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Program of Study

First-year graduate students begin their studies Fall semster, although they may elect to arrive earlier in the summer to accommodate an additional lab rotation. Prior to their arrival, each student is assigned a faculty advisor, who will provide guidance on first-year curriculum and laboratory rotation choices, and a senior student advisor, who can additionally provide assistance to students looking for housing at the University of Utah or within the Salt Lake City community.

All Ph.D. students admitted to the Biological Chemistry Program receive financial support (fellowship - $26,000 for the 2012-13 academic year, tuition waiver, and health and dental insurance) throughout the entirety of their graduate student tenure.

First Year of Graduate Study- In the Classroom

Core Curriculum

Biological Chemistry Program students take five half-semester length core courses that have been designed to provide students with a solid background in a variety of important areas of biological chemistry. Students with deficiencies in their academic background may be asked to remedy these by taking appropriate courses at the undergraduate level. By the end of the second year of study, all students are expected to have fulfilled the Program's core requirements (grades of B- or better). The Program's required core courses are listed below:

Protein/Nucleic Acid Biochemistry (half semester, fall)
Genetic Engineering (half semester, fall)
Biophysical Chemistry (half semester, fall)
Protein Chemistry (half semester, fall)
2 Research Track Courses
2 Student Choice Electives

In spring semester, students will self-select two track classes from the Research Tracks of Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry/Chemical Biology, and Structual Biology/Biophysics. Students also enroll in two half semesters of elective study. These are didactic courses designed to help students gain proficiency in specialized areas of interest. Elective classes offered are listed below:

Medicinal and Biological Chemistry; Protein Nucleic Acid Biochemistry; Bioanalytical Chemistry; Clinical & Molecular Cancer Biology; Regulation of Metabolism; Metabolism and Cancer; Developmental Neurobiology; Optics in Biology; Evolution Genetics/Genome; Host Pathogen Interaction; Introduction to Bioinformatics; Cell Biology I; Cell Biology II; Molecular Modeling, Systems Neuroscience; Genetics of Complex Diseases; Macromolecular Therapeutics & Drug Delivery; Protein Chemistry; Utilization of Animal Models

Journal Club/Grant Writing

Biological Chemistry Program students take one of a selection of journal club/grant writing courses. These are seminar/writing courses designed to give students practice in: (1) reading and analyzing the scientific literature; (2) presenting formal seminars on selected topics, and (3) writing and critiquing grants. Each journal club is supervised by one or two faculty members, who assist students in selecting articles and in organizing presentations and grants. Student grants are critiqued in mock study sections. Each journal club/grant writing course typically has only 6 students, which facilitates individual instruction. The past year's topics included:

Immunity of Virsues; Shaping the Mitochondrion: Mitochondrial Structure, Biogenesis and Dysfunction; Drug Discovery, Therapeutics & Chemical Biology; Biology of Germ Cells; Cell Polarity and Axis Foundation

Ethics

Case Studies in Research Ethics is taken in the fall semester of the first year of graduate study. In this class, students discuss ethical issues of scientific research and integrity. Specific topics include scientific fraud, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, authorship designation, and the role of science in formulating social policy.

Department Seminars

Each of the participating departments has weekly journal clubs and research-in-progress seminars that are considered a continuing and vital part of the students' graduate education.

First Year of Graduate Study- In the Laboratory

Laboratory Rotations

Biological Chemistry Program students complete four laboratory rotations in their first year of graduate study. An additional rotation can be done in the summer before the first year, but cannot substitute for one of the four required academic year rotations. Laboratory rotations are essential for identifying the appropriate thesis mentor and lab. In addition, laboratory rotations expose students to a wide variety of research areas and experimental techniques, and enable students to develop a network of research contacts. To assist students in identifying productive and exciting laboratory rotation experiences, Program faculty present short talks about their research programs during the fall semester in the Faculty Research Seminar forum. Program faculty talks inform students about the diversity of possible thesis topics and the variety of experimental approaches employed in the different Program laboratories.

Choosing a Mentor

Students choose thesis advisors at the end of Spring semester. Arrangements are made by mutual agreement between mentor and student, and automatically admit the student to the degree program of the advisor's department (Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Oncological Sciences, or Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry). All Program faculty members strive to arrange space in their labs so that they can accommodate at least one thesis student from each Biological Chemistry Program class. The low student/faculty ratio in the Biological Chemistry Program contributes to a high level of student choice and to an outstanding training environment.

Graduate Study- In the Second Year and Beyond

Admission to Candidacy

Students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree after (1) successfully completing the first-year Biological Chemistry program of study, and (2) passing the "qualifying" (or "prelim") examination. The qualifying exam is taken before the end of the second year of graduate school and is administered either by the students' thesis committee or by a departmental examining committee. The exam entails preparation of written research proposals in areas outside that of the proposed thesis research and subsequent oral defense of the selected proposal(s).

Advanced Coursework

Upper-level graduate students are required to take a combination totaling three half semesters of Elective (discussed above) and Special Topics Seminar courses. In Special Topics Seminar courses, students conduct literature searches, prepare lectures, make presentations, and lead discussions. A faculty member usually chooses the general topic, provides a few references, and serves as a resource.

Teaching Experience

Graduate students admitted to the Biological Chemistry Program are required to obtain just one semester of teaching experience in their second or later years. Teaching opportunities include, but are not limited to: assisting instructors in graduate level courses, leading discussion sections in undergraduate lecture courses, supervising undergraduates in laboratory courses, and serving as a teaching assistant in local public schools. There is no teaching obligation in the first year of Program study, thereby enabling students to concentrate on laboratory rotations and first-year academics.