Incoming Ph.D. students will matriculate in the program without declaring a track. Students then will take core courses and carry out laboratory rotations during the first year. Students will pick the track and the laboratory to conduct their dissertation research project by the end of the first year. Track-specific courses will be taken once the track of interest is identified. Incoming M.S. students will take fewer courses, and will be required to complete a thesis research project. The new program infrastructure will build on our tradition of rigorous and fruitful cross-fertilization between course work and laboratory research to prepare students for successful careers in academia, industry, and government agencies.
All of the four new tracks are research-oriented and will combine coursework with sufficient time for intensive research activity. Previous students on average have completed the Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences program in five years or less, and the M.S. in Biomedical Sciences program in about 3 years. Graduates progress to post-doctoral training (Ph.D. degree graduates) or to research, teaching, and other positions in academia, industry, and the government (Ph.D. and M.S. degree graduates).
