However, they may use seminars and two of the four laboratory rotations to explore other programs. At the end of the first year, students may either simply continue in immunology or switch to another program. The requirements of the different programs have been coordinated to facilitate any change. Upon successful completion of a written and oral qualifying examination at the end of the first year, students choose a research adviser and begin a research program leading to a dissertation. In the second and subsequent years, elective courses are completed and an original research proposal is defended.
Candidates usually take four to five full years of study to obtain the Ph.D. degree.
The immunology program is interdisciplinary in nature. Faculty members participate in the basic science and clinical departments of the Tufts medical, veterinary, and nutrition schools and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. The laboratories are in the Departments of Biochemistry, Medicine, Molecular Biology and Microbiology, and Pathology of Tufts University School of Medicine and in the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University. These laboratories are all well equipped for sophisticated research within the disciplines encompassed. The Graduate Program in Immunology in the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences is located within a large biomedical complex devoted to medical investigation and clinical care.