Typical schedule

Year 1

Autumn Semester 

  • MOLGEN/BIOCHEM 5701:  DNA Transactions and Gene Regulation (3 cr) 
  • BIOCHEM 6761: Macromolecular Structure and Function (3 cr) * 
  • MCDBIO 7890: Student Seminar (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990:  MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7600:  First Year Student Orientation (Mentoring and Ethics Seminar) (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7780:  Laboratory Rotations (Session 1 and Session 2;  4 cr each session) 

 

Spring Semester 

  • MOLGEN 5705:  Cell Biology (2 cr) 
  • MOLGEN 5715:  Developmental Biology (2 cr) 
  • ELECTIVE 1:  Select one from our approved electives 
  • MCDBIO 7890: Student Seminar (1cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990:  MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7780:  Laboratory Rotations (Session 1 and Session 2; 4 cr each session) 

 

Summer Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999:  Dissertation Research (4 cr for GRAs; 6 cr for fellows) ** 

  

Year 2

Autumn Semester 

  • ELECTIVE 2: Select one from our approved electives 
  • MCDBIO 7891: Student Seminar Presentation (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990: MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • BSGP 7070: Fundamentals of Grant Writing (4 cr) *** 
  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (4 cr) ** 

 

Spring Semester 

  • ELECTIVE 3: Select one from our approved electives 
  • MCDBIO 7890: Student Seminar (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990: MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (4 cr) ** 

 

Summer Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999:  Dissertation Research (4 cr pre-candidacy; 3 cr post-candidacy) ** 

  

Year 3 

(Students are required to register for only 3 cr per semester post-candidacy) 

Autumn Semester 

  • MCDBIO 7890: Student Seminar (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990: MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (1 cr) ** 

 

Spring Semester 

  • MCDBIO 7891: Student Seminar Presentation (1 cr) 
  • MCDBIO 7990: MLS Seminar (1 cr) 
  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (1 cr) ** 

 

Summer Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

  

Year 4 

Autumn Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

 

Spring Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

 

Summer Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

  

Year 5 

(Typically, the dissertation year) 

Autumn Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

 

Spring Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

 

Summer Semester 

  • <DEPT> 8999: Dissertation Research (3 cr) ** 

  

Note that the number of hours of laboratory rotation or dissertation research shown above are meant to be a guide only and may need to be adjusted, depending on the nature of a student’s appointment (e.g. GRA or fellow) or other course requirements (e.g. ESL courses for international students), to ensure compliance with the minimum and maximum course load set by the Graduate School.  A minimum of 80 graduate credit semester hours is required to graduate with a PhD.  If a student has not previously earned a MS degree, to ensure that a student earns 80 credit hours, students should be enrolling for a minimum of 16 credit hours for fall and spring semesters during their first two years by taking variable amounts of research credits to fill in the schedule. 

* Students may elect to defer BIOCHEM 6761 until Autumn of Year 2 and take the elective MOLGEN 5700 Systems of Genetic Analysis (3 cr) in its place 

** Students register for 8999 in the home Department of their advisor, e.g. MOLGEN 8999 for students in the lab of an advisor in the Department of Molecular Genetics 

​*** BSGP 7070 is required of all students who joined MCDB in Autumn 2017 and beyond 

 

 

Rev: June 11, 2024

Top