Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology offers the Master of Arts (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Students are responsible for becoming acquainted with departmental faculty and for identifying at the time of application at least one to three potential research mentors. Students who do not identify a research mentor at the time of matriculation immediately begin rotations in two to three potential laboratories. The Master’s program director serves as a provisionary research mentor until one is identified. Students have up to three quarters to identify a research mentor.

Subsequently, students form Master’s thesis committees, which consist of the research mentor and two or more faculty. Students are required to meet with their Master’s thesis committees as a whole at least once during their graduate careers to review progress and identify research goals.

The Master’s program director, with input from research mentors, advises students on their study lists. The MCDB staff adviser helps students enroll in their classes and secure Teaching Assistant positions.

Areas of Study

Areas of Study are not explicitly specified, but include topics such as molecular and structural biology, developmental biology, cell biology, plant biology, stem cell biology, etc. Areas of study are determined according to students’ specific interests and the labs they join.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students must complete 40 units (at least nine courses must be four units) of graduate or upper-division coursework for the master’s degree.  Within this overall requirement, students must complete a minimum of 20 units (five four-unit courses) at the graduate level

During the first quarter of graduate study, students are required to complete BIOL CH 266A (two units).  Students are required to enroll in MCD BIO 596 or 598 during each quarter of study.  Students select other specific coursework with the help of the Master’s program director and their research mentors.

Students may count three 500-series courses toward the total course requirement and one 500-series course towards the minimum graduate course requirement.  All courses must be taken for a letter grade, unless S/U only.

Teaching Experience

Students are required to complete at least one quarter as teaching assistants in department-approved courses, but are strongly encouraged to complete at least two quarters.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

None.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students complete a Master’s thesis based on original laboratory research. Before beginning work on the thesis, students must obtain approval of the subject and general plan from the Master’s thesis committee, which consists of three faculty. The thesis must be prepared in accordance with University formatting requirements in UCLA Policies and Procedures for Thesis Dissertation and Filing, available on the Division of Graduate Education website. The thesis is presented to the Master’s thesis committee for approval.

Time-to-Degree

The normative time-to-degree for the Master’s degree is six quarters. Students are expected to advance to candidacy in five quarters. Although most students will graduate in two years, to build in flexibility, they are permitted up to three years (nine quarters) to complete the program requirements, as long as they advance to candidacy at least one quarter before graduating. This allows students who rotate in laboratories during their first year of study adequate time to complete a thesis research project that requires more than three quarters.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.S.	5	6	9

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Students are advised by the appropriate Home Area Director. The Cell & Developmental Biology Home Area Director also is available to assist students with university and departmental requirements. All academic affairs for Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology students are coordinated by the Cell & Developmental Biology Home Area Director, who is assisted by the administrative staff of the Molecular Biology IDP Graduate Affairs Office.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Specific fields of emphasis in the department naturally reflect the research foci of the faculty. The research foci of MCDB faculty are reflected through the following Home Areas:

1) Cell and Developmental Biology (Molecular Biology IDP)

2) Gene Regulation (Molecular Biology IDP)

3) Genetics and Genomics (Human Genetics Ph.D. Program)

4) Bioinformatics (Bioinformatics IDP)

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students are required to enroll full time in a minimum of 12 units each quarter. In addition to basic course requirements, all students are required to take Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology 296 and 596 or 599 each quarter. The majority of the didactic course requirements for molecular biology, cell biology, and research ethics are completed during the first year of study. Students, in consultation with their dissertation adviser, may elect to take additional graduate courses or seminars in a particular area of specialization.

All graduate students in the department are required to complete the teaching assistant training courses, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology 495, either before or during their first quarter as a Teaching Assistant.

Teaching Experience

The department considers teaching experience to be an integral part of the graduate program. Students are expected to complete a minimum of two quarters as a teaching assistant in departmentally approved courses. In general, students serve as teaching assistants for one quarter in the second year and for one quarter in the third year. If students fail to follow this schedule and as a result fall behind in meeting this requirement, the Graduate Adviser may arbitrarily assign them to a course.

Advanced students, such as participants in the STAR or MSTP programs, may be exempted from the teaching requirement.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The written and oral qualifying examinations should be completed and passed by the end of fall quarter of the third year of graduate study. The written qualifying examination must be passed before the University Oral Qualifying Examination can be taken. Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Written qualifying examination. Students must formally constitute and meet with their doctoral committee. The purpose of the meeting is for the committee to evaluate the student’s understanding of the rationale and background for the proposed dissertation research and to provide feedback to the student on its feasibility and experimental strategy. Students prepare a written description of the scientific background of the dissertation research project, the specific aims of the project, preliminary findings, and an experimental plan for addressing the specific aims. This dissertation proposal has a maximum length of 10 pages, excluding references, and is submitted to the students’ doctoral committee in advance of the examination. The examination also consists of an oral presentation of the proposal by the student to the doctoral committee.

University Oral Qualifying Examination. This examination is chaired by an MCDB doctoral committee member other than the student’s adviser, and is conducted by the doctoral committee. The thesis adviser serves on the doctoral committee and votes, but does not participate verbally. The examination focuses on the discussion and defense of an original written research proposal, as well as on general biological questions. The topic of the original research proposal requires advance approval of the student’s doctoral committee, and may not be the anticipated dissertation research topic, or an active or anticipated research project in the laboratory of the student’s adviser. Exclusive of their doctoral committee members, students are free to consult with other individuals in formulating proposed research. The research proposal must be written according to the NIH grant application format, with a maximum length of 10 pages, excluding references. The student’s oral presentation and examination are expected to demonstrate: (1) a scholarly understanding of the background of the research proposal; (2) well-designed and testable aims; (3) a critical understanding of the technical applications to be employed in the proposed research; and (4) an understanding of potential experimental outcomes and their interpretation. This examination is graded Pass, Conditional Pass, or Fail. If the doctoral committee decides that the examination reflects performance below the expected mastery of graduate-level content, the committee may vote to give the student a Conditional Pass. At the committee’s discretion, a student who receives Conditional Pass will be required to modify or rewrite their research proposal, so as to bring it up to required standards.  In the case of a Conditional Pass, the student will be permitted to seek the advice of their committee in modifying or rewriting the proposal. Any required rewrite or modification will be submitted to, and reviewed by the doctoral committee. The signed Report on the Oral Qualifying Examination & Request for Advancement to Candidacy will be retained in the Graduate Student Affairs Office until the student has satisfied the doctoral committee’s request for revision or re-write.

Midstream seminar. The midstream seminar is meant to occur halfway between the University Oral Qualifying Examination and the final oral examination (defense of the dissertation), but in no case later than the beginning of the fifth year of doctoral study. Students who are in the program longer than five years must meet with their committee once each year.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Normal progress from matriculation to conferral of the degree is sixteen academic quarters (and five summer terms). Maximum time-to-degree is eighteen academic quarters (and six summer terms).

Course work, laboratory rotations, and choice of faculty adviser should be completed by the end of the first year.

The written qualifying examination should be completed by June of the second year in graduate study.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination and advancement to candidacy should be completed no later than January 1 of the third year in graduate study. Failure to attain candidacy status at this time without a specific exception granted by the chair of the departmental Graduate Committee will be grounds for the recommendation of academic disqualification of the student’s graduate study.

The midstream seminar should be completed in the fourth year of study.

The dissertation and final oral examination (defense of the dissertation) should be completed during the fifth year of study, and no later than the sixth year of study.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
Ph.D.	9	21	24

Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing the academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

In addition to the standard reasons outlined above, a student may be recommended for academic disqualification for unsatisfactory performance as determined by the advisory committee, failure to pass all areas of the departmental written qualifying examination, failure to pass the master’s comprehensive examination, failure to maintain a provisional or personal adviser (Ph.D. students) or failure to complete the master’s degree within six terms, or failure to complete the doctoral dissertation within eighteen terms of academic residence (see Time-to-Degree). A student may appeal a recommendation for academic disqualification to the appropriate subgroup or the departmental chair.