approximately 30 to 40 hours of course work are required for the Ph.D. in addition to research for a satisfactory dissertation.

The BMB graduate program provides teaching and research opportunities. Graduate students teach a variety of courses and assist with labs in the BMB department. Research is viewed as a cooperative effort in which graduate students learn to design and execute significant experiments by interaction with faculty, postdoctoral research associates, and fellow graduate students. The growth of each graduate student is supported by this team effort as the program guides students towards independence.