The final Ph.D. thesis defense is taken before the student's thesis committee at the end of the program. The student must also present a public seminar on the thesis research within the two week period preceding the thesis defense. Generally the Ph.D. degree takes about five years beyond a bachelor's degree. The director of graduate studies is in charge of advising students about academic and related matters until they have chosen a thesis adviser. Beginning students carry out a series of rotation projects in at least three different faculty laboratories before deciding on a research area.
Students generally decide on their thesis research adviser at the end of their first fall semester.
Further course work and research are individually planned by the student and the research adviser in consultation with the Ph.D. thesis committee. The thesis committee is established according to the rules of the Graduate School once Ph.D. candidacy has been attained. All students are required to participate as teaching assistants in undergraduate laboratory courses as part of their training. Under normal circumstances, all students admitted and continuing in good standing are provided with graduate assistantship support from University sources and research grants. Recent advances in microbiology, including immunology, virology, medical microbiology, microbial physiology and diversity and microbial genetics.