| Course
Work
 First
Year Requirements
Foundations of Modern Biology Core Courses
Macromolecular Structure and Analysis
The structure and properties of biological macromolecules
will be presented. Experimental and computational
methods used to study macromolecular structure including
X-ray crystallography, magnetic resonance, spectroscopy,
microscopy, and mass spectrometry will also be covered.
Biochemical and Biophysical Principles
The physical and chemical priniciples underlying
biological processes are presented and discussed.
Topics include thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium,
chemical and enzymatic kinetics, electrochemistry,
physical chemistry of solutions, and structure and
properties of water. Elementary concepts of statistical
thermodynamics will be introduced as a way of correlating
macroscopic and microscopic properties.
Molecular Biology and Genomics
This course module covers the Molecular Biology
and Genomics of both prokaryotes (using E. coli as
the model organism) and eukaryotes, with a focus on
"model organisms" including yeast, flies,
worms, mice as well as humans. Both the Molecular
Biology (reductionist) perspective and the Genomics
(systems biology) perspective will be provided on
each topic, and there will be heavy emphasis on mechanism
and regulation of fundamental processes in biological
information transfer DNA->RNA-> protein. This
lecture module will cover genes and genomes, transcription
and RNA world, replication, chromosome structure and
function and genome instability.
 Genetics
Genetics covers fundamental principles of genetics,
focusing primarily on yeast, the fruit fly, and the
mouse. Problem sets are an integral learning tool
in this course.
Cell
Structure and Dynamics
The objective of this course is to provide the basics
of cell biology, including the structure, function
and biogenesis of cellular organelles. Also covered
are essential concepts on the cytoskeleton, cell-cell
and cell-extracellular matrix interactions, cell
motility, chaperones, and
protein turnover.
Organic Mechanisms in Biology
This course deals with the chemical mechanisms of
enzymes. It is intended to illustrate how catalysis
in biological systems can be understood using principles
derived from organic reaction mechanisms.
Pathways and Regulation
 This
course will cover the principles of membrane transport,
bioenergetics, metabolic pathways, cell cycle and
cell death with particular emphasis on regulatory
mechanisms including receptor-mediated signaling,
small GTPases, lipid molecules, kinases and phosphatases.
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
This short course is a survey of quantitative methods
in modern biology and the computational concepts
that are developing to analyze large data sets.
Topics range from a review of statistics to problems
in sequence analysis to the modeling of complex
systems. The goal of the course is to familiarize
students with the concepts of computational biology
rather than to achieve a deep understanding of any
one topic.
 Topics
in Biological Chemistry
First-year BC students meet with each of the BC
faculty members, throughout the year, to discuss
current research articles of special interest or
importance.
First Year Elective
Courses
The core course modules are completed in the first
three quarters of the academic year (Sept. - Mar.).
In the fourth quarter (Mar.-May), first-year students
take four short elective courses and begin to focus
on a research area of interest.
Laboratory Rotations
During the first year, each student carries out
research in two or three different laboratories of
their choosing. At the end of the rotations, students
select a laboratory in which to complete their thesis
research.
Second Year Requirements
Oral Examination
This exam will be conducted by five faculty members,
two from the student’s department and three
from other science departments. It is a two-part process:
the student will write a research proposal outside
their thesis area and then the committee will ask
questions to probe the student's depth and breadth
of knowledge at an oral exam based on the research
proposal and first year course work.
Thesis Progree Meetings
After passing the oral exam, each student chooses
a thesis committee consisting of the advisor and three
other faculty members. At the initial meeting, the
student presents a thesis proposal in the format of
an NIH Fellowship application. Subsequent meetings
with the thesis committee are convened at least once
a year to review research progress and discuss plans
for the next year.
Professional Development and Ethical Conduct
Discussions
Discussions will be led by the Biological Chemistry
Department's faculty members and will include
the following topics: ethical conduct in classroom
and laboratory, the art and science of oral presentations,
and scientific writing and reviewing. Students
are required to attend all three discussions.
Advanced Year and PhD Requirements
After completion of the first and second year course
requirements and successful passing of the oral qualifying
exam, students continue their training with the following:
Elective Courses
Students are required to take two elective courses
in their advanced years of training to broaden and
deepen their knowledge base. Electives that are offered
cover a broad range of topics including cell growth
control, macromolecular structure and x-ray crystallography, developmental biology, neuroscience, the biochemistry
of membrane carriers, polarity in mammalian cells,
molecular mechanisms of signal transduction, membrane
biochemistry, immunology, virology and scientific
writing. In addition to expanding students' knowledge,
these courses promote close interactions between faculty
and students.
Seminars and Journal Clubs
Students in the Graduate Program
in Biological Chemistry are
required to attend the departmental journal
club every Monday at noon and the departmental
seminars every Tuesday at noon. Students
will be required to present a scientific
paper in the departmental journal club
beginning in their second year of graduate
studies. Additional seminars will take
place all over the campus and are open
to all students. Specialized journal
clubs and research interest goups are
also available. Students are also expected
to attend weekly lab meetings.
PhD Dissertation and Thesis Seminar
Students continue with their research and usually
in year five or six, the student's thesis committee
agrees that the student is nearing completion
of his/her research and will be ready to write a
dissertation. The student's research is typically
published in one or more scholarly papers published
in a peer-reviewed journal, prior to or shortly after
the submission of the dissertation. The student's
advisor and one other member of the thesis committee
must read and approve the dissertation. The student
presents a formal, public seminar describing his/her
completed thesis research to an audience composed
of members of his/her department.
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