Biological Sciences PhD
Major: Biological Sciences
Degree Awarded: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 90.0 (post-bachelor's) or 45.0 (post-master's)
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 26.0101
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 19-1029
About the Program
The Department of Biology offers a graduate program in biological sciences leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree. The curricula and research programs are designed to help students achieve success in their degree programs and pursue positions of leadership in their respective fields of research.
The intellectual life of the department relies heavily on the participation, creativity, and the energy of graduate students; therefore the department expects students to be vigorously involved in courses, seminars, journal clubs, research, informal discussions, and departmental functions.
Additional Information
For more information, contact the Department of Biology at 215-895-2624.
Degree Requirements
The Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences is conferred in recognition of breadth of scholarship and scientific attainment plus demonstrated ability to complete original research.
The following general requirements must be satisfied in order to complete the PhD program in Biological Sciences:
- 90.0 (post-bac) or 45.0 (post-MS) credit hours total
- Establishing a plan of study
- 7 core courses
- Additional courses dependent on advisor or committee recommendations
- Candidacy exam/approval of dissertation proposal
- Dissertation/thesis
- Defense of dissertation/thesis
- A graduate research seminar presentation once a year for students in their third year and beyond.
Thesis Advisor/Plan of Study
For students admitted without an identified thesis advisor, the thesis advisor must be selected by the end of spring term in the first year. All students are asked to submit a plan of study by the end of the first year winter quarter. It is anticipated that the graduate coursework will be completed during the first two years or less. Students should check with the department for a list of available electives.
Program Requirements
| Cell Molecular Genetics Track | ||
| Core Requirement Courses | ||
| BIO 701 | Bioscience Grant Writing | 3.0 |
| BIO 740 | Readings and Critical Thinking in Biology | 3.0 |
| RCRG 600 | An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research | 0.0 |
| Distribution Required Courses: Must take all 3 | ||
| BIO 500 | Biochemistry I | 3.0 |
| BIO 632 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3.0 |
| BIO 635 | Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3.0 |
| Statistics Requirement Course | ||
| ENVS 506 | Biostatistics * | 3.0 |
| Required Elective Courses: Must take 1 ** | 3.0 | |
| Research and Research Seminars *** | 69.0 | |
| Graduate Research Seminar | ||
| Research in Bioscience | ||
| Total Credits | 90.0 | |
- *
Or approved substitute course.
- **
Any BIO 500+ course or approved graduate level course not otherwise taken as part of degree requirements
- ***
BIO 864 and BIO 997 are taken multiple times to reach 90.0 credits.
| Ecology Evolution Track | ||
| Core Requirement Courses | ||
| BIO 701 | Bioscience Grant Writing | 3.0 |
| BIO 740 | Readings and Critical Thinking in Biology | 3.0 |
| RCRG 600 | An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research | 0.0 |
| Distribution Required Courses: Must take 2 | 6.0-7.0 | |
| Population Genetics * | ||
| Molecular Ecology * | ||
| Conservation Biology | ||
| Statistics Requirement Course | ||
| ENVS 506 | Biostatistics ** | 3.0 |
| Required Elective Courses: Must take 2 *** | 6.0 | |
| Research and Research Seminars † | 69.0 | |
| Graduate Research Seminar | ||
| Research in Bioscience | ||
| Total Credits | 90.0-91.0 | |
Sample Plan of Study
Cell Molecular Genetics Track
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 500 | 3.0 | BIO 635 | 3.0 | BIO 632 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| BIO 740 | 3.0 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | ||
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 997 | 4.5 | BIO 997 | 1.5 | ||
| BIO 997 | 1.5 | RCRG 600 | 0.0 | ENVS 506* | 3.0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 701 | 3.0 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 997 | 4.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||
| BIO 997 | 4.5 | Required Biology Elective | 3.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| BIO 997 | 7.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | ||||||
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | ||||||
| BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||||||
| 9 | |||||||
| Total Credits 90 | |||||||
- *
or approved substitution
Ecology Evolution Track
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 740 | 3.0 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 997 | 4.5 | BIO 997 | 1.5 | ||
| BIO 997 | 1.5 | RCRG 600 | 0.0 | ENVS 506* | 3.0 | ||
| Distribution Required Course | 3.0 | Distribution Required Course | 3.0 | Required Biology Elective | 3.0 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 701 | 3.0 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 997 | 4.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||
| BIO 997 | 4.5 | Required Biology Elective | 3.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | BIO 864 | 1.5 | VACATION | |
| BIO 997 | 7.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | ||||||
| BIO 864 | 1.5 | ||||||
| BIO 997 | 7.5 | ||||||
| 9 | |||||||
| Total Credits 90 | |||||||
- *
or approved substitution
Program Level Outcomes
- Develop a strong foundation in core areas of molecular & cellular biology (e.g., biochemistry, cell biology, genetics and molecular biology), molecular and behavioral ecology and/or conservation biology.
- Develop critical thinking and reading skills.
- Effectively communicate research results in written and oral formats.
- Formulate and write research grant proposals with effective questions, hypotheses and experimental designs.
- Develop the inductive and deductive reasoning skills to drive research projects productively and independently.
- Publish a peer-reviewed, primary research manuscript.
Biological Sciences Faculty
Ali Afify, PhD (University of Konstanz). Assistant Professor. Insect olfaction; Sensory Neurobiology; Mosquito oviposition; Malaria.
Laura Duwel, PhD (University of Cincinnati) Assistant Department Head, Department of Biology. Teaching Professor. Immunology and microbiology.
Felice Elefant, PhD (Temple University). Professor. Understanding the roles of two classes of chromatin regulatory proteins termed histone acetyltransferases(HATs)and histone de-methylases.
Denise Garcia, PhD (UCLA). Associate Professor. Neuroscience, the role of astrocytes in the central nervous system.
Tali Gidalevitz, PhD (University of Chicago). Associate Professor. Genetic and molecular pathways regulating protein folding homeostasis, and their role in protein conformation diseases, aging, and development.
Meshagae Hunte-Brown, PhD (Drexel University). Teaching Professor. Stable isotopes in aquatic food webs, ecosystem ecology, STEM education.
Kari Lenhart, PhD (Princeton University). Assistant Professor. Coordination of stem cell behavior and regulation of stem cell cytokinesis in the young and aged niche.
Robert Loudon, PhD (Thomas Jefferson University). Associate Teaching Professor. Rho GTPases, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, Regulation of G protein-coupled receptors by receptor kinases and arrestins.
Alison Moyer, PhD (North Carolina State University). Assistant Teaching Professor. Testing soft tissue preservation in the fossil record, Phage biology as part of the undergraduate research course SEA-PHAGES, STEM Education.
Michael O'Connor, MD, PhD (MD, Johns Hopkins University; PhD, Colorado State). Professor. Biophysical and physiological ecology, thermoregulation of vertebrates, ecological modeling.
Sean O'Donnell, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison). Professor. Climate ecology, focusing on geographic variation and species differences in thermal physiology; Behavior and ecology of army ant/bird interactions; Neurobiology, focusing on brain plasticity and brain evolution in social insects.
Ryan Petrie, PhD (McGill University) Director, Biology Graduate Program . Associate Professor. Cell Biology. Mechanisms of cell movement through three-dimensional extracellular matrix.
Megan V Phifer-Rixey, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Professor. Evolution; Genetics; Adaptation; Integrative Biology; Urban; Climate.
Jerome Ricard, PhD (University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France). Assistant Teaching Professor. Inflammation and cell death after spinal cord injury. Regulation of cell death by Eph receptors.
Jacob Russell, PhD (University of Arizona). Professor. Microbiomes and metagenomics; ecology and evolution of symbiosis.
Nianli Sang, MB, PhD (M.B., Fudan University Shanghai Medical College; Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University) Co-Director of the Cell Imaging Center. Associate Professor. Molecular and cellular biology of cancer; posttranslational modification, folding and quality control of proteins and their implication in cell physiology and human diseases.
Usha Sanka, PhD (Weill-Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences). Associate Teaching Professor. Human Physiology, Climate change and human physiology, human physiology education, air quality and human health, climate change education.
Aleister Saunders, PhD (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Director of the RNAi Resource Center. Professor. Identification and characterization of genes and proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease.
Manuel Seman-Senderos, PhD (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine). Assistant Teaching Professor. Cell Biology; genetics; history of science; synthetic biology; drug discovery.
Kevin P.W. Smith, PhD (Drexel University). Associate Teaching Professor. Linking behavioral ecology and organismal diversity, neonate behavior in herpetological models, STEM education.
Jennifer Stanford, PhD (Harvard University). Associate Professor. Evaluating and improving approaches to teach STEM content in higher education environments to promote student learning, engagement in STEM courses, and STEM student retention.
Monica M. Togna, PhD (New Jersey Institute of Technology). Teaching Professor. Examination of the structure and function of living organisms from the cellular to the organismal level in order to better understand common physiological processes.
Emeritus Faculty
Joseph Bentz, PhD (State University of New York [SUNY] at Buffalo). Professor Emeritus. Biophysics, biochemistry and biopharmaceutics, focused on the molecular basis of biological membrane transport and fusion.
Cecilie Goodrich, PhD (Harvard University). Professor Emeritus. Neuroscience and systems physiology, postnatal maturation of physiology and behavior in relation to brain immunocytochemistry.
Donna Murasko, PhD (Penn State Hershey Medical Center) Dean Emeritus. Professor. The effects of aging on the adaptive immune response to influenza virus and retrovirus latency and reactivation.
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