Program Description

The Genetics predoctoral training program is predicated on two assumptions: that each student is best served by an individually planned set of degree requirements and that students should receive broad training that encompasses all main areas of Genetics. The courses students take vary, depending on their background and their area of specialization. Regardless of the area of specialization, however, the program's courses, seminars, and exams ensure that students have a working knowledge of all major areas of Genetics.

The First Year
The attention to individual needs begins when first-year students receive advisement during Orientation week. Each student meets with the Program Director to plot an appropriate course of study and plan the first-year laboratory rotations. During this meeting, a tailor-made curriculum is mapped out and the selection of the laboratory in which the student will do his or her first rotation is also discussed. These plans are based on the student's academic background and previous research experience and are aimed at maximizing the opportunity for the student to explore potential areas of research interest..

Most incoming students take a set of four core courses in their first year. These courses are Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in the fall, and Cell Biology and Graduate Genetics in the spring. Students can petition on an individual basis for exemption from, or substitution for, a required course if it is appropriate. In addition to this coursework, students also gain experience in teaching, participate in journal clubs, and attend research seminars given by other graduate students and faculty. A final and most significant activity during the first year is the Laboratory Rotation experience. These rotations provide the principle basis by which students identify the laboratory that will be their home for the following years. Each student has the opportunity to work with three or four different faculty in the Genetics Program. The first three rotations are mandatory and encompass the academic year. A fourth summer rotation, which is optional, allows students an additional opportunity to broaden their research experience prior to selecting a laboratory and beginning their thesis research.

The Second Year and Beyond
Students' primary efforts after the first year are focused on the specialized area of Genetics that relates to their research. Students are required to take at least one additional elective course beyond the core curriculum. The possibilities for this elective course are extremely broad and can extend from common options such as Developmental Biology, Neurobiology, or Evolution to course offerings in Computer Sciences or Biomedical Engineering. Students in the second year continue to participate in a journal club with other first- and second-year doctoral students in Genetics or Molecular and Cellular Biology at Stony Brook. These journal clubs, which focus on specific topics selected by different faculty each semester, provide students with experience for critically reading the scientific literature and with making scientific presentations. Communication skills are also improved through regular participation in student research seminars. Students in the first and second years give brief presentations on one of their laboratory rotations or the beginnings of their thesis research projects in a one-day symposium attended by other students and faculty from the Genetics Program. Beginning in the third year, students will give an annual presentation on their progress in a weekly research seminar series that is attended by faculty and students. Each year, all of the students in the program are also encouraged to attend and participate in the Annual Genetics Program Retreat. This retreat provides new trainees an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the enormous research opportunities available in the program. More importantly, it also promotes and maintains interactions among all segments of this diverse, inter-institutional program.

The didactic part of the training program in Genetics involves one additional exam that is taken after a student has completed his or her coursework. This is a written Qualifying Examination taken in January of the second year. Prior to this exam, the qualifying examination committee assembles a reading list of several important papers that represent selected topics in Genetics. Typically this list includes 12 papers representing five to six different topics. Students read these papers and other related work in order to become proficient on the assigned topics. The examination is written, administered open-book style, and designed to test the student's ability to dissect and integrate findings from the primary scientific literature and to reason out potential avenues for future experimentation on these topics. The students in the program find this somewhat unusual style of examination to be extremely beneficial as a learning process. The esprit de corps of the Genetics Program is usually also revealed by the formation of study groups, in which students work together to discuss and review the assigned papers and topics. The fact that students have generally completed their didactic requirements once they have taken the qualifying examination allows full-time concentration on their research beginning by February of the second year.

In the fall of the third year, the students prepare a thesis proposition. This proposition takes the form of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant proposal for the student's thesis research project and is written in consultation with the thesis advisor. This written proposition is then defended orally before a proposition defense committee of four faculty, including one committee member who is an outside examiner; the thesis advisor is not present. The faculty members on each student's committee are selected by the student and his or her thesis advisor based on their different areas of research expertise and potential interest in the project. This proposition defense serves a number of extremely valuable functions. First, it requires students to think through the long-term strategy of the research project. Second, it necessitates a careful survey of all of the literature pertinent to this research project. Third, it acquaints the proposition defense committee with the project at a time when their expertise and experience can be of maximum benefit to students. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this defense frequently defines the moment in the students' careers when they realize that they have received the training that allows them to function as productive and independent members of the research community.

Finishing Up
After the thesis proposal, a thesis advising committee meets at least once a year to consult with and advise the student. This committee is typically composed of the members of the proposition defense committee and now also includes the thesis advisor. These meetings are an extremely important component of the training program. They stimulate discussion and exchange of information between students and faculty with related research interests. This directly enhances the student's research productivity and also contributes significantly to the interactive nature of the scientific environment. The program takes an active role in ensuring that these valuable meetings take place. An important goal of these meetings is to ensure that the student brings his or her research project to completion in a timely and efficient manner. Upon completion of the project, the student prepares a written doctoral dissertation and presents a final oral presentation on the thesis research in the form of a general seminar. The successful completion and defense of this doctoral dissertation to the thesis advising committee is the final program requirement for a Ph.D. in Genetics. It is expected that the typical student will complete the degree requirements in five years, and that the student's work will be published in one or more peer-reviewed publications.

 

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