The curriculum usually begins with one year of course work tailored to each student's particular needs, with early emphasis on laboratory research experience. Students typically enroll in two courses per semester in the first year, to permit time for three laboratory rotations. Seminar-type course work is generally scheduled for the second year. In the third and subsequent years, essentially full time is devoted to research.
Most students complete the Ph.D. in approximately five years.
Breadth of training is provided by the laboratory rotations, preliminary-exam proposal, and interlaboratory collaborations and by having each student act as a teaching assistant for an introductory course during the second and third years. Graduates are competent independent researchers. Graduate students, postdoctoral research fellows, and research associates participate with the faculty in informal seminars and discussion groups. Some of these are conducted in cooperation with other departments or interdisciplinary committees and with other research institutions in the Triangle Area. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is housed in a modern research building.