Course Requirements
Three core courses
(9 credits;
courses described below; grade of B or better required):
Two from the following (or other
approved course)
16:160:537 Biophysical Chemistry I (3)
16:160:538 Biophysical Chemistry II (3)
16:118:507 Physics of Living
Matter (3)
16:118:513 Molecular
Simulations in Computational Biophysics (3)
16:642:613 Mathematical Foundations of Systems Biology (3)
16:198:674 Introduction
to Bioinformatics (3)
16:155:507 Analytical Methods Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (3)
16:642:527 Methods of Applied Mathematics (3)
16:125:572 Biocontrol, Modeling, and Computation (3)
16:125:573 Kinetics, Thermodynamics, and Transport in
Biomedicine
(3)
One foundational course in biochemistry and/or molecular biology (3)
from:
Graduate Level Foundational
Courses:
16:160:537 Biophysical Chemistry I (3)
16:695:538
Fundamentals of Molecular Biosciences (6)
16:695:539
Experimental Methods in Molecular Biosciences (2)
16:148:514
Molecular Biology of Cells (3)
16:115:511/512 and 16:694:407/408
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (3,3)
16:115:503 Biochemistry (4) - fall
16:115:
504 Biochemistry (4) - spring
16:718:680 Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology (3)
16:761:580
Molecular Basis of Physiology (3)
Undergraduate Level Foundational Courses:
(*Must
be greater than or equal to 300 level "with extra work" and taken as a grad student to receive graduate
credit.)
01:694:301
Introductory Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (3)
11:115:403
General Biochemistry (4)
Three additional
3-credit courses (9
credits):
These serve as CBMB elective
courses and could consist of joint PGP core courses
These may
consist of additional core courses or elective courses in the fields of
molecular biophysics and computational biology.With the approval of their thesis adviser or the graduate program
director, students may select electives from virtually all graduate courses
offered by life science, mathematical and physical sciences, computer science,
and engineering departments at Rutgers. Frontier topics courses that have been recently offered or are under
development include:
Biology and Bioinformatics of Cancer
Protein Folding and Misfolding in Disease
Structural and Systems Biology of Transcription
Genetic Systems and Structures (16:118:617:02)
Two semesters of 1-credit seminars in areas relevant to computational biology and molecular biophysics (2
credits)
16:118:617 Seminar in Quantitative Biology (BA) (focused on the Proteomics/BioMaPS seminar series)
16:160:601,602 Seminar in Molecular
Biophysics (1,1)
BME seminar series
Ethical
Scientific Conduct (0-1
credits, to be refreshed after four years in accordance with NIH requirements).
Available in most science- or engineering-oriented graduate programs and online
as well.
16:115:556 Ethical Scientific Conduct (1)
16:125:601 Engineering Ethics and Seminar (1)
16:137:500 Ethics in Science and Technology (1)
16:486:501 Responsible and Ethical Research I (0) (no tuition or grades; will appear on the transcript)
Research Rotations
In
the first year, students typically engage in 1-3 rotations
(16:118:621 and 622; 1 credit each semester or winter break). Rotations provide the opportunity to explore
research (for two months per rotation) in the quest of finding a group in which
they would like to do their dissertation research. The format for lab rotations will vary
depending upon the research group. Students may be given an independent laboratory research project and/or
may assist other members of the lab in data acquisition and analysis. During this time, the student attends and
participates in laboratory group meetings and related events.
Teaching Requirement
Teaching assistantships
(TAs; 6 credits/semester) are not formally required, but teaching of some form
is required. A possible alternative to
doing a TA could be assisting with several aspects of teaching for a course (by
arrangement with the professor). This
might consist of such activities as preparing and performing demonstrations,
preparing and grading quizzes, and/or preparing and providing a lecture. This kind of alternative teaching can be
arranged upon agreement with the graduate program director and the professor
teaching the course (and can be indicated on the student transcript as "Teaching Apprenticeship").
Examination and Thesis Requirements
The format of the
qualifying examination(s) will be decided between the student and his or her
adviser. The choices are: (1) the
student will follow the guidelines of his or her adviser's home department, and
(2) the student will follow the guidelines of the CBMB program (described
below).
A. Written
component of CBMB qualifying exam (third semester; detailed in Common
Rules for the Written Exam):
Students prepare a
written proposal for their thesis research that must be not exceed 20 pages
single-spaced (not including references). The preparation of the proposal is intended to educate the student (i.e., about the work that has been done
in the field to date and the techniques that will be useful for the work [e.g., the "how to" and the principles])
and to promote creative thinking about the outstanding problems in the field
and ways to solve these problems. The student should obtain the application for
admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree from the office of the graduate
school and submit it to the chair of the committee at the time of the
examination.
B. Oral
component of CBMB qualifying exam (fourth semester):
The student will defend
the proposal and show relevant knowledge in an oral presentation of
approximately 30 minutes in duration. The date for this component of the qualifying exam should be set up with
the committee members at least two weeks before the scheduled date of the
exam. The Exam Committee will meet after
the exam and decide among the following three options: (1) Pass; (2) Fail; (3)
Fail with an opportunity to repeat the exam.
In the case of option #3, the student must repeat the exam within three months
after the first exam. Repeat exams will
be graded as Pass or Fail only. If the
student passes Exam B, the members of the candidate's committee and the
graduate director will sign the application for admission to candidacy for the
doctoral degree (see Forms). This form must be returned to the
office of the associate director of graduate studies. If the student does not
pass the qualifying exam, she or he may be eligible to earn a master's degree at
this stage. (See section on CBMB
Master's Program.)
Students are expected to submit and defend a dissertation within five
years of starting the program.
