Students apply to, and upon matriculation, affiliate with one of these eight Tracks. It is important to note that regardless of a student’s home Track, all courses, faculty and research opportunities at the university remain available.
Year 1 - Each Track has a faculty Director who helps first-year students select courses and find suitable lab rotations. Students will typically take two to three courses per semester and will conduct two to four lab rotations over the course of the year.
Year 2 – Just prior to the start of the second year, students select a thesis adviser in whose lab they will conduct their doctoral research. They also then leave their BBS Track and formally join one of 12 Ph.D.-granting programs:
- Cell Biology
- Cellular and Molecular Physiology
- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- Experimental Pathology
- Genetics
- Immunobiology
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
- Neurobiology
- Pharmacology
Students in Year 2 complete the course requirements for the graduate program they have joined, take a qualifying exam, act as teaching assistants in lecture or lab courses, and begin thesis research.
Year 3 and Beyond – Students focus primarily on thesis research, publishing their results, and presenting their work at scientific meetings.
The average time-to-degree is 5.5 years.
