IMB Biochemistry Requirements

An incoming IMB student is advised by a Graduate Education Committee (GEC) member in the programmatic requirements and in the selection of courses for the first semester (and for the second if a committee has not yet been formed and coursework approved). All IMB students have a common set of requirements. In addition to these, each emphasis has its own prerequisites and programmatic requirements (coursework, comprehensives, etc).

Biochemistry Program Prerequisites

MS/PhD: Upper level Biochemistry (equivalent of BIOC 481-482 Biochemistry)
MS/PhD: Biochemistry Laboratory Course (equivalent of BIOC 486 or research experience)
PhD: Calculus-based physical chemistry (equivalent of CHEM 371-372 Physical Chemistry courses)
MS: Physical chemistry (equivalent of CHEM 370 Physical Chemistry or higher)

Biochemistry Program Course Requirements

Bioc 595 Nucleic Acids offered Fall of odd-numbered years
Bioc 595 Proteins and Enzymes offered Fall of even-numbered years
Bioc 600 Advanced Cellular Biochemistry offered every Spring
Bioc 581 Physical Biochemistry (not required for MS) offered Spring 2009

Additional Courses

MS: must have 30 total credits; 20 in coursework, 10 at the 500 level or higher.
PhD: must have 60 total credits, 40 in coursework, 20 at the 500 level or higher

M.S. Student Timeline - Defense must take place at least 1 week before the end of the semester

End of semester 1	Select research advisor and assemble committee In addition to the research advisor, the committee must include at least one IMB and one outside member. If the "research advisor" is not primarily affiliated with IMB, the committee must include an IMB committee member to serve as the permanent advisor; the "research advisor" is referred to as the "research director."
End of semester 2	Committee meets and approves curriculum. Any course waivers are documented and forwarded to the GEC Complete any missing prerequisite coursework Submit research proposal to committee for approval The research proposal is a description of the work completed, in progress, and to be completed for the fulfillment of the research component of the MS degree.
End of semester 4	Complete IMB and emphasis coursework
1 semester prior to graduation	Apply for graduation
2 weeks before defense	Send thesis to committee
1 week before defense	Public notice of defense Committee-approved draft sent to dean of the graduate school
Within 5 weeks of passing defense	Signed copies and abstract to Graduate school

PhD Student Timeline - Defense must take place at least 1 week before the end of the semester

End of Semester 2:	Select research advisor and assemble committee In addition to the research advisor, the committee must include at least three IMB and one outside member. If the "research advisor" is not primarily affiliated with IMB, the committee must include an IMB committee member to serve as the permanent advisor; the "research advisor" is referred to as the "research director." Complete any missing prerequisite coursework
End of semester 3	Committee meets and approves curriculum. Any course waivers are documented and forwarded to the GEC.
End of semester 5	Pass the comprehensive examination. The comprehensive exam consists of two parts: the written portion and the oral portion.
End of semester 6	Complete IMB and emphasis coursework Submit research proposal and schedule to committee for approval. The research proposal is a description of the work completed, in progress, and to be completed for fulfilling the research component of the PhD degree. It serves as an informal contract that defines what must be completed before the student can apply for graduation.
1 semester prior to graduation	Apply for graduation
2 weeks before defense	Send thesis to committee
1 week before defense	Public notice of defense Committee-approved draft sent to dean of the graduate school
Within 5 weeks of passing defense	Signed copies and abstract to Graduate school

Comprehensive Exam

The format of the written exam will be an outside, original research proposal, with the intent of focusing the student on a research problem and the approach required to address the problem. The topic will be outside of the student's dissertation research. The following criteria will be applied by the Examination Committee to determine if the proposal topic is acceptable:

the system must be different than what the student is employing in the dissertation research,
the approach must be different from that which the student uses to pursue the dissertation problem, and
the student will have to read literature not normally read for the dissertation research (the same references should not be cited in both the exam and the dissertation).

After consulting with the permanent advisor, the student must present a brief (up to 250 word) paragraph on each of two or three possible topics to the Committee for approval prior to initiating the written exam. The student should propose experiments that could be completed within one to two years. The proposal should be limited to approximately 15 pages (double-spaced, 12 point font) plus references (including figures, with single-spaced legends) with the following organization:

Abstract
Specific Aims
Significance and Background
Research Methods
References

The written examination will be presented to the Committee for their approval. The Committee will have ten days to decide if the student has passed the written exam and if the proposal is defendable. The student will pass with no more than one negative vote and will then schedule the oral examination. If the written exam is not satisfactory, the student should meet individually with each Committee member to discuss possible improvements and resubmit the written exam one more time. A second written exam must be presented within three months.

The oral exam will consist of two parts, for a total of no more than three hours:

Public presentation of an overview of the research proposal (written comprehensive exam) by the student (up to 20 minutes). This will be followed by general questions from the entire audience, not to exceed fifteen minutes
Defense of the student's research proposal and general biochemistry/molecular biology knowledge, especially as it applies to the research proposal and the student's coursework. The student can be questioned on any topic that relates to the research proposal or completed coursework. This phase of the oral exam is open to the faculty, but only the Examination Committee will vote.

The student will pass with no more than one negative vote. If the oral exam is not satisfactory, the student should meet individually with each Committee member to discuss possible improvements. A second oral exam may be scheduled no sooner than one month and no later than three months after the first oral exam. An extension of the three-month limit may be made only on the request of the Examination Committee and by the majority vote of approval by the IMB faculty.

Other information

A student should meet with his/her committee once a year. Annual evaluations forms that monitor student progress are mandatory and are to be completed each January.

A GPA of 3.0 or higher must be maintained or the student will be placed on academic probation. The student has 1 semester to raise the GPA to a satisfactory level or he/she will be dropped from the program.

PhD students who already have MS degrees in a related field may apply some of the MS coursework toward the PhD degree (as determined by the committee).