 Structural
biology degree requirements consist of a program of course work, a
series of research rotations, a candidacy research proposal and examination,
M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation research, and presentation and public
defense of the thesis or dissertation.
Course Work
The requirements include background primer courses, if necessary; six
core courses for the M.S., and eight for the Ph.D.; one elective course
for the M.S. and two for the Ph.D.; and a series of seminar courses.
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Background
primer courses are offered to assure interdisciplinary
“functional literacy” for incoming graduate students of diverse
academic provenance:
- Mathematics and Physics Topics for chemistry,
biochemistry, and biology students
- Biochemistry and Biology Topics for mathematics,
computer science, physics, and chemistry students
Suitably qualified incoming students are, of course,
exempted from the primer courses.
Required core courses include molecular biology and biochemistry
content courses and structural biology methods courses. |
Biosciences
content courses:
- Cell biology
BMS 501. Cell Biology I
or
BIO 502. Advanced Cell Biology
- Molecular genetics
BCH 508. Biochemistry of Gene Expression
or
BCH 608. Eucaryotic Gene Expression
- Structural biochemistry
BMS 503. Principles of Biochemistry
or
BCH 503. Biochemical Principles
Both M.S. and Ph.D. students must successfully
complete three biosciences content courses.
Structural biology methods courses:
1. STB 530. Protein Expression, Purification, and
Crystallization
2. STB 533. Crystallographic Methods of Structural Biology I
3. STB 534. Crystallographic Methods of Structural Biology II
4. CHE 512. NMR and Biomolecular Structure
5. BIO 608. Topics in Macromolecular Structure
M.S. students must successfully complete
1, 2, and 4 or 5.
Ph.D. students must successfully complete 1-3 and 4 or 5.
Advanced Elective Courses.
After completing the core courses, M.S. students will elect one, and
Ph.D. students will elect two, advanced-topics courses in an area of
biology, chemistry, physics, or mathematics consistent with the individual
student's background and interests.
Seminar Courses. In addition to the core and elective formal
courses, all students will take part in the graduate student seminar
(one credit) in each semester throughout their program of study and
research.
Core Courses Rationale. The core content courses in structural
biochemistry, molecular genetics, and cell biology are intended to
equip each student with a technical vocabulary, a store of basic knowledge,
and a conceptual framework equal to the task of becoming a critical
reader of the research literature of structural biology and an active
participant in the scientific conversation at the frontier of research
in the field.
The core methods courses in protein expression, purification, and crystallization;
crystallographic and spectroscopic structure determination; and computational
structure modeling are intended to equip each student with a firm foundation
of technical know-how equal to the task of becoming a versatile contributor
to research in structural biology.
Research Rotations
In order to orient them in structural biological research, and aid
them in their selection of a thesis or dissertation research project
and advisor, incoming students perform three eight-week, 15 to 20
hours per week, research rotations during their first year in the
graduate program. The rotations consist of short-term research projects
in the laboratories of members of the faculty of the structural biology
department (at least one of the rotations) or of related bioscience
departments.
Degree Candidacy
At end of their first or the beginning of their second year in the
program, students choose their M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation
research project and research advisor, and commence their degree
research. With the approval of the research advisor and the departmental
graduate affairs committee, the student also identifies a thesis
or dissertation advisory committee, consisting of the student's research
advisor, two other departmental faculty members, and appropriate
a faculty member or principal scientist from outside the department.
At the end of their second or the
beginning their third year in the program, students present a written
proposal for their thesis or dissertation research project, and, for
admission to degree candidacy, they present an oral defense of their
proposal, and pass a comprehensive oral examination. The candidacy
proposal defense and oral examination, and later the thesis or dissertation
defense, are conducted by the student's advisory committee. M.S. Thesis or Ph.D. Dissertation
Research
Thesis or dissertation research is the most significant part of the
degree programs. There is no provision for “library project”
or literature review theses, but M.S.thesis research might typically
include and extend the work of the first-year research rotations. Both
M.S. thesis research and Ph.D. dissertation research must represent
an original investigation designed to contribute to new knowledge and
understanding of biomolecular form and function or new methodology
for research in structural molecular biology. It is expected that Ph.D.
dissertation research will normally lead to publication in prominent
refereed research journals of one or more papers of which the student
is a principal author. |
