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GRADUATE PROGRAM IN BIOCHEMISTRY About the PhD ProgramThe Graduate Program in Biochemistry is part of a large, diverse, and highly interactive community of biological scientists that form the consortium of the Graduate Programs in Molecular BioSciences at the Rutgers University and UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The consortium currently is made up of seven graduate programs from the two Universities. It functions to coordinate the recruitment, admissions, and 1st year core curriculum offering of Ph. D. students, as well as to give our students maximum flexibility in pursuing their studies and research interests and in selecting Ph. D. research advisors from among the more than 200 faculty members. The Biochemistry program currently includes more than 100 faculty members from a number of departments in the two universities. Faculty research span the fields of biochemistry, biological chemistry, biophysics, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, as well as genetics, genomics and proteomics. The Biochemistry program offers advanced studies leading to the Ph.D. degree. All Ph.D. students are expected to complete a set of core courses during their first two semesters in the Program that includes biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, microbial and molecular genetics, quantitative problems in biological sciences, seminars and lab rotations. The overall requirements for the Ph.D. include completing a series of core/elective courses and laboratory research (totaling a minimum of 72 credits), passing parts I and II of the qualifying examination, and writing and defending a research dissertation. You may also address Joint Biochemistry program specific questions to: Abram Gabriel, Acting Director GUIDE FOR STUDENTS IN THE PROGRAM LEADING TO a Ph.D. DEGREE IN BIOCHEMISTRYEntrance RequirementsA Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent with at least a grade point average of 3.0 (on a scale of 4.0) is required. The most appropriate preparation is an undergraduate major in biology (molecular, cellular, developmental, or microbiology), biochemistry, or chemistry. Applicants are also expected to have an adequate background in calculus and physics. Admission is competitive and is based on academic work, letters of recommendation, and scores on the GRE General Test and Subject Test. TOEFL scores are required of students from countries on which English is not the native language. Course RequirementsSatisfactory completion of a minimum of 72 credits is required for the Ph.D. degree. This is to include a minimum of 34 credits of course work and at least 38 credits of research (115:701, 702). Transfer of CreditCredit may not be transferred until 12 credits of graduate courses with grades of B or better have been completed in the Graduate School, New Brunswick. Forms for transfer credit may be obtained from either the program Office of the Graduate School. The request for transfer of credits must be approved by the Director of the Graduate Program. A maximum of 24 course credits is transferable. Transfer of credit will be allowed only for those courses relevant to the student’s program. For transfer, courses must have been taken within the past 6 years and passed with a grade of B or better. Graduate AdvisorThe Molecular BioSciences Graduate Programs has a Faculty Committee of Advisors for the first year Ph.D. Students in the Molecular BioSciences Programs. Contact Ms. Carolyn Ambrose or Diane Murano for specifics. ExaminationsQualifying Examinations for the Ph.D. The qualifying examination is divided into two parts: (I) a comprehensive written examination of the student’s general knowledge in cell and molecular biology, biochemistry and cognate disciplines, and (II) evaluation of the student’s research potential and dissertation potential. All Ph.D. students are required to take part I of the examination upon completion of the core curriculum. After passing the written Qualifying Examination, each student is required to prepare and defend a proposition by June of the second year in the Program. A proposition is an assertion concerning some current question in biochemistry and molecular biology. The student proposes an original mechanism or theory which could serve to explain a biological phenomenon in molecular terms. In connection with the proposition, the student also devises hypothetical experiments designed to test the proposal. The proposition may be in any area of biochemistry and molecular biology which interests the student, including the areas of the Ph.D. thesis. Part I of Qualifying ExaminationTo be held in June of the first year or after completion of the set of 4 core courses. The students will be given a selection of journal articles at least 14 days prior to the exam. There will be a two-day written exam related to these articles to test basic knowledge, comprehension of the papers, and experimental design. The questions can be specific as well as wide-ranging. The examination will be prepared and graded on a pass/fail basis by a committee of faculty members. A student must have a GPA of at least 3.0. to sit for the examination and must pass the examination to remain in the Ph. D. program. If the performance of a student on the examination is unsatisfactory, the student may be given another chance. If that examination is still unsatisfactory the student will be required to terminate from the program. Part II of Qualifying ExaminationThe proposition is submitted to an Oral Examination Committee, which consists of four members of the student’s Graduate Program; this commitee is chosen by the student. The student then presents to this Committee a detailed write-up of the background and logic of the proposition and the experiments proposed to test it. Finally, an oral Proposition Examination is held in which these matters are explored in depth, along with other areas related to the subject matter of the proposition. The committee chairperson is to submit a written report to the program director of the result of this examination (pass/fail). Requirements for admission to Ph.D. Candidacy are: (i) completion of the core curriculum, (ii) carrying a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, and (iii) satisfactory completion of Parts I and II of the qualifying examination. After the successful completion of both written and oral qualifying examinations, a thesis committee should be formed to review the student's proposal and subsequent progress. The committee shall consist of at least four members, of whom at least three are members of the Program (including the student’s advisor). One member should be "outside the Program," i.e., either from outside the University or have a primary program affiliation other than Biochemistry. This thesis committee should meet formally with the student once a year to discuss his/her progress. During the last semester of registration, the Ph.D. student is to give a public seminar. This may be held as part of the thesis defense. The Dissertation Committee The student is to present his/her thesis dissertation before a committee of 4: Chair (the thesis advisor), 2 faculty members from the Joint Biochemistry program, and an outside member. The final draft of the dissertation should be prepared in strict accordance with the instructions given in the pamphlet Style Guide for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation, available at the Office of Graduate School. Two copies of the thesis are required to be submitted to The Graduate Office, and one copy to the Graduate Program’s office. The final examination and dissertation defense is open to the public. An announcement of the final examination and dissertation defense must be posted and/or sent to the biosciences community via email listservs. Policy on the “Outside Member”The Graduate School requires that one member of a Ph.D. dissertation committee be an individual who is not a member of the student’s degree program. This individual may be a Rutgers faculty member or someone from outside the university. Outside members are intended to bring a fresh perspective to the supervision of a student’s research and also to bring an unbiased look at the quality of the work. Therefore, they must be people with no conflict of interest with regard to assessment of the student’s work. In some fields, especially the biomedical sciences, there is such a broad inclusion of relevant individuals on program faculties that it has become quite difficult to find a Rutgers faculty member to appoint as an outside member of a dissertation committee who is not already a member of the program faculty. At the same time, the membership of these programs is drawn from a wide range of units within Rutgers and UMDNJ, such that there can easily be faculty members of a program who have little professional contact. It is therefore permissible, in such situations, that the “outside” member be drawn from within the program faculty when it can be shown that that individual has no personal or professional ties to the student, the adviser and other members of the committee. In these cases the outside member may not be a member of a department already represented on the committee. In addition, the “outside” member may not serve as dissertation committee chair. Requests for these exceptions will have to demonstrate that this is the case and will require approval by the Graduate School. The outside examiner can be either outside the Program or the University. For appointments of “outside examiners” who do not hold any membership in the graduate faculty, approval of the Program Director and the Graduate School is necessary. The student and/or the advisor is to make the request to the Program Director, who in turn will forward to the Office of the Graduate School a letter requesting the appointment of this individual to the committee. CURRICULUM - General Requirements for Ph. D.
The purpose of lab rotations is to choose a research area and an thesis advisor. Students should take 3 or 4 half-semester lab rotations. Rotations are 2 credits each. The lab rotations are to be completed during the first year. In exceptional cases, e.g., previous extensive research experience, a student may obtain a waiver of lab rotation, but the credits (6 credits) for the lab rotations shall not be substituted by taking other courses. A written report is required for credit, which must be approved by the Program Director and retained in the student’s program file for review by the preliminary thesis committees. Total course credits: A minimum of 34, Thesis Research (148:701,702): 24 credits minimum. The Graduate School requires a minimum of 72 credits consisting of coursework and thesis research for the Ph.D. degree. GENERAL ACADEMIC GUIDELINESAcademic Standards and Termination: A student is required to carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 to remain in good standing in the program. It is also expected that the student will receive a grade of “Satisfactory” (S) for research credits. Students failing to achieve the 3.0 GPA will be sent a warning letter and be given a year to remedy that deficiency, and to bring his/her cumulative GPA up to 3.0 or better. Failing to do so will result in termination from the program. A notice of termination will be sent to the Dean of the Graduate School- New Brunswick. Progress Report: For students that have passed their qualifying examination and admitted to the Ph.D. candidacy, he/she must meet with a thesis advisory committee at least once every academic year and submit a written progress report to the Program Office by June 15. The Progress Report will be used by the faculty in its annual Review of student accomplishment. It is essential that the student’s research advisor make sure that each student maintains good progress toward his/her degree and schedules annual meetings with his/her thesis advisory committee. Language Requirements: Competence in written English is required. The Biochemistry Graduate Program has no foreign language requirement. Registration Requirements: All students are required to maintain continuous registration until the completion of the final examination. Students will have to re-apply for admission if there is a lapse in their matriculation. Ph.D. students, who are on campus, including all those assistantships and everyone else whose academic activities are here, must register for a minimum of 3 credits per semester. Ph.D. students that are away from the campus (i.e. Not working or residing in the tri-state area), must register for a minimum of 1-credit of research. For M.S. students, the minimal registration requirement is MATRICULATION CONTINUED (148:800, 0 credit). Contact either the program office or the graduate school for specifics. Once a student has accumulated 71 credits, of which at least 23 are research credits, he or she is required to register for only one credit per term to remain in good standing as a de facto full-time student. Restriction on the enrollment in the medical School courses: Enrollment in the Medical School courses requires permission of the student’s advisor and the course instructor. Normally, a student may take no more than 7 credits of course work offered by the Medical School in any given semester. Requirements for the transfer from non-matriculated to matriculated status: Non-matriculated student who wishes to be considered for admission into a degree program may submit a full application to the Graduate School for consideration of admission to the Biochemistry program. BIOCHEMISTRY LEARNING GOALS AND ASSESSMENTThe doctoral program in Biochemistry trains students for senior research positions in industry or government settings, or for academic careers in a college or university setting where they would be expected to teach and/or conduct research. Learning Goal 1 for Students: To develop proficiency in the critical analysis of scientific research. Assessment of student achievement of Goal 1: Learning Goal 2 for Students: To pursue and solve a novel research problem of interest to both the student and mentor.
Learning Goal 3 for Students: To produce publishable research in the field.
Learning Goal 4 for Students: To follow ethical principles of the discipline for citing sources, using human subjects, and working with colleagues.
Learning Goal 5 for Students: To teach and mentor effectively.
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