If you’re thinking about graduate study in this area, please consider joining us for our upcoming open house:

Open House for Graduate Study in Molecular, Cellular, and Develpmental Biology
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Friday, October 31, 2008
View PDF flier

Activities will include:
Faculty research presentations and lab demonstrations
An overview of our graduate program
Poster session and lunch with our graduate students
Tour of research facilities

For further information, and to register, please email Corinna Kitcharoen.

MCDB Graduate Study Requirements

Students in MCDB work toward either an M.S. or Ph.D. degree. All MCDB graduate students take a MCDB-specific set of core courses and rotate through several laboratories during their first two semesters of graduate study. Thereafter, graduate work consists largely of directed research within the lab of a MCDB group faculty member, who serves as the student's advisor. All graduate students get financial support (~$21,000/year for AY 06-07) and waiver of tuition and service fees. MCDB graduate study requirements are outlined below; general departmental information and some forms can be found here.

Research Lab Rotations

MCDB faculty with available laboratory positions will give short presentations to new students at the beginning of each fall semester. After these presentations, students should meet with the faculty members whose research most interests the student. Once the student has selected three labs in which to rotate, s/he informs the program coordinator, who schedules all rotations. Students spend each rotation working in the lab for 5-6 weeks, with the goal of finding a lab suitable for their graduate research. When rotations end (typically in the middle of a student's second semester), students choose which lab (and graduate advisor) they most prefer. If the choice is acceptable to the faculty member, the student immediately joins the lab and the faculty member assumes the role of the student's advisor. All students must choose a laboratory and advisor by the end of their first academic year.

Course Requirements

Department of Biological Sciences course work requirements for the Ph.D. are at least 18 credit hours of graded 400-and 500-level courses, including a minimum of 9 credit hours of graded 500-level courses (more information is here). For MCDB graduate students, the Molecular and Cell Biology series (BioS 524 and 525, 10 hrs) must be completed in the first year. If required, the biochemistry prerequisite for this series must also be fulfilled by the end of the first year. Thereafter, students are required to complete eight additional hours of graded course work (students may meet this requirement by taking established courses such as BioS 526-Molecular and Genetic Analysis of Development, or by taking the informal seminar courses (BioS 594) offered each semester). A student's advisor or committee may require additional course work, depending on the student's education and/or career goals. Students must complete classes on schedule and maintain at least a B average in all classes or face possible dismissal. Students should register for a total of 12 hours each semester. Enrollment in BioS 598 or 599 (Thesis/Dissertation Research) for the necessary number of hours can be used each semester to bring the total to 12.

The Graduate Committee and Preliminary Exam

Students assemble a graduate committee during their second year. The preliminary exam must be taken before the start of the student's third year. A second exam, if necessary, must be taken by the end of the third year. Students who do not meet these deadlines face termination of graduate support and dismissal. The committee is composed of five faculty members, one of whom must come from outside the department. One of the committee members other than the student's advisor serves as the chair of the committee. The composition of the committee is mutually agreed upon by the student, the advisor, and the chair. The names of committee members, and time and place for the exam must be submitted to the graduate secretary at least 1 month prior to the exam for college approval. The preliminary examination consists of a written research proposal and subsequent oral presentation to the committee. The written proposal must be in NSF or NIH grant format. It is limited to 15 pages, excluding the bibliography. A biography form page should be included, but sections describing a budget, budget justification, facilities and resources, and certifications (which are normally also part of NIH and NSF grant proposals) can be omitted. The written proposal should describe the graduate research work planned by the student, and be delivered to all committee members no less than two weeks prior to the oral part of the exam. The oral portion of the exam consists of a presentation focused on the proposal's contents, followed by questions from committee members. Exams typically take 2-3 hours, after which the committee grants a pass, a conditional pass with additional work to be completed, or recommends failure. If a student fails the preliminary examination, it may be taken a second time. A second failure will result in dismissal.

Degree completion

MCDB encourages students to move toward their degree with reasonable speed. The Ph.D. should be completed within seven years of beginning graduate work with MCDB. Students are no longer eligible for support after the seventh year.