Program Structure and Requirements
Overall Program Structure
This BSc-to-PhD program IN Molecular Life Sciences program (also called Direct Entry PhD) is a 72 credit hours degree program with at least 36 credit hours of courses - 15 credit hours of required courses (core) and 21 credit hours of electives, as listed below. The program also has 36 credit hours of thesis research.
Therefore, all students admitted directly to the PhD in Molecular Life Sciences program with only a bachelor degree will follow the program structure and the typical study plan below.
| Category |
Credit Hours |
| Program Core |
15 |
| Electives |
21 |
| PhD Research Dissertation |
36 |
| Total |
72 |
Program Requirements
Students seeking the degree of PhD in Molecular Life Sciences must successfully complete a minimum 72 credit hours as specified in the program requirements detailed below, with a minimum CGPA of 3.0. Course selection should be made in consultation with the student’s Main Advisor. All the courses that the students will take are at PhD level. The students will only be able to attempt SCIE 795 PhD Written Qualifying Exam (WQE) after successfully completing a minimum of 27 credits of formal coursework.
Program Core (15 credit hours)
Students must complete the core courses listed below.
Core Courses
Program Electives (21 credit hours)
Students must complete 21 credit hours of electives (of which at least 15 credits hours must be BIOL electives, and up to 6 credit hours of additional electives).
Program Elective Courses
| BIOL 710 | Recent Advances in Protein Biochemistry | 3 |
| BIOL 720 | Recent Advances in Cell Signaling and Cancer Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 740 | Recent Advances in Virology | 3 |
| BIOL 750 | Recent Advances in Endocrinology | 3 |
| BIOL 760 | Recent Advances in Clinical Microbiology | 3 |
| BIOL 790 | Recent Advances in Drug Development and Delivery | 3 |
Elective Courses from Other Departments
| BMED 711 | Biomolecular and Cellular Engineering | 3 |
| BMED 720 | Biophysical Engineering of Cellular Systems | 3 |
| CHEM 714 | Recent Developments in Analytical Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 715 | Recent Developments in Nanochemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 716 | Recent Developments in Environmental Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 717 | Advanced topics in Biochemistry | 3 |
PhD Research Dissertation (36 credit hours)
Students must complete a Dissertation that involves creative, research-oriented work within the field of Molecular Life Sciences, under direct supervision of a full-time faculty advisor from the Biology Department, and at least one other full-time faculty who acts as a co-advisor. The outcome of research should demonstrate the synthesis of information into knowledge in a form that may be used by others. The research findings must be documented in a formal dissertation and defended successfully in a viva voce examination.
Thesis Research