Graduate study is available in a number of disciplines including cell biology, clinical microbiology, ecology, genetics, immunology, microbial physiology and biochemistry, molecular biology, parasitology and virology. The goals of the program are to provide scientific training and experience for careers in research and teaching in universities, clinical and research laboratories and in fields of related employment. Additional background is available in disciplines such as biochemistry, computer sciences, statistics and electron microscopy in other departments in the School of Medicine and the University.
Students rotate through each faculty member's laboratory in their first semester of graduate study.
Core requirements for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees include courses in biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, immunology, and graduate seminars. For both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees students are expected to carry out original research suitable for publication in a professional journal. Master's degree candidates are required to write a thesis and defend their research in a final oral examination. Doctoral candidates are required to successfully complete both a written and oral comprehensive examination as well as to write a dissertation and defend their research in a final oral examination. A new, modern science building and an adjacent bioinformation learning resources center which house the research laboratories, library and teaching facilities of the School of Medicine were constructed in 1994.