Integrative and Systems Biology, PhD

► Graduate School Rules apply to this program.

Director for PhD Program: Alan Vajda
Office: Science, 4104
Telephone: 303-315-7640
E-mail: Alan.Vajda@ucdenver.edu
Website: clas.ucdenver.edu/biology/grad.html

Requirements for Admission

A BA/BS or MS from an accredited institution awarded within the last 10 years (validation of current content may be required).·Minimum undergraduate GPA: 3.0
TOEFL: required for international applicants from countries in which English is not the official language
3 letters of recommendation
Official transcripts from all attended institutions
Students are required to contact faculty in advance. Prior to application, applicants must have identified and contacted an available Faculty Advisor to ensure availability of a position and appropriate research interests

Prerequisite courses required:

One year of General Biology is preferred. Where needed, supplementary courses or reading programs may be designed to provide background information of sufficient depth for the Program curriculum
One course in applied or biological statistics (through regression and ANOVA)
Additional prerequisite requirements may be set by individual faculty

Applications will be considered annually starting December 1 for both domestic US students and international students. Application to the PhD program is through CU Denver Admissions.

Degree Requirements

The PhD degree requirements comprise six phases. First, students must complete a minimum of 60 credits, including 30 dissertation credits. Up to 30 hours of graduate level courses from other programs may be transferred and counted toward the degree. Students must also pass the Preliminary Exam, form an Advisory Committee and an Examination Committee, meet the academic residency requirement, pass the comprehensive exam, and write and orally defend a dissertation.

Research-based PhD degree program requires

Completing 60 credits including 30 of dissertation (BIOL 8990)
Meeting minimum academic residency requirements
Passing the Preliminary Exam
Forming Advisory and Examination committees
Writing and defending research proposal
Passing the Comprehensive Exam
Writing and defending dissertation (including >1 publishable paper)

Required Courses

BIOL 6764 - Biological Data Analysis (4 credits taken in the first year)
BIOL 6705 - Biological Research Workshop (4 credits total, taken two different times in the student’s career)
BIOL 6655 - Seminar (2 credits total, taken two different times in the student’s career)
BIOL 7010 - Integrative and Systems Biology (3 credits taken in the first year))
BIOL 7050 - Special Topics (a minimum of 3 credits must be completed, but students may take up to 9 credits)
BIOL 8990 - Doctoral Dissertation (30 credits must be completed after passing the Comprehensive Exam)
BIOL 6002 - Biology Skills Sets - Pedagogy (2 credits taken in the first year; only required for students supported by a Graduate Teaching Assistantship)