Program Description

The Biochemistry and Structural Biology (BSB) Graduate Program offers a broad range of research areas leading to the Ph.D. degree. The aim of the program is to train graduate students broadly through a series of courses, seminars, exams, and research so that they will become familiar with experimental techniques in contemporary biochemistry and structural biology, and apply them to solve important biological problems.

Modern biochemistry encompasses a wide variety of molecular experimental methods. These include classical biochemical techniques ranging from organic synthesis to enzyme kinetics, modern proteomic and molecular biological techniques, cell biological techniques, such as advanced imaging with light and electron microscopes, and biophysical techniques such as fluorescence, Raman, infrared, circular dichroism, and absorption spectroscopy. Structural biology techniques include Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and computational biology. Stony Brook is recognized internationally in NMR for the development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which is widely used in medicine. The high-resolution structures derived from these approaches represent the blueprints for understanding enzyme catalysis, cell signaling and transport, gene expression and regulation, and numerous other cellular processes. Advances in instrumentation and computational analysis have laid the groundwork for structure determination of proteins discovered through genome sequencing efforts, and have opened up structural studies of membrane proteins and large complexes of proteins and nucleic acids.

The First Year
Entering graduate students arrive on campus a week before classes begin in the fall to enroll in classes and attend orientation. During the first year at Stony Brook, graduate students take Graduate Biochemistry I (BSB 520), Membrane Biochemistry (BSB 521), Introduction to Structural Biology (BSB 512), and Computational Methods in Biochemistry and Structural Biology (BSB 515). One of the most important courses that the graduate students take during this period is Experimental Biochemistry and Structural Biology (BSB 509, 510), where students complete rotations in the laboratories of three different faculty members participating in ongoing research. From these rotations, each graduate student will select a laboratory in which to conduct thesis research and fulfill the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

The Second Year and Beyond
During the second year the graduate students complete their formal course requirements. These generally include electives and journal clubs. A written qualifying examination is taken after the student has completed his or her coursework. This usually occurs in January of the second year between the fall and spring semesters. During the second year, the student’s own research becomes the primary focus, since he or she will have chosen a laboratory and permanent advisor (Dissertation Research, BSB 699). Under the guidance of the faculty advisor, the student will write a formal research proposal. The graduate student will choose an advisory committee that includes at least three additional faculty members from the program. Students will present their proposals to this advisory committee and continue to meet with the advisory committee on a yearly basis to discuss their research progress toward the completion of their degree.

Departmental Seminars
Students attend weekly departmental seminars in biochemistry and structural biology. The seminars feature the current research of internationally recognized speakers from outside the University. This is required every semester for students registered in the Biochemistry and Structural Biology Graduate Program (BSB 601, 602).

In addition, all members of the BSB Program attend one of many specialized journal clubs in the area of biochemistry and structural biology (BSB 603, 604) in each semester of their first two years. The topics of the journal clubs change each semester and include areas such as X-ray crystallography, signal transduction, and membrane protein structure and function. These seminars are given by the graduate students to discuss current papers and improve communication skills.

Teaching
Graduate students are required to complete two semesters as teaching assistants. The teaching requirement is usually satisfied in the second year. This typically involves either teaching a section of an undergraduate course or helping to operate the undergraduate laboratories. This experience provides an opportunity to develop presentation skills and refine teaching techniques.

 

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