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 701Bioscience Grant Writing3.0
BIO 740Readings and Critical Thinking in Biology3.0
RCRG 600An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research0.0
Distribution Required Courses: Must take all 3
BIO 500Biochemistry I3.0
BIO 632Advanced Cell Biology3.0
BIO 635Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology3.0
Statistics Requirement Course
ENVS 506Biostatistics *3.0
Required Elective Courses: Must take 1 **3.0
Research and Research Seminars ***69.0
Graduate Research Seminar
Research in Bioscience
Total Credits90.0
*

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 701Bioscience Grant Writing3.0
BIO 740Readings and Critical Thinking in Biology3.0
RCRG 600An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research0.0
Distribution Required Courses: Must take 26.0-7.0
Population Genetics *
Molecular Ecology *
Conservation Biology
Statistics Requirement Course
ENVS 506Biostatistics **3.0
Required Elective Courses: Must take 2 ***6.0
Research and Research Seminars 69.0
Graduate Research Seminar
Research in Bioscience
Total Credits90.0-91.0
*

 Offered every other year.

**

 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.

Sample Plan of Study

Cell Molecular Genetics Track

First Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 5003.0BIO 6353.0BIO 6323.0VACATION
BIO 7403.0BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5 
BIO 8641.5BIO 9974.5BIO 9971.5 
BIO 9971.5RCRG 6000.0ENVS 506*3.0 
 9 9 9 0
Second Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 7013.0BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5VACATION
BIO 8641.5BIO 9974.5BIO 9977.5 
BIO 9974.5Required Biology Elective3.0  
 9 9 9 0
Third Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5VACATION
BIO 9977.5BIO 9977.5BIO 9977.5 
 9 9 9 0
Fourth Year
FallCredits   
BIO 8641.5   
BIO 9977.5   
 9   
Total Credits 90
*

or approved substitution

Ecology Evolution Track

First Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 7403.0BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5VACATION
BIO 8641.5BIO 9974.5BIO 9971.5 
BIO 9971.5RCRG 6000.0ENVS 506*3.0 
Distribution Required Course3.0Distribution Required Course3.0Required Biology Elective3.0 
 9 9 9 0
Second Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 7013.0BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5VACATION
BIO 8641.5BIO 9974.5BIO 9977.5 
BIO 9974.5Required Biology Elective3.0  
 9 9 9 0
Third Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5BIO 8641.5VACATION
BIO 9977.5BIO 9977.5BIO 9977.5 
 9 9 9 0
Fourth Year
FallCredits   
BIO 8641.5   
BIO 9977.5   
 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.