Integrative Biology Ph'D' program

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Integrative Biology Ph.D. program

• Joint program between the Charles E. Schmidt
  Colleges of Science and Biomedical Science
• Director Dr. Rod Murphey
• Program Assistant Ms. Jennifer Govender

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Students by units
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Student profile (Fall 2008)
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Basis of the program

• Integration in Biology
• From organism to cell to molecules
• Faculty strength in ecology, marine sciences,
  cellular, molecular, developmental biology, drug
  discovery and disease oriented research
• Less course work, but research intensive (key
  strength)

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Participating units

• Biology
• Biomedical Sciences
• Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
  (CMBB)
• Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI)
• US Horticultural Laboratory, USDA
• Department of Chemistry
• Center for Complex System and Brain Sciences
  (CCSBS)
• Jupiter
• Scripps
• Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies

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Course Requirements- see web page for courses

• Core courses
• (10 credits)
• Integrative Biology (4)
• Scientific Communication (3)
• or
• Seminar-Biological Writing (3)
• Statistics (3)
• MUST complete CORE in the first year

• Electives (9 credits) Decided by the student and
  the supervisory committee plus
• Three seminar/journal club courses (not three
  credits) before graduation
• May have to take other electives (Supervisory
  Committees decision)

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Registration

• 9 credits in the Fall/Spring and 6 credits in the
  summer (maximum 24 credits per year).
• MUST maintain 3.0 GPA for tuition waiver.
• Full time commitment required.
• Continuous registration ( at least one credit per
  year).- This is minimum. Need approval.

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Financial aid

• TA
• Academic year support (3 yrs)
• Additional year support possible
• Must sign TA contract
• Must have full time registration
• ONLY your advisor can request for TA (see FAQ)
• 20K/yr tuition waiver

• RA
• Grant-based (advisor)
• Can go from RA to TA with one semester notice
• 20K/yr tuition waiver
• Combination of RA/TA possible
• Other scholarship (minority/pre doctoral)
  possible. Consult advisor/E-Mail/FAU web page
• Once in the program-preference for aid if
  requirements are met

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Committees

• Supervisory committee
• Three members including the advisor (chair)
• MUST be formed before the end of semester 1

• Dissertation committee
• Five members
• Three can be same as supervisory committee
• At least one MUST be from outside the immediate
  area of research
• OK to have one faculty from outside FAU
• MUST be in place one semester before candidacy
  exam.

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Admission to Candidacy

• Must be done at least seven months in advance of
  the Dissertation Defense
• Complete core and elective courses (19 credits)
• Have supervisory and dissertation committee in
  place
• Propose and defend research proposal to
  Dissertation Committee
• See FAQs for details

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Candidacy exam

• Propose Dissertation research (oral format, open
  forum) presentation to the Dissertation Committee
  (A)
• Write a grant application of the proposal in
  NIH/NSF format (B)
• Submit grant two weeks in advance of Dissertation
  Research Proposal
• These are MINIMUM requirements (A B)
• The committee MAY ask for additional testing
• Failed students have one more semester (last
  chance) to retake the exam.

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Year 1

• Meet with Advisor to
• Form supervisory committee (1st semester)
• Choose electives (Advisor Approval)
• MUST complete core courses
• Register for advanced research (BSC7978)
• Submit Plan of Study Form in second semester of
  year 1 to Grad College

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Years 2-3

• Complete core and electives (3-4 semesters)
• Register for Adv. Research in Integrative Biology
  (BSC7978)
• Choose dissertation research committee (4 th
  semester)
• Dissertation research proposal (in NIH format),
  grant writing and defend (fifth semester)
• Admission to candidacy (by end of year 3)
• MUST complete all core courses prior to candidacy
• Failure of candidacy (after second attempt) will
  result in drop from the program
• Register for Dissertation research credits
  (BSC7980) once Candidacy is attained

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Years 3-5

• Continue dissertation research (minimum 25
  credits)
• Grant writing
• Announce defense one month in advance to program
  assistant via email
• Defense must be done at least seven months after
  attaining Candidacy
• Present results in internal/external meetings,
  peer reviewed publications etc. ( At least one
  REQUIRED for graduation)
• Prepare dissertation to the committee and public
  presentation (maximum five years)

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Yearly requirements

• Milestones checklist
• Once a year update progress (Beginning of Fall
  semester)
• This is students responsibility
• Can update more than once
• The original is kept in your file
• Registration not allowed if checklist is not
  updated

• Annual research progress report (starting from
  end of second year)
• - Due (Beginning of Fall semester)
• Once a year the research advisor and the student
  submit a progress report on research activities.
  Advisors and the students responsibility
• Both must sign report

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Meeting with the Director

• Once a year meeting to evaluate progress
• 30 mins. to an hour
• Will be in the summer

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Change of advisor

• Possible, but a challenge
• A written justification is necessary
• The new advisor must agree in writing to take the
  student
• The new lab must have adequate funds to support
  the training
• May have to take additional courses
• May NOT be able to join the lab of choice due to
  lack of funds

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FAU Honor Code

• Must adhere to the honor code.
• See section 6C5.4.001, Graduate Policies and
  Procedures Manual.
• Required reading on plagiarism (see link to
  research ethics).
• Signing of plagiarism form (see download forms)
  within one week of orientation.

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FAU graduate policy guidelines

• Office of graduate admissions and studies- see
  http//graduate.fau.edu/
• For FAQs- see http//graduate.fau.edu/StudiesFAQ.h
  tm
• For policy and procedures, see http//www.fau.edu/
  academic/registrar/univcatalog/CombAcadPol.pdf
• For graduate student association, see
  http//graduate.fau.edu/GSA/

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Contact

• Must use FAU E- Mail only (no exceptions)
• Web site is constantly updated (check FAQs)
• Course related questions- advisor
• Summer support- advisor to request
• TA/RA support- advisor (read FAQs)
• TA lab assignment- contact gmayer_at_fau.edu
• Basic program related questions, paperwork, pay
  check- contact jgovende_at_fau.edu
• Policy, candidacy and graduation issues-contact
  rmurphey_at_fau.edu