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GRADUATE STUDENTS DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Structural biology degree requirements consist of a program of course
work, a series of research rotations, a candidacy research proposal
and examination, M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation research, and
presentation and public defense of the thesis or dissertation.
Course Work
The requirements include background primer courses, if necessary;
six core courses for the M.S., and eight for the Ph.D.; one elective
course for the M.S. and two for the Ph.D.; and a
series of seminar courses.
Background primer courses are offered to assure interdisciplinary
“functional literacy” for incoming graduate students of
diverse academic provenance:
- Mathematics and Physics Topics for chemistry, biochemistry, and biology students
- Biochemistry and Biology Topics for mathematics, computer science, physics, and chemistry students
Suitably qualified incoming
students are, of course, exempted from the primer courses.
Required core courses include molecular biology and biochemistry
content courses and structural biology methods courses.
- Cell biology
BMS 501. Cell Biology I
or
BIO 502. Advanced Cell Biology - Molecular genetics
BCH 508. Biochemistry of Gene Expression
or
BCH 608. Eucaryotic Gene Expression - Structural biochemistry
BMS 503. Principles of Biochemistry
or
BCH 503. Biochemical Principles
Both M.S. and Ph.D.
students must successfully complete three biosciences content courses.
Structural biology methods courses:
1. STB 530. Protein Expression, Purification, and Crystallization
2. STB 533. Crystallographic Methods of Structural Biology I
3. STB 534. Crystallographic Methods of Structural Biology II
4. CHE 512. NMR and Biomolecular Structure
5. BIO 608. Topics in Macromolecular Structure
M.S. students must successfully
complete 1, 2, and 4 or 5.
Ph.D. students must successfully complete 1-3 and 4 or 5.
Advanced Elective
Courses. After
completing the core courses, M.S. students will elect one, and Ph.D.
students will elect two, advanced-topics courses in an area of biology,
chemistry, physics, or mathematics consistent with the individual
student's background and interests.
Seminar Courses. In addition to the core and elective formal
courses, all students will take part in the graduate student seminar
(one credit) in each semester
throughout their program of study and research.
Core Courses Rationale. The core content courses in structural
biochemistry, molecular genetics, and cell biology are intended
to equip each student with a technical vocabulary, a store of basic
knowledge, and a conceptual framework equal to the task of becoming
a critical reader of the research literature of structural
biology and an active participant in the scientific conversation
at the frontier of research in the field.
The core methods courses in protein expression, purification, and
crystallization; crystallographic and spectroscopic structure
determination;
and computational structure modeling are intended to equip each
student with a firm foundation of technical know-how equal to the
task of becoming a versatile contributor to research in structural
biology.
Research Rotations
In order to orient them in structural biological research, and
aid them in their selection of a thesis or dissertation research
project
and advisor, incoming students perform three eight-week, 15 to
20 hours per week, research rotations during their first year
in the
graduate program. The rotations consist of short-term research
projects in the laboratories of members of the faculty of the
structural
biology department (at least one of the rotations) or of related
bioscience departments.
Degree Candidacy
At end of their first or the beginning of their second year in
the program, students choose their M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation
research project and research advisor, and commence their degree
research. With the approval of the research advisor and the departmental
graduate affairs committee, the student also identifies a
thesis or dissertation advisory committee, consisting of
the student's
research advisor, two other departmental faculty members, and appropriate
a faculty member or principal scientist from outside the department.
At the end of their second or the beginning their third year in the program, students present a written proposal for their thesis or dissertation research project, and, for admission to degree candidacy, they present an oral defense of their proposal, and pass a comprehensive oral examination. The candidacy proposal defense and oral examination, and later the thesis or dissertation defense, are conducted by the student's advisory committee.
M.S. Thesis or Ph.D.
Dissertation Research
Thesis or dissertation research is the most significant part of
the degree programs. There is no provision for “library project”
or literature review theses, but M.S.thesis research might typically
include and extend the work of the first-year research rotations.
Both M.S. thesis research and Ph.D. dissertation research must
represent
an original investigation designed to contribute to new
knowledge and understanding of biomolecular form and function or
new methodology for research in structural molecular biology. It
is expected that Ph.D. dissertation research will normally lead
to
publication
in prominent refereed research journals of one or more papers of
which the student is a principal author.