Each area has a specialized set of core courses. In selecting your minimum of 29 graduate course hours, you enroll in at least two core courses from your chosen area of concentration and at least one core course from one of the other two areas.

Additional courses come from a varied and changing list of accessory graduate courses whose topics reflect current faculty and student interests and important developments in the respective fields. In consultation with your advisory committee, you tailor your formal course training to your general and specific research interests.

A weekly seminar series provides advanced students the opportunity to gain experience in presenting research talks and promotes critical thinking among students in the audience. In addition to these graduate biology courses, you receive biostatistics training through at least one graduate course in statistics.

As a first-year student, you can participate in rotations through cognate research labs during the first semester. During your second semester, you choose a lab in which to pursue Ph.D. research, assemble a faculty advisory committee, and design a preliminary research project so that you embark on a first summer research season.