Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Biology, Medical Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences

Departmental E-mail: bchem@iu.edu

Departmental URL: www.indiana.edu/~mcbdept/ 

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Cross-Listed Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry

Special Program Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Undergraduate coursework must include two semesters of organic chemistry and one semester of biochemistry. Though not required, one semester of molecular biology and two semesters of biology are recommended. One semester of (bio) physical chemistry is strongly recommended. Deficiencies in required courses must be removed during the first year of graduate study. Students seeking admission should apply directly to the Biochemistry Graduate Program. Applications must include a complete entrance form, letters of recommendation, and undergraduate transcripts. Students have the option to submit Graduate Record Examination General Test scores or subject area scores in relevant areas (e.g., Biochemistry, Chemistry, or Biology), but these scores are not required for application to the Biochemistry Graduate Program at Indiana University.

Master of Science in Biochemistry

Course Requirements

A minimum of 30 credit hours, of which 12 credit hours must be in biochemistry graduate coursework other than B880 and B600. Students are required to rotate (B580) in two laboratories in the fall semester and to participate in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) seminar series during their second year of the program. The graduate advisor must approve all coursework.

Thesis

Required.

Final Examination

Oral, covering thesis and major. 

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Course Requirements

A total of 90 credit hours, of which 15.5 are satisfied by the core courses (B530, B531), one semester of B580, Grant Writing (B680 or equivalent), B502, and two semesters of B600 (or equivalent) or one semester each of B600 and C689 (or equivalent). An additional 7.5 credit hours outside the minor field complete the Biochemistry major. Six additional elective hours are required in one of the two minor fields and must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, though the students may instead meet the requirements of a suitable outside minor. Students must also complete the ethics training as defined by the National Institutes of Health Responsible Conduct in Research guidelines or take BIOL L524 Ethics and Career Development. Students must also give two BMB seminars, the latter generally in their 4th and 5th years of graduate study.
At the end of the first semester, each student selects a research advisor and laboratory. Together with the advisor, the student also selects an advisory committee of three or four faculty members appropriate to the student’s intended degree including one from the prospective minor field (see below). This advisory committee guides and monitors the student’s subsequent independent work and guides the student’s selection of advanced courses. The biochemistry graduate program requires that each student meet with the advisory committee at least once per year, including a first meeting before October 31^st off their third semester.

Minor

The doctoral student in biochemistry may elect to minor in one of the two approved program minor tracks (Genome Biochemistry or Supramolecular Complexes). The minor shall consist of 6 credit hours of the courses listed in the track below.

Genome Biochemistry

Biochemistry:

• B511 Replicating the Genome (3 cr.)
• B512 Mechanisms of DNA repair (1.5 cr.)
• B513 Cellular Responses to DNA Damage (1.5 cr.)

Alternative courses.  With the approval of the minor advisor, a student may be allowed to substitute one or more of the following courses toward the 6 Cr. minor. 

Biochemistry:

• BIOC B680: Digital Imaging: Light and Microscopy (1.5 cr.)

Biology:

• BIOL Z620: Digital Biology: Bioinformatics (3 cr.)
• BIOL Z620: Transcription, Epigenetics, & Human Disease (3 cr.)
• BIOL L585: Genetics and Bioinformatics (3 cr.)
• BIOL Z620: Current Advances in Genome and RNA Biology (1 cr.)

Students in other departments who wish to minor in Genome Biochemistry should follow these guidelines:

(1) Selecting a Genome Biochemistry minor advisor: A faculty member affiliated with the Genome Biochemistry group must join the student's Advisory Committee and is expected to participate in considering appropriate course work. This minor advisor will then approve that courses meet the minor requirement.

(2) Number of credits: A Genome Biochemistry minor requires a minimum of 6 credits of graduate courses specified above. A course may not simultaneously satisfy both major and minor course requirements. Course offerings outside of the approved list above may be used to satisfy the Genome Biochemistry minor. However, such substitutions require approval of the minor advisor and the Biochemistry Program Director of Graduate Studies.

(3) Grades: An overall average of B (3.0) or better is required in the selected minor coursework. 

Supramolecular Complexes

Biochemistry:

• BIOC B522 Structural Biology of Supramolecular Complexes (1.5 cr.)
• BIOC B680 Structural Virology (1.5 cr.)
• BIOC B680 Biological Electron Microscopy (1.5 cr.)
• BIOC B680 Digital Imaging: Biological Electron Microscopy (1.5 cr.)

Chemistry:

• CHEM M503 Supramolecular Chemistry (3 cr.) 

Students in other departments who wish to minor in Supramolecular Complexes should follow these guidelines:

(1) Selecting a minor advisor in Supramolecular Complexes: A faculty member affiliated with the Supramolecular Complexes group must join the student's Advisory Committee and is expected to participate in considering appropriate course work. This minor advisor will then approve that courses meet the minor requirement.

(2) Number of credits: A Supramolecular Complexes minor requires a minimum of 6 credits of graduate courses specified above. A course may not simultaneously satisfy both major and minor course requirements. Course offerings outside of the approved list above may be used to satisfy the Supramolecular Complexes minor. However, such substitutions require approval of the minor advisor and the Biochemistry Program Director of Graduate Studies.

(3) Grades: An overall average of B (3.0) or better is required in the selected minor coursework. 

Qualifying Examinations

In the fifth semester, students meet with their examination committee to review past performance and to evaluate plans for completing the Ph.D. Includes written, oral, and research components. All full-time Ph.D. students must take the qualify­ing examination by the end of the fifth semester.

Satisfactory Progress toward a Degree

After passing the preliminary examination, for a student to remain in “good standing” requires that sufficient progress be made toward completing a thesis. If the student’s research com­mittee judges progress to be unsatisfactory, probation may be recommended. At the end of the probationary period (usually a semester), probation will be lifted if the research committee judges the student’s progress to be satisfactory. If the research committee judges the student’s progress to remain unsatisfac­tory, then the student will be required to leave the program.

Final Examination

Oral, covering dissertation, major, and minor. The final require­ment is a Ph.D. thesis, which must be defended in a public research seminar and in a meeting of the research committee.

Other Provisions

All students enrolled in the Ph.D. program will be required to serve as associate instructors for at least one semester, regard­less of their source of support; they must complete formal instruction in teaching methods in order to enhance their teaching skills. It is the conviction of the program that teaching experience is a vital aspect of graduate education, whether or not the student intends to pursue a teaching career after at­tainment of the desired degree.

Ph.D. Minor in Biochemistry

Students from other programs who wish to minor in biochem­istry must complete at least 6 credit hours of graduate course­work in biochemistry, excluding B502, B580, and B600, with an average of B (3.0) or above. Such students must receive approval from the Director of Graduate Studies for Biochemistry for minor courses.