Applicable only to students admitted during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Molecular Biology

Interdepartmental Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Molecular Biology Program offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Molecular Biology.

Admission

Program Name

Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology is an interdepartmental program. Interdepartmental programs provide an integrated curriculum of several disciplines.
Applicants seeking direct admission to the program apply to Molecular Biology through one of the following program pathways: 1)Whitcome Fellowship (a highly competitive scholars program); 2) MBIDP DIRECT; 3) the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) for medical students seeking M.D./Ph.D. degrees; or 4) the Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) program for M.D.s seeking a Ph.D.
Applicants may also transfer to the Ph.D. program from UCLA ACCESS to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences.

Address

172 Boyer Hall
611 Charles E. Young Drive East
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1570 

Phone

(310) 267-5209 

Email

mbigrad@lifesci.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

Ph.D. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

January 7th 

GRE (General and/or Subject), TWE

GRE: General and subject in Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology or Physics. MCAT scores may be submitted by applicants with M.D. degrees. 

Letters of Recommendation 

3 

Other Requirements

In addition to the University’s minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are expected to submit the departmental application and a statement of purpose.

Whitcome Fellowship applicants: Applicants must demonstrate a high level of academic proficiency, a strong aptitude for scientific research, and a commitment to completing graduate studies in four years.

MBIDP DIRECT applicants: Applicants for direct admission must obtain the academic and financial sponsorship of a faculty adviser prior to submitting the application. Prospective mentors are required to complete the MBIDP Mentorship Application.

MSTP Ph.D. and STAR Program applicants: Applicants are expected to have identified a dissertation supervisor (chair of the doctoral committee). In addition to the applicant’s submission of the Application for Graduate Admission, these prospective mentors must complete and submit the MBIDP Mentorship Application.

ACCESS Program transfer applicants: Upon completion of the first year in the ACCESS Program, students choose a permanent research and dissertation adviser. Students interested in transferring to the Molecular Biology program for the remainder of their graduate training submit a change of major petition the MBIDP Student Application and the MBIDP Mentorship Application in conjunction with their advisers. Undergraduate coursework should include calculus, general chemistry and/or biochemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology and genetics. Any course deficiencies should be made up in the first year, prior to entering the Molecular Biology program. 

Doctoral Degree

Advising

After entering the Molecular Biology program, the student, in consultation with the dissertation research adviser, convenes a five-member doctoral committee composed of the research adviser and four other faculty members. This committee advises the student throughout the remainder of graduate study. The doctoral committee administers the University Oral Qualifying Examination and the final oral examination (defense of the dissertation), and meets yearly with the student to evaluate progress and offer suggestions for the direction of study. An appointed Molecular Biology Program Graduate Adviser and Ph.D. Committee oversee all academic policies and procedures, and are available for consultation at any time.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Consult department.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 12 units per quarter must be maintained during graduate study. A grade of B or better must be received in all courses. Any grade less than B will require a repeat of the course, or its equivalent, as per the approval of the Molecular Biology Program Graduate Adviser.

Whitcome Fellowship students:  For these students the emphasis is research and therefore no formal lecture courses are required. However, in consultation with the faculty advisers, students may elect to take lecture courses in fields of interest, or as required to provide necessary background knowledge in the student’s dissertation research field. During their graduate study, students complete a total of four seminar courses that emphasize critical analysis of peer-reviewed literature. At least two of these seminars and a course on research integrity must be completed during the first year, prior to advancement to candidacy.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry students:  Generally, students admitted directly to the program are required to complete the same first year course requirements that comprise the ACCESS program. Specific course requirements are established for each student by the Molecular Biology Program Committee, and may include lecture and/or seminar courses to be completed by the end of the first or second year of graduate study.

MSTP and STAR program students:  Students complete two lecture courses by the end of the first year of graduate study, and three Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses by the end of the second year.

ACCESS Program entry students:  Most course requirements are completed during the first year of study through the UCLA ACCESS Program. During the second year following entry into the graduate program, ACCESS Program entry students are required to complete three Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses.

First Year

Whitcome Fellowship students:  Students complete at least three of the required four Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses and a course on responsible conduct of research.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry students:  Generally, students admitted directly to the program are required to complete the same first year course requirements that comprise the ACCESS program.

MSTP and STAR program students:  Students complete two lecture courses and one or more of the required three Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses.

ACCESS Program entry students:  Students complete the ACCESS first-year curriculum.

Second Year

Whitcome Fellowship students:  Students complete the remaining Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry students:  Students complete coursework as stipulated by the Molecular Biology Program Committee.

MSTP and STAR program students:  Students complete the remaining Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses.

ACCESS Program entry students:  Students complete three quarters of Molecular Biology 298 (or equivalent) courses.

Second through Fifth Years

Whitcome Fellowship students:  Students conduct intensive year-round research under the guidance of the dissertation research adviser. Students are expected to complete dissertation research by the end of the fourth year.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry students:  Students conduct intensive year-round research under the guidance of the permanent research adviser/chair of doctoral committee. Students are expected to complete dissertation research by the end of the fourth or fifth year.

MSTP and STAR program students:  Students conduct intensive year-round research under the guidance of the permanent research adviser. Students are expected to complete dissertation research by the end of the fourth year.

ACCESS Program entry students:  Students conduct intensive year-round research under the guidance of the permanent research adviser. Students are expected to complete dissertation research by the end of the fourth or fifth year.

Teaching Experience

Students who enter the program through the Whitcome Fellowship, MSTP and STAR Programs or through direct entry may teach but teaching is not a degree requirement. Students who enter the program through the ACCESS Program are required to gain two quarters of teaching experience through service as teaching assistants in undergraduate courses by the end of the fourth year of graduate study.

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.

Written Qualifying Examination

Whitcome Fellowship and Molecular Biology direct entry students:  The written qualifying examination is composed of three original  research proposals, two based on topics addressed in Molecular Biology 298 student seminar series (or the equivalent), and one based on the student’s own dissertation research project. The format of the dissertation research proposal should follow the format of a typical NIH F31 Fellowship application. Proposals are graded on a pass, rewrite, or no-pass basis. The seminar proposals are evaluated by the course instructor(s) during the quarter(s) of enrollment and the dissertation proposal is evaluated by the student’s mentor and at least two other members of the student’s committee. A constructive critique is provided to give students the opportunity to improve their skills in critical analysis and experimental design. All three proposals must receive grades of pass before students take the University Oral Qualifying Examination and advance to candidacy.

MSTP and STAR Program, and ACCESS Program entry students:  The written qualifying examination is as described above but is composed of two brief research proposals, one based on a topic discussed in the second year seminar courses, and one based on the student’s dissertation research project.

Oral Qualifying Examination

Whitcome Fellowship, MSTP, and Star Program students: After passing the written qualifying examinations, students take the University Oral Qualifying Examination in the second year of graduate study. The examination includes preparation of a written research proposal submitted in the form of a typical NIH F31 Fellowship application, which gives the doctoral committee the opportunity to judge the student’s ability to think creatively and formulate significant ideas for research. The subject of the proposal is not connected with the student’s own dissertation research, although it may be in the same very broad, general area. The topic selected must be approved by the student’s research adviser and by the Molecular Biology Program Graduate Adviser. The oral examination will cover the student’s proposal as well as general scientific background in a time period of two to three hours. This examination is the same for MSTP, STAR and Whitcome Fellows but is held in the second year.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry and ACCESS Program entry students:  The oral qualifying examination is as described above but is held at the beginning of the third year.

Annual Committee Meetings

Beginning in the latter part of the third year or early in the fourth year, and in each year thereafter until completion of the degree program, students are required to meet annually with their doctoral committee.  At each meeting, students give a brief, 30 minute oral presentation of their dissertation research progress to their committee.  The purpose of the meeting is to monitor the student’s progress, identify difficulties that may occur as the student progresses toward successful completion of the dissertation and, if necessary, approve changes in the dissertation project.  The presentation is not an examination.

Annual Progress Report

At the end of each year all students are required to submit a brief report (a one-page form is provided) of their time-to-degree progress and research activities indicating the principal research undertaken and any important results, research plans for the next year, conferences attended, seminars given, and publications appearing or manuscripts in preparation.

Program Participation

Whitecome Fellowship, MSTP and STAR Program students: In Winter Quarter of the third year students are required to give a 30-minute presentation of their research project at the Molecular Biology Program student seminar series, held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month beginning in Winter Quarter of each academic year. Students also are required to attend a minimum of six of the 12 yearly Molecular Biology Program student seminars and two more of the Molecular Biology Institute annual retreats.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry and ACCESS Program entry students: Program participation is required as described above; however, two presentations at the student seminar series are required, once in Winter Quarter of the third year, and once in Winter Quarter of the fifth 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 the Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

Whitcome Fellowship, MSTP and Star Program students:  These students are expected to file their dissertation by the end of the fourth year of graduate study.

Molecular Biology Program direct entry students: These students are expected to file their dissertation by the end of the fourth or fifth year of graduate study.

ACCESS Program entry students:  These students are expected to file their dissertation by the end of the fifth year of graduate study.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of 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 termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A recommendation for termination is made by the chair of the interdepartmental degree committee, after consultation with the student and the student’s adviser (or the student’s guidance committee). In addition to the standard reasons outlined above, a student may be recommended for termination for failure to participate in required elements of the program, including laboratory rotations and seminars.

A student may appeal a recommendation for termination to the entire interdepartmental committee. If the student so requests, the opinions of other interested faculty members are considered by the committee.