Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Requirements

Admission Requirements

The applicant must meet the School of Graduate Studies’ current minimum general admission requirements as published in the graduate catalog.

1. Completion of a four-year Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from a recognized college or university as described in the UND Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Catalog.Exceptions must be approved by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
2. Coursework:Admission into the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program is dependent upon the applicant’s demonstration of effective academic skills and appropriate undergraduate training.Ideally, the applicant will have completed the following coursework:

• General Biology with laboratory
• General Chemistry with laboratory
• Organic Chemistry with laboratory
• Physics with laboratory
• Biochemistry or equivalent
• Calculus
• Advanced undergraduate coursework in at least one of the following areas:molecular biology, cell/developmental biology, genetics, neuroscience, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, anatomy, or physiology.

3. Applicants must have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0/4.0. Applicants with previous graduate education should have a cumulative GPA of 3.5/4.0 in their graduate level course work. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required however good scores (> 50^th percentile) can enhance the application.

4.  International applicants must satisfy the School of Graduate Studies English Language Proficiency Requirements.

5.  A Statement of Goals must be included with the application materials.This statement will describe the student’s academic achievements, research experience and accomplishments, career goals, and objectives for applying to the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program.

6.  Three letters of recommendation addressing the student’s academic performance and research or professional experience are required to complete the application.At least two letters must be from faculty having direct knowledge of the student’s academic capabilities.

7.  Preference will be given to students who can demonstrate undergraduate research and/or a record of scholarly publication or other relevant experience.

Degree Requirements

Students seeking the Ph.D. degree in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program must satisfy all general requirements set forth by the School of Graduate Studies as well as particular requirements set forth by the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program.In addition to course work, the Ph.D. degree requires completion of an acceptable dissertation in a program of study designed by the student with Faculty Advisory Committee approval.

1.  A minimum of 90 credit hours of graduate level courses including research and dissertation.

2.  Completion of the following graduate level courses:

3.  The optional transcriptable subplan (Specialization) in Neuroscience requires completion of the following 5 courses (10 credits):

4.  The optional transcriptable subplan (Specialization) in Microbiology and Immunology requires completion of the following 2 courses (4 credits):

and also requires completion of 5 credits chosen from the following courses:

5.  Students who choose not to complete a subplan must complete a minimum of 6 credit hours of graduate level elective courses selected from the following:

6.  A student must obtain at least a “B” in all required courses in order to remain in good standing in the graduate program.If less than a “B” is received, the student will be given the opportunity to remediate in a manner determined by the course director.If remediation is unsuccessful, the student may petition the Graduate Faculty to take the course a second time.In the event that the student is unable to raise the grade to at least a “B”, the student must petition the Graduate Faculty to be allowed to remain the program.

7.  Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA in accordance with School of Graduate Studies guidelines (UND Graduate and Undergraduate Academic Catalog).

8.  Students must successfully complete the comprehensive examination.

9.  Students must fulfill the teaching requirement as defined by the student’s Faculty Advisory Committee in consultation with the Department Chair and the Director of Graduate Studies in Biomedical Sciences.

10.  Research and Dissertation:The Ph.D. degree requires completion of a dissertation based on the results of a project completed by the graduate student under the guidance of a faculty advisor.The project must represent an original and independent investigation by the student.It is expected that the student will publish at least one first author peer-reviewed manuscript in a scientific or academic journal prior to the defense of their dissertation.The dissertation prepared by the candidate must be presented orally in a public forum and defended before the Faculty Advisory Committee and the Departmental Graduate Faculty and will be open to all members of the academic community.