Joint Graduate Program in Cell & Developmental Biology

The Graduate Program in Cell and Developmental Biology (abbreviated as the CDB program) is part of a large, diverse, and highly interactive community of biological scientists that form the Molecular BioScience Graduate Program at Rutgers University and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Molecular Biosciences is currently  made up of seven graduate programs from the two adjacent universities that functions to coordinate the recruitment, admissions, and first year core curriculum offering of Ph.D. students, as well as to give aid our students in selecting Ph.D. research advisers from among the more than 200 faculty members on campus.  The CDB Program is one of the programs that students migrate to at the end of their first year.  Students from BOTH Rutgers and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School can be members of this program - it is truely a joint graduate program.  The CDB program currently has greater than 100 faculty members from a number of departments in the two universities. Faculty research spans the fields of molecular, cellular, cancer, and developmental biology, drawing from diverse experimental systems to study developmental, human and molecular genetics; signal transduction and regulation of gene expression; developmental biology; regulation, structure and function of cytoskeleton; cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions; cellular and molecular endocrinology; ultrastructural and molecular analysis of mammalian cells; and neurobiology.

The CDB Program offers advanced studies leading to the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees:

All Ph.D. students are expected to complete a set of core courses during their first year offered through the Molecular Biosciences Program.  These include developmental biology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, and laboratory rotations.  In the second year and beyond, the Ph.D. requirements include completing a series of core/elective courses and laboratory research, passing parts I and II of the qualifying examination, and writing and defending a research dissertation. Programs for the Master's degree require a minimum of 24 course credits, 6 credits of research, and the satisfactory completion and defense of the thesis.  All Ph.D. students are guaranteed a competitive stipend, health coverage, and tuition remission for the duration of their graduate studies, provided that academic standards are met and progress towards a Ph.D. is maintained.

Admissions:

All Ph.D. applications will be reviewed by the Joint Graduate Programs in Molecular Biosciences Admissions Committee. The deadline for applications to the Ph.D. program is January 5 of each year; the Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications early in January. MS applications are reviewed separately by the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Master's Admissions Committee. The deadline for MS application review is May 1. Tranfer students should apply directly to the CDB Program using the "Apply Online" link.  The application form is the same for both the MS and the Ph.D. programs.