Full tuition and stipend support is provided to students in the program. The faculty consists of more than 150 investigators whose interests include interdisciplinary studies of neuroscience and tumor biology as well as biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology and immunology, molecular pathobiology, pharmacology, and physiology and biophysics. Emphasis is placed on providing students with a comprehensive exposure to the biomedical sciences to facilitate their choice of thesis research projects as well as to provide a strong foundation and enhanced flexibility for their research careers. Much of the first year is spent in an interdisciplinary core curriculum consisting of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, cell biology and a research survey course. Up to an additional 14 credit hours of elective coursework is also available.
Students also have the opportunity to participate in departmental seminars and journal clubs.
After completion of the first year of the program, students concentrate on their thesis research and work in one of the six basic science departments or within either of the interdisciplinary programs. During the second year in the program, students complete any additional coursework required. However, the nature and focus of their education remains broad-based. As such, during the second and subsequent years in the program, which focus primarily on thesis research, students also have the opportunity to take additional elective courses that integrate several disciplines. For more information, please see the Biomedical Sciences home page.