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University of Maryland
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Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics (CBMG)
Faculty
Chair
Andrews, Norma,
Associate Chair
Wolniak, Stephen M.,
Director
Cooke, Todd J.,
Distinguished University Professor
Gantt, Elisabeth,
Professor
Cooke, Todd J.,
Mosser, David M.,
Simon, Anne E.,
Stein, Daniel C.,
Sze, Heven,
Wolniak, Stephen M.,
Professor Emerita
Colwell, Rita R.,
Associate Professor
Chang, Caren,
DeStefano, Jeffrey J.,
Delwiche, Charles Francis,
Dinman, Jonathan D.,
Hutcheson, Steven W.,
Liu, Zhongchi,
McIver, Kevin,
Mount, Stephen M.,
Song, Wenxia,
Stewart, Richard C.,
Straney, David C.,
Assistant Professor
Briken, Volker,
Frauwirth, Kenneth,
Fredericksen, Brenda ,
Gao, Lian-Yong,
Kwak, June,
Lee, Vincent,
Adjunct Professor
McBride, Alison,
Moss, Bernard,
Nuss, Donald,
White, Owen,
Wickner, Reed,
Adjunct Associate Professor
Culver, James N.,
Freed, Eric,
Green, Kim,
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Hall, Neil,
Hamza, Iqbal,
Wu, Louisa,
Affiliate Professor
Colombini, Marco,
Jeffery, William Richard,
Mather, Ian,
Salzberg, Steven L.,
Affiliate Associate Professor
Perez, Daniel ,
Pick, Leslie,
Note: Some courses in this program may require the use of animals. Please see the Statement on Animal Care and Use and the Policy Statement for Students and the Policy Statement for Students under Degree Requirements.
Abstract
Maryland recently reorganized its graduate programs in biology, and CBMG is no longer accepting applicants. Please see the new Biological Sciences Program (BISI). Most CBMG faculty are members of the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB) or Computation Biology, Bioinformatics, and Genomics (CBBG) Concentration Areas.
The Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics administers the graduate program in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics (CBMG). Approximately 25 regular and 15 adjunct and affiliate faculty and 80 graduate students in the CBMG program share the common perspective that many biological questions are appropriately addressed at the levels of the molecule, gene, and cell. Thus, we anticipate that this research will help not only to elucidate the molecular, genetic, and cellular mechanisms of biological phenomena but also to provide crucial insights into the control mechanisms operating in physiological, developmental, and evolutionary processes.
Although the research interests of the CBMG faculty span the molecular and cellular biosciences of viral, prokaryotic, and eukaryotic organisms, the CBMG graduate program is focused on 5 specializations: 1) Genetics and Genomics; 2) Microbiology, Microbial Pathogenesis, and Immunology; 3) Cell and Developmental Biology; 4) Virology; and 5) Plant Biology. Students interested in joining the department are encouraged to contact the CBMG Graduate Office for application materials. The Cell and Developmental Biology specialization emphasizes state-of-the-art research in cytoskeletal activity, membrane biology, secretion, cell division, and other fundamental cellular processes. The Genetics and Genomics specialization provides advanced training in new genetic, molecular, and bioinformatic techniques for investigating important problems in macromolecular processing, signal transduction, developmental biology, host-pathogen interactions, molecular evolution, and plant biology. The Microbiology, Microbial Pathogenesis, and Immunology specialization provides a wide range of research opportunities for studying the actions of microbial pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi, and the responses of various eukaryotic hosts. The Virology specialization concentrates on the molecular basis of virus structure, replication mechanisms, and pathogenesis. The Plant Biology specialization offers broad training in genetic, molecular, and cellular approaches for studying important questions in the signal transduction, cell biology, physiology, development, evolution, and pathogen interactions of plants.
The CBMG faculty have also developed numerous collaborations with such world-famous federal laboratories as the National Institutes of Health, USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Smithsonian Institution Natural History Museum, and Food and Drug Administration Laboratories, as well as local private institutes such as The Institute for Genomic Research. Moreover, a significant number of prominent scientists from those laboratories have joined or are being recruited to join the CBMG program. Therefore, graduate students have an incomparable wealth of potential research opportunities that extends from the College Park campus throughout the Washington, DC area.
The graduate programs in the department offer advanced education resulting in the M. S. and Ph. D. degrees. The Ph.D. degree, which involves independent and creative scholarly research resulting in an original dissertation, is typically completed within 4 to 6 years. Our Ph. D. graduates have readily obtained rewarding and challenging positions as research scientists, college professors, government administrators, or other careers requiring advanced skills at the Ph. D. level. The M. S. degree, which involves advanced technical training resulting in an original thesis, is often completed in 3 years. Our M. S. students are typically employed as research technicians in the biotech and biomedical industries or in government laboratories.
Admissions Information
Maryland recently reorganized its graduate programs in biology, and CBMG is no longer accepting applicants. Please see the new Biological Sciences Program (BISI) for information on how to apply to the BISI program.
Application Deadlines
Fall
Spring
Domestic Applicants:
U.S. Citizens and Permanent ResidentsDomestic Applicant Deadlines
For application information see the Biological Sciences Program (BISI) .
This program does not accept applications for this semester.
Application Requirements
For information on application requirements please see the new Biological Sciences Program (BISI).
Degree Requirements
General Requirements ()
Descriptions below refer to the graduate program in CBMG. All new incoming students will be part of the BISI graduate program for which course and degree requirements are currently being formulated.
The Graduate Director, with the assistance of the Graduate Program Committee, serves as the initial adviser for all entering CBMG students for their first year. For most students, the core requirements plus several advanced courses serve as the primary academic load during the first year of study. The core courses are: CBMG 688D and 688E, Cell Biology I and II, respectively (2 credits each), CBMG 688F and 688I, Genetics I and II, respectively (2 credits each), CBMG 688A/B, Research Experiences (5 credits), and CBMG 701 Teaching Microbiology (1 credit). The Cell Biology and Genetics courses are given in 7 week (half semester) modules so each set is completed in one semester. In addition to these core courses, each student is required to complete 3 additional two credit 7 week elective courses within the first two years. Currently these include courses in immunology, microbial pathogenesis, virology, plant developmental biology and physiology, general developmental biology, and bioinformatics. Students must attain a grade of "B" or better in the lecture courses, and a grade of "S" in MICB 688A/B and MICB 701. These grades are mandatory for continued enrollment in the graduate program. Additional courses offered by other departments may also be recommended by the students advisory committee. By the end of the second semester, the student must choose a research adviser from the CBMG faculty or affiliate and adjunct faculty.
Before the end of the fourth semester, the adviser and the student should select the other faculty members who will serve as the student's Research Committee. The student's research adviser serves as the chairman of this committee, and it becomes the responsibility of the committee to guide the student through the remainder of the graduate program.
Master of Science (M.S.)
Descriptions below refer to the graduate program in CBMG. All new incoming students will be part of the BISI graduate program for which course and degree requirements are currently being formulated.
All M. S. students must take 6 credits of 799 Masters Thesis Research, in addition to the general credit requirement described above. Course credit requirements for Masters students are set by the Graduate School and include at least 24 credits of gradaute course work (400-600 level) with a minimum of 12 credits at 600-level or above in addition to the 6 credits of 799 as noted above. The research for the M. S. degree must establish the student's ability to carry out research experiments addressing an important question in biology. By the end of the second year, it is expected that the M. S. student will write a brief research proposal summarizing the relevant literature, objectives, experimental methods, and significance of a research project that the student and the advisor believe is appropriate for a M. S. thesis. Once the committee approves a thesis proposal, it is expected that the M. S. student will then complete this research in time to defend the resulting M. S. thesis by the end of the third year. The student can request a routine extension for a fourth year from the Graduate Program Committee, but an extension for a fifth year will be granted only for very unusual circumstances.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Descriptions below refer to the graduate program in CBMG. All new incoming students will be part of the BISI graduate program for which course and degree requirements are currently being formulated.
All Ph. D. students must take 12 credits of 899 Doctoral Dissertation Research, in addition to the general credit requirement described above. The Ph. D. student has two important meetings with the his/her research committee in the third year. For the Ph. D. proposal meeting, the student submits a research proposal summarizing the relevant literature, objectives, experimental methods, and significance of a research project that the student and the advisor believe is appropriate for a Ph. D. dissertation. This meeting, which is held by the end of the student's fifth semester, is chaired by the student's advisor and is attended by all members of the research committee.
The Admission to Candidacy Examination is held by the end of the student's sixth semester. As its starting point, this meeting uses the revised dissertation proposal submitted to the committee a minimum of two weeks before the meeting. In particular, the student is expected: 1) to exhibit a sophisticated understanding of the advanced knowledge necessary to conceptualize and to perform the critical experiments in the research proposal; 2) to defend the project outlined in the research proposal as having the potential to become appropriate and worthy of a high-quality Ph. D. dissertation; and 3) to demonstrate considerable ability for independent and creative thinking as it relates to the identification of important questions, the design of experimental hypotheses, and the testing of those hypotheses in other relevant research areas not addressed in the proposal. The student is expected to pass the Admission to Candidacy Examination before the end of the third year in order to maintain reasonable progress toward the Ph. D. degree.
It is expected that the student should be able to complete the research necessary for writing the Ph. D. dissertation within two to three years following the candidacy examination. The student is required to meet with the Research Committee on a annual basis. The research for the Ph. D. degree must establish the student's ability to perform independent and creative scholarly research that makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge about an important question in biology. The ability to do high-quality research is demonstrated by the submission and the defense of a Ph. D. dissertation.
Facilities and Special Resources
Most CBMG faculty are housed in two adjacent building, the Microbiology building and the new state-of-the-art Biosciences Research Building.
During the last several years, the CBMG faculty have spearheaded the upgrading of the research facilities throughout the department and college. We have created several state-of the-art shared instrumentation laboratories that enable our graduate students to have access to sophisticated instruments whose purchase and maintenance costs far exceed the budgets of individual investigators. Two such shared instrument laboratories center around biological imaging, for both electron and light microscopy, including brand-new a field-emission scanner, a new confocal microscope and an image reconstruction/deconvolution microscope. A newly established shared laboratory augments existing sequencing facilities on campus and serves the molecular biologists for the large-scale processing and sequencing of nucleic acids, with multiple robotic sequenators and real time PCR. Other core facilities in the department and elsewhere on campus provide instrumentation for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), NMR, mass spectrometry, and microarray technology. Equipment and analytical instruments are available in both faculty and core laboratories for the maintenance of animal and plant tissue cultures, for the production of monoclonal antibodies, for the synthesis and micro-analysis of proteins, for large-scale fermentation and cultivation of microorganisms, and for computer assisted molecular modeling. Support staffing in shared instrumentation facilities is provided by the college, and maintenance costs have been subsidized by the college, thereby providing even occasional users with appropriate training and access, and simultaneously keeping instrument use costs low. This strategy provides exceptional opportunities for research and training, and enables graduate students to perform experiments with instrumentation that is at the leading edge of biological technology.
Financial Assistance
The CBMG program has been extraordinarily successful in its ability to provide continuous full financial support for our graduate students in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships, which offer 12-month salaries in Fall 2009 ranging from $22,779 to $24,212 plus 10 credits of tuition remission each semester and standard University health benefits for the entire year. All applicants for admission are automatically considered for financial support. The sources of graduate student support include: university funds, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and other federal granting agencies, as well as private foundations. Over 25% of the entering students receive substantial fellowship support each year. The default funding for the other entering students is teaching assistantships, which require a maximum of 15 to 20 hours of teaching-related duties per week. More senior students are almost always supported as research assistants on the research grants of their major advisers. Continuous support is contingent on the student being able to make satisfactory progress toward his/her degree objective.
Contact Information
For further information including faculty research interests, see our WWW site at: http://www.life.umd.edu/CBMG/
Mrs. Sarah Biancardi, Graduate Secretary, CBMG Graduate Program
1125 Microbiology Building, University of Maryland, College Park
MD
20742
Telephone: (301)405-6991
Fax: (301)314-9921
cbmggrad@deans.umd.edu
http://www.life.umd.edu/CBMG/
current URL: http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/catalog/programs/printable.cfm?CODE=32
Copyright
2001 University of Maryland