Curriculum and Timeline - First Year
Spores formed by wild type (left) and spo13 (right) mutant budding yeast. photo provided by Doug Bishop.
The first year of graduate study is spent completing coursework, exploring research opportunities and doing laboratory rotations.
Core Classes and Electives
Graduate students in the Biological Sciences Division are required to take nine credits of coursework for the Ph.D. program. Each class is one credit.
- 4 required courses in Genetics
- 4 electives
- 1 credit for the first two rotations
In addition to the course requirements, students attend the Faculty Research Seminar Series (also referred to as "AllStars"), to acquaint themselves with the research community and potential mentors. All first year students in the Biological Sciences Division are required to attend a scientific ethics course.
Required Courses
- Genetic Analysis
- Genetic Mechanisms
- Molecular Biology OR Fundamentals of Molecular Biology
- Human Variation OR Molecular Evolution OR Genome Evolution
For a complete list of course descriptions, elective courses and student tracks see Committee on Genetics Graduate Student Handbook and Appendix A.
Rotations
Students are required to undertake short research projects in at least two different laboratories before beginning their dissertation research. These rotations occur during the Spring and Summer quarters of the first academic year. Spring quarter rotations are 10 weeks long (part-time). Summer quarter rotations are five weeks long (full-time).
Preliminary Exam
In September of the second year of the program, students take the Preliminary Exam as a first step towards candidacy for their Ph.D. This is an oral exam in front of an exam committee during which students present answers to questions given to them two weeks in advance. The Preliminary Exam Committee consists of three Committee on Genetics faculty members.