The Department of Biochemistry offers a program of study leading to the Ph.D. degree. The training includes a series of required courses that is normally completed in the first two years. Although students concentrate on formal course work during the first two years, they are also actively involved in departmental seminars, and they undertake research rotations through faculty labs.
Students normally express their preference for a research sponsor by the end of the year.
Formal training beyond the basic series of courses is tailored to the interests and requirements of individual students in consultation with their research sponsor and a faculty committee. The program is designed to accommodate students with a wide variety of research interests while providing all students with a solid foundation in modern biochemistry. The research topics actively under study in the department include enzymology, signal transduction, and molecular biology. In addition, research opportunities are available in neurochemistry through an interdisciplinary program in neurosciences. The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours in graduate biochemistry courses and 3 semester hours of electives chosen from graduate courses offered in Biochemistry or other departments.