Integrative Biology Ph.D. Program

Director: Dr. Rod Murphey Associate Directors: Tanja Godenschwege

Colin HughesProgram Assistant: Ms. Jennifer Govender

Basis of the program

• Integration in Biology

• From organism to cell to molecules

• Faculty strength in ecology, marine sciences, neurosciences, cellular, molecular, developmental biology, drug discovery and disease oriented research

• Less course work, but research intensive (key strength)

Participating units

• Biology• Biomedical Sciences• Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

(CMBB) • Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI)• US Horticultural Laboratory, USDA• Department of Chemistry• Center for Complex System and Brain Sciences

(CCSBS)• Jupiter Honors College• Scripps• Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies• Max Planck Florida Institute

Course Requirements- see web page for courses

• Core courses (9 credits)

- Integrative Biology (4)

- Scientific Communication (2)

- Statistics (3)

• Electives (9 credits) Decided by the student and the supervisory committee plus

- Three seminar/journal club courses (not three credits) before graduation.

- May have to take other electives (Supervisory Committee’s decision)

Registration

• 9 credits in the Fall/Spring and 6 credits in the summer (maximum 24 credits per year).

• MUST maintain 3.0 GPA for tuition waiver.

• Full time commitment required.• Continuous registration ( at least one

credit per year). This is minimum. Need approval.

Financial aid

TA- Academic year support

(3 yrs)- Additional year support

possible- Must sign TA contract- Must have full time

registration- ONLY your advisor can

request for TA- $20K/yr + tuition

waivers

RA• Grant-based (advisor)• Can go from RA to TA with one

semester notice• $20K/yr + tuition waivers• Combination of RA/TA possible• Other scholarship (minority/pre

doctoral) possible. Consult advisor/E-Mail/FAU web page

• Once in the program-preference for aid if requirements are met

Committees

• Supervisory committee- Three members

including the advisor (chair)

- MUST be formed before the end of semester 1

• Dissertation committee- Four members – Must have

PhD- Three can be same as

supervisory committee- One member MUST be from

outside the immediate area of research

- At least 3 members must be from the IB PhD Faculty Program

- At least 3 members from the FAU Graduate Faculty listing

- MUST be in place one semester before candidacy exam.

Admission to Candidacy• Must be admitted to Candidacy by end of year 2 or

beginning of year 3 – No exceptions Can loose TA contract.

• Must be done at least seven months in advance of the Dissertation Defense

• Complete core and elective courses (18 credits)• Have supervisory and dissertation committee in

place• Propose and defend research proposal to

Dissertation Committee• Submit Admission to Candidacy Form (Form 8) and

Research Compliance & Safety Form (Form 12), to be admitted as a Doctoral Candidate.

• See Student Guidelines and Policies

Candidacy exam

• Propose Dissertation research (oral format, open forum) presentation to the Dissertation Committee (A)

• Write a grant application of the proposal in NIH/NSF format (B)

• Submit grant two weeks in advance of Dissertation Research Proposal

• These are MINIMUM requirements (A &B)• The committee MAY ask for additional testing • Failed students have one more semester (last

chance) to retake the exam.

Year 1

- Meet with Advisor and or Director to:• Form supervisory committee (1st semester)• Choose electives (Committee Approval)- MUST complete core courses- Register for advanced research (BSC7978)- New incoming students must register for Lab

Rotations (BSC 6905) in the first/second semester if you do not have an identified advisor.

Years 2-3- Complete core and electives (3-4 semesters)- Register for Adv. Research in Integrative Biology

(BSC7978)- Choose dissertation research committee (4th

semester)- Register for Scientific Communication (4th Semester)- Dissertation research proposal (in NIH format), grant

writing and defend (fifth semester)- Admission to candidacy (by end of year 2 or

beginning of year 3)- MUST complete all core courses prior to candidacy- Failure of candidacy (after second attempt) will result

in drop from the program - Register for Dissertation research credits (BSC7980)

once Candidacy is attained

Years 3-5

• Continue dissertation research (minimum 25 credits)• Grant writing• Announce defense one month in advance to

program assistant via email• Defense must be done at least seven months after

attaining Candidacy• Present results in internal/external meetings, peer

reviewed publications etc. ( At least one REQUIRED for graduation)

• Prepare dissertation to the committee and public presentation

Yearly requirements

• Milestones checklist - Once a year update the

checklist (Beginning of every Fall semester)

- This is student’s responsibility- Can update more than once- The original is kept in your file- Registration not allowed if

checklist is not updated

• Annual research progress report (starting from end of second year)

- Due (End of every Fall Semester)

- Once a year the research advisor and the student must submit a progress report on research activities.

- Responsibility of advisor and student to complete report - Both must sign report

Meeting with the Director

• Once a year meeting to evaluate progress

• 30 mins. to an hour

• Will be in the summer

Change of advisor

• Possible, but a challenge• A written justification is necessary• The new advisor must agree in writing to

take the student • The new lab must have adequate funds to

support the training• May have to take additional courses• May NOT be able to join the lab of choice due

to lack of funds

FAU Honor Code

• Must adhere to the honor code.

• See section 6C5.4.001, Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual.

• Required reading on Plagiarism Prevention.

• Signing of plagiarism form within one week of orientation (find in orientation folder).

FAU graduate policy guidelines

• Graduate College- see http://graduate.fau.edu/

• For FAQs- see http://graduate.fau.edu/StudiesFAQ.htm

• For policy and procedures, see http://www.fau.edu/academic/registrar/univcatalog/CombAcadPol.pdf

• For Graduate Student Association, see http://www.fau.edu/sga/gsa.php

Contact

• Must use FAU E- Mail only (no exceptions)• Web site is constantly updated• Course related questions- advisor• Summer support- advisor to request• TA/RA support- advisor to request• TA lab assignment- contact gmayer@fau.edu• Basic program related questions, paperwork,

pay check- contact jgovende@fau.edu• Policy, candidacy and graduation issues-

contact rmurphey@fau.edu