We welcome applications from any individual who values the use and development of quantitative experimental approaches for tackling challenging biological problems. Applicants should have demonstrated excellence and intellectual ambition in their previous coursework. We also expect that applicants will have had at least one significant research experience.
In their first year, BCMB Allied students take the program's core curriculum courses in molecular genetics, biochemistry and structural biology, cell biology and gene structure/function, and logic and critical analysis. They also participate in a graduate research seminar. See Curriculum for a list of courses with descriptions.
Lab rotations are an important component of the students' first year as well. Each student completes three laboratory rotations, which help them decide on a research focus and select a thesis mentor by the end of the first year.
The choice of a mentor determines the student's program assignment: Biochemistry & Structural Biology, Cell & Developmental Biology, or Molecular Biology. The mentor helps the student select their Special Committee, consisting of the mentor and two other faculty members knowledgeable in the student's research field. The committee evaluates the student's research and progress through the rest of their WCGS career. Selection of the mentor and the committee typically occurs before the student starts the second year of study.
In spring of the second year, the student takes a qualifying exam, known as the Admission to Doctoral Candidacy Examination (ACE), which includes a written component in the form of an NIH research proposal and an oral examination, in which the student defends the proposal and demonstrates general knowledge. Committees made up of program faculty members administer the written and oral ACE. When a student passes the ACE, she/he is a candidate for the PhD degree. Thereafter, the student and the committee (at WCGS we call this the Special Committee) meet annually from year two to four, and bi-annually from year 5 onwards, until the student's graduation.
During the second through fourth years, while working in the laboratory, the student must also complete two elective courses (one quarter each).
The culmination of the student's successful progression through the program is the final examination (the "defense") and certification by the Special Committee that the thesis represents an official piece of research that satisfies the requirements for the PhD degree at WCGS.