Department of
Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology

Graduate Courses

Required core courses for the graduate program in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis are detailed below:  

MICB 785 Journal Club (2 hours/semester of residence the first year in the program, 1 hour/semester of residence in all subsequent years) .

Students are required to register for MICB 785 each semester of residence and are required to present at least one research paper in a regularly attended journal club each semester. The journal club is chosen based on the student's research interests in consultation with their research advisor. Currently recognized journal clubs associated with the program include the following:

• Immunology Journal Club
• Bacteriology Journal Club
• Signal Transduction Journal Club
• Other Journal Clubs as approved by the course coordinator

MICB 796 Graduate Seminar (1 hour/semester of residence) Students are required to register for MICB 796 each semester of residence and are required to present one research seminar per academic calendar year.

MICB 797 Research or Dissertation (as needed) MICB 797 credits are recorded as Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) as determined by the student's research advisor.

MICB 790 Teaching Assistant

Students are required to serve as a laboratory teaching assistant for 2 semesters in one of the following service courses taught by the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology: MICB 701, Immunity, Infection and Disease (Medical Student course), MICB 702, Microbiology (Dental Student course), MICB 327 Parasitology, or MICB Microbiology (Medical Technician course). Laboratory teaching assistants provide basic laboratory instructions and introduction to the laboratory exercises, assist students with the laboratory exercises as needed, and grade laboratory reports.

Remaining coursework:

Additional graduate coursework to be included in the Ph.D. program may come from any department of the University and is included at the discretion of the Graduate Advisory Committee. Although the number of graduate courses required will vary for different students, most students will be expected to complete at least two additional graduate level courses (numbered 700 or above) beyond the basic required courses taken as part of the common core curriculum in the first year of graduate school and those listed above. The advisory committee can recommend additional coursework to exceed the minimum requirement. Note: MICB 796 (Graduate Seminar), MICB 785 (Journal Club), and MICB 790 (Teaching Assistant) do not fulfill this requirement .

Required credit hours. Full time students on a stipend must register for nine or more credit hours in each of the fall and spring semesters and six or more credit hours in the summer session.

Educational Enrichment:

Cell and Molecular Biology Seminar Series. This department supports a regular series of extramural seminar speakers whose research is relevant to the interests of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology. Students are expected to attend this seminar series and time will be specifically set aside for the students to meet with each invited speaker for informal discussion.