Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ph.D.

Admission to graduate study leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy does not constitute formal admission to candidacy for the degree. Applicants must meet the requirements set forth in the Degree Requirements section. In addition, to become a candidate for the degree, a student must complete successfully all coursework recommended by the departmental advisory committee, must complete successfully a qualifying examination that includes both written and oral sections, and must defend before an appropriate faculty committee a monograph detailing the area of proposed research or a research proposal patterned after a grant proposal.

The candidate for the Ph.D. degree must enroll for the courses necessary to bring the total number of credit hours of graduate coursework to 60 (as many as 24 credit hours may be waived for students with previous graduate work in the life sciences), carry out a research program under supervision of the faculty, prepare a dissertation, successfully defend it before an audience that includes the dissertation committee of the faculty and meet a residence requirement of two years as a full-time student at SMU.