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How does BBS work?

Becky Sweet, Immunology Track

Within BBS, there are approximately 260 participating faculty, several dozen courses, and countless seminars from which to choose. To prevent students (and faculty!) from getting lost in this abundance of opportunity, BBS is divided into eight interest-based “Tracks”:

1. Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
2. Immunology
3. Microbiology
4. Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
5. Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development
6. Neuroscience
7. Pharmacological Sciences and Molecular Medicine
8. Physiology and Integrative Medical Biology

I did post-baccalaureate research at Yale for 6 months before starting to interview at other schools. I realized that Yale had the only Immunology program in the nation that was both intimate and fabulous. My California may have great weather, but I knew that if I were smart I would recognize that the superior training I was going to receive here outweighed any other factors I was taking into consideration. - Becky Sweet, Immunology Track

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.