The following is a summary of some the general requirements for all Ph.D. degrees at the University of Arizona. Students are responsible for determining that their program meets all the current requirements set by the Graduate College.
The minimum number of units required by the Graduate College for the Ph.D. is 63 units after the Bachelor's degree. Of these 63 units, 36 units of coursework, plus 18 units of dissertation for a total of 54 units, must be in the major (Genetics). All required courses must be graduate level courses, numbered 500 or above. At least one-half of the graduate credit must be in courses in which regular grades (A, B, ...) are earned.
At least 30 of the above units must be taken at The University of Arizona to meet the residency requirement. More than half of the 36 units in the major must be graded (A,B,C, etc.).
Units for the Minor vary according to the requirements of the Minor Department, usually requiring 9 to 15 units. A maximum of 6 units of 400-level courses may be used in the minor area (with approval). These courses may be used to satisfy total number of units, but will not receive graduate credit and will not be calculated in the graduate GPA.
Within these requirements set by the Graduate College, the actual number of graduate units required is determined by the student's Dissertation Committee. This course program must be submitted and approved by the Graduate Council on the Doctoral Application to Candidacy.
Course Requirements
All Ph.D. students majoring in Genetics or students from other programs minoring in genetics are required to take the following core courses:
1.
| MCB/GENE 546, Advanced Genetics (4 units) |
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-OR- |
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PL S 528R Microbial Genetics (3 units) |
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2. |
MCB/GENE 568, Nucleic Acids (4 units) |
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3.
| GENE 533 Human Genetics (3 units) |
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| 4.
| MCB 695E, Ethics (3 units)
– OR-
PHCL 595B Scientific Writing Strategies,
Skills & Ethics (2 units)
– OR-
SP H 649 Survival Skills & Ethics (3 units)
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In addition to the core, a minimum of one course from each of the three following subject areas should be taken.
The student and his/her committee should decide jointly which courses beyond the core would be appropriate. Below is a list of courses approved for this purpose; other courses can be submitted with the approval of the Genetics Executive Committee. Incoming students are expected to have taken an undergraduate statistics course -- if not,
Math/Gene 509C Statistics for Research or RNR 613 Applied Biostatistics are required.
A. Quantitative Methods
MCB/GENE 516 Bioinformatics & Genomic Analysis (3)
or
ECOL 553 Functional and Evolutionary Genomics (4) required for PhD
MCB 500 Computer Concepts & Perl Programming (3) required if no previous
programming course;
prerequisite for MCB 516
B. Population and Evolutionary Genetics
AN S/GENE 513 Statistical Genetics for Quantitative Measures (3 units)
ECOL 525 Speciation (2 units)
ECOL 526 Population Genetics (3 units)
C. Molecular Genetics
GENE 570 Molecular Genetics and Evolution (3 units)
GENE 695D Human Genetic Disease Colloquium (3 units)
MCB 573 Recombinant DNA Methods & Applications (3 units)
Teaching Requirement
All students are required to serve as Graduate Teaching Assistants for at least two semesters (can be waived to 1 semester with committee approval, if relevant TA ships are unavailable.)
Rotations
All first year students complete three rotations in different laboratories. At least two of the three research rotations should be completed with Genetics faculty. These rotations are selected by the incoming student, with advice from the Genetics Program Director and Executive Committee, based on their research interests. The rotations expose the student to a number of research areas and methods, as well as allowing students to sample labs to assist in the student's choice of a dissertation advisor. Prior to performing a rotation, the student should meet with the prospective mentor to discuss the nature of the rotation. A brief (one page) report of what was accomplished in each rotation must be submitted to the Program at the end of each rotation, signed by the student and rotation faculty, before a grade can be assigned.
Comprehensive Exam
This exam consists of both comprehensive written and oral portions in the major. It is intended to test the student's fundamental knowledge of genetics and their ability to apply this knowledge to problems. The written portion will consist of a research proposal. The proposal will be in the NIH or NSF format, except that it will stress concepts and background as opposed to experimental details. The topic and abstract must be approved in advance by the student's dissertation committee; it must involve aspects of both the major and minor fields, and must address a different problem than the student's dissertation research.
Final Examination
After all degree requirements have been satisfied and the penultimate draft of the dissertation has been approved by the Dissertation Committee, the candidate
must present a formal, public, oral presentation of the dissertation, followed by a closed session of questioning and discussion with the student’s committee.
