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Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (MCD)

TRAINING TRACK IN MOLECULAR, CELL, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
COURSES AND REQUIREMENTS

The graduate training track in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology provides intensive training in the skills necessary to begin outstanding research and teaching careers in modern biology. The goal of the program is to produce graduates with both a broad foundation in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, as well as in-depth knowledge and skills in the specific area of their thesis research. New trainees undertake rigorous core coursework that emphasizes critical evaluation of scientific models and experimental results. New trainees also participate in three seven-week laboratory rotations and at the end of the first year initiate independent research, which ultimately leads to a dissertation. Second-year students take an oral qualifying exam. Graduate students work under the direct supervision of one of thirty-eight affiliated faculty members in a highly interactive, collaborative research environment. All students participate in a variety of seminars, advanced special topics courses, and research group meetings designed to provide continuing learning opportunities.

General Requirements

Coursework: Students take 9 courses – 7 core courses and 2 electives (courses listed below)
Research Rotations: Students complete 3 rotations in different laboratories during the 1st year
Rotation Seminar: Students present a talk at the end of each rotation in the 1st year.
Teaching: Students must fulfill no less than 2 TAships in their graduate career.
Oral Qualifying Exam: Exam is taken at the end of the 2nd year.
Research Seminar: Students formally present their research at the end of the 3rd year.
Thesis Advisory Committee: Students must meet with their Thesis Advisory Committee at least once a year.
Doctoral Dissertation: Students must submit a doctoral thesis to their Thesis Advisory Committee.
Oral Dissertation Defense: Students must present a formal departmental seminar on their thesis research.

Required Course Work

Required Core Courses:

Core Courses
BIOL 200A	Critical Analysis of Scientific Literature
BIOL 200E	Experimental Design
BIOL 200F	Logic and Approaches to Scientific Discovery
BIOL 215	Applied Statistics for Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
BIOL 288	Pedagogy in STEM
BIOL 289	Practice of Science
BIOL 230	Grant Writing (Year 2)

Elective Courses:

Approved Graduate Electives List
Content-Based Electives
BIOL 201	RNA Processing
BIOL 205	Epigenetics
BIOL 206	Introduction to Stem Cell Biology
BIOL 217	Influence of Environment and Experience on Brain Development
BIOL 218	CRISPR/Cas Technologies
BIOL 226	Advanced Neuroscience
BIOL 228	Developmental Neurobiology
BME 110	Computational Biology Tools
BME 130	Genomes
BME 160	Research Programming in the Life Sciences
BME 163/263	Applied Analysis and Visualization of Scientific Data
BME 205	Bioinformatics: Models and Algorithms
BME 229	Protein and Cell Engineering
BME 230A	Intro to Computational Genomics (Prereq: BME 205)
BME 230B	Advanced Computational Genomics (Prereqs: BME 205, BME 230A)
BME 237	Applied RNA Bioinformatics
BME 263	Applied Visualization and Analysis of Scientific Data
BME 272	Precision Medicine
BME 273	Stem Cell Epi/Genomics
BME 278	Stem Cell Biology
CHEM 200A	Advanced Biochem: Biophysical Methods
CHEM 200B	Advanced Biochem: Protein Structure and Function
CHEM 200C or CHEM 271	CHEM 200C: Advanced Biochem: Structure and Function of Nucleic Acids CHEM 271 Chemical Biology (with instructor permission)
ECE 236 ²	Special Topics in Electrical Engineering "Optics and Microscopy"
ECE 237 ²	Image Process and Reconstruction
METX 202	Cellular and Molecular Toxicology
METX 206A	Advanced Microbiology
METX 210	Bacterial Pathogenesis
METX 238	Pathogenesis: Molecular Mechanisms of Disease
STAT 108 ¹	Linear Regression
STAT 205B ¹	Intermediate Classical Interference
STAT 208 ¹	Linear Statistical Models
STAT 266A ¹	Data Visualization and Statistical Programming in R
Skills-Based Electives (Students may only count 1 of the following courses towards their graduate electives)
BIOL 220	STEM Outreach
BIOL 247	Stem Cell Research: Scientific, Ethical, Social, and Legal Issues
BIOL 290	Career Planning
BME 275	Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology
PDP	Training in teaching offered by the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE)
¹ Students who have had no or very little Statistics should audit or take STAT 7 (5 credits) and perhaps also STAT 7L (2 credits) to learn the basics, before taking one of the graduate level courses.
² Students may count either ECE 236 or ECE 237, but not both, toward their advanced graduate electives.
³ Biol 215, Chem 230, and Biol 230 may only count as electives to PhD students who matriculated prior to fall 2020.

Detailed descriptions of courses and other requirements can be reviewed in the 2023-24 MCDB Graduate Handbook below:

Graduate students who matriculated Fall 2023 may consult the 2023-2024 Graduate Handbook here.

Graduate students who matriculated Fall 2022 may consult the 2022-2023 Graduate Handbook here.

Graduate students who matriculated Fall 2021 may consult the 2021-2022 Graduate Handbook here.

Graduate students who matriculated Fall 2020 may consult the 2020-2021 Graduate Handbook here.

Graduate students who matriculated Fall 2019 may consult the 2019-2020 Graduate Handbook here.

For additional questions specific to the MCD Biology training track, email the MCDB Graduate Program Adviser, Carrie Niblett at cniblett@ucsc.edu

Funding
	UCSC's graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering is supported by training grants from the National Institute of General Medical Science and the National Human Genome Research Institute.