Degrees Offered
PhD, MD/PhD, MS
Program Description
The combined graduate program in biochemistry and molecular biology is an intercampus program combining training opportunities at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Students in this joint program benefit from the extensive facilities and resources of both campuses and the opportunity to interact with a large pool of scientists.
The program offers a wide range of research training opportunities with particular strengths in molecular biology, protein structure and function, membrane biochemistry, and physical biochemistry. These areas include but are not limited to: mechanisms and regulation of gene expression, DNA packaging and repair, protein and RNA structural biology, cancer and epithelial cell biology, stem cell biology, calcium and signal transduction pathways, metabolism and bioenergetics, the cellular matrix and migration, fluorescence spectroscopy, membrane and cytoskeletal biology, retrovirus structure and function, prion structure and function, computational biology, and bacterial pathogenesis.
Program Admission
Applicants must receive the approval of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Governing Committee for admission. Approval is normally based upon undergraduate courses and grades, letters of recommendation, Graduate Record Examinations scores, and, wherever possible, personal interviews. Previous success in graduate education also is taken into consideration. In addition to meeting the Graduate School’s requirements for admission, each entering student is expected to satisfy minimum requirements in the fields of biochemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry or molecular/cell biology. Students with deficiencies in these areas will not ordinarily be considered for admission.
Degree Requirements
The MS and PhD degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology require the completion of 30 course credits. For thesis-master’s students, master’s thesis research under the supervision of a faculty mentor, culminating in the preparation and defense of the research thesis, replaces 6 of these credits. PhD candidates must successfully complete a minimum of 12 credits of doctoral dissertation research in addition to all required coursework.
1. Qualifying exam: PhD students are required to pass an oral qualifying exam no later than six months after the completion of their course requirements. Two weeks before the exam, students are required to submit a National Institutes of Health-style research proposal to their advisory committee that is based on their proposed PhD research. The format of this proposal must follow the page limits and any other rules and regulations of an actual NIH predoctoral fellowship proposal. Students may submit this proposal to the NIH or another appropriate granting agency (e.g., the American Heart Association), although this is not required. The research proposal must be defended orally to the student’s advisory committee as part of the exam.
During the oral qualifying exam, students also are tested on their general knowledge of biochemistry and molecular biology, including: molecular biology, enzymology and bioorganic chemistry, physical and structural biochemistry, and metabolism and regulation.
The outcome of the oral exam can be: pass; fail, with retake within three months; or fail, with the possibility of being awarded a terminal MS (MS is awarded only if in good academic standing with a 3.0 or better grade-point average). In cases in which a student fails and cannot retake the exam, the program director will determine whether the student qualifies for a terminal master’s degree.
In addition to meeting the Graduate School’s GPA requirement, PhD students must achieve at least a B average (GPA of 3.0 or higher) over the first two years of enrollment. The program generally dismisses students who have a GPA below 3.0 at this time. At the discretion of the Graduate Governing Committee, students who do not meet the GPA requirement may be permitted to take an additional course if they are doing well in the program and it would mathematically allow them to achieve an overall GPA of 3.0 or better (i.e., for students whose GPA is nearly 3.0). Such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis by the Graduate Governing Committee.
2. Core course requirement:
Students have the option to choose from the GPILS core course (GPLS 601; 8 credits) or the two-semester biochemistry course at UMBC (CHEM 437, CHEM 638; 8 credits). The decision regarding the core course(s) for a student is based upon their undergraduate record in biochemistry and other advanced science courses.
3. Additional Courses
6 credits of general electives, including at least one course at UMBC, are also required.
GPLS 713: two semesters
GPLS 608: three semesters