Program of Study
The University of Utah operates on the semester system. First-year graduate students begin their studies in August, 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 - $25,000 for the 2009-10 academic year, tuition waiver, and health and dental insurance) throughout the of their graduate student tenure.
First Year of Graduate Study- In the Classroom
Core Curriculum
Biological Chemistry Program students take three to 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)
Protein Chemistry (half semester, spring)
3 half-semester electives
Biological Chemistry Program students enroll two of the following half-semesters didactic courses in the fall semester. These courses are designed to help students gain proficiency in specialized areas of interest.
Biophysical Chemistry (half semester, fall)
Structural Methods (half semester, fall)
Gene Expression (half semester, fall)
Biological Chemistry Program students enroll in three half semesters of elective study in the spring semester. These are didactic courses are too designed to help students gain proficiency in specialized areas. Elective classes offered in 2008-09 are listed below.
Analysis and Consequences of Sequence Variation; Bioanalytical Chemistry, Biochemical Genetics; Chromatin and Development; Cell Biology II: Signaling; Clinical Cancer Biology; Concepts in Developmental Biology; Developmental Neurobiology, Evolution and Development; Genomics, Functional Genomics and Proteomics; Host Pathogen Interaction; Introduction to Bioinformatics; Medicinal & Biological Chemistry; Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer; Nucleic Acid Chemistry; Regulation of Metabolism; Signal Transduction; Virology
In the fall, Program faculty members describe their research in order to expose students to their interests and facilitate the choice of research rotations and/or thesis project selection.
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. A maximum of ten students may enroll in any particular journal club/grant writing course. Last years’ topics included:
Inflamation and Cancer; Cell Polarity and Axis Formation; Advances and New Directions in Biomolecular Simulation; Shaping the Mitochondrian: Mitochondrial Structure, Biogenesis and Dysfunction; Regulation of Cell and Organ Shape
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, either at the beginning or end of the first year, but cannot substitute for one of the four required academic year rotations. Laboratory rotations are essential to 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.