Biochemistry, PhD

Biochemistry: Admission Requirements

Students are admitted only in the fall semester. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year. Application review begins in early winter and the number of doctoral stipends is limited. Applications for admission to the program will be evaluated by the Graduate Program Committee of the Division of Biochemistry and, in special cases, the Graduate College Council. Applicants are encouraged to visit Rush University for an interview. Consideration for admission will include overall academic record, results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), letters of recommendation and especially interview results. Students must meet all Graduate College requirements. Medical students seeking an MS or PhD in Biochemistry must take a leave of absence from medical school and be formally accepted to the applicable program in The Graduate College.

Transfer students with an advanced degree in science may, upon the recommendation of the Graduate Program Committee, be admitted to the graduate program in biochemistry with advanced standing. The extent of advanced credit will be determined by the Graduate Program Committee on an individual basis through its credentials subcommittee. All advanced level entrants are urged to see the credentials subcommittee before matriculation.

Minimum requirements for admission to the Graduate Program include a bachelor’s degree in any scientific discipline with a minimum grade point average (GPA) and GRE scores as defined by The Graduate College. More specific departmental course requirements are as follows: one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one semester or quarter of analytical chemistry or physical chemistry, one year of general biology, one year of molecular, cellular or advanced biology, mathematics through calculus and one year of physics. At least one semester of biochemistry is highly recommended but not required. Students may be accepted with less than the minimum course requirements upon special action of the Graduate Program Committee, which may waive such requirements or require that the deficiency be rectified during the student’s first year of graduate study.

Biochemistry: Academic Policies

Biochemistry: Tuition Waivers/Stipends

The Graduate College determines tuition for full-time graduate students; however, tuition has historically been waived for students in a PhD program. Students in an MS program pay tuition. Most PhD students receive a research scholarship (stipend), while MS students do not. The research scholarship awarded to PhD students is a privilege, which is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress on the part of the student. No special application for this stipend need be made; the applicant must merely indicate in his or her cover letter that such a stipend is desired. Additional financial aid, including loans, is available through the Rush University Office of Student Financial Aid. It should be noted that the student is expected to be a full-time student. Part-time jobs are highly discouraged. The advisor (who will then inform the Director of Graduate Education in writing) must approve any special circumstances that necessitate a part-time job. It is intended that graduate students receive their stipends from the Division of Biochemistry until the student has passed his or her Preliminary Examination and, at the end of the first academic year, has selected a permanent advisor. From that time on, it will be the obligation of the student’s advisor to provide the student with financial support, including a stipend, from his or her extramural research funds as the student can now devote more time to research.

The research scholarship (stipend) is awarded to students for a period of five years with the understanding that they will devote their full time to graduate study activities and that they will make satisfactory progress toward the PhD degree. “Satisfactory progress” includes, but is not limited to, pursuit of the prescribed didactic course program, identification of a research advisor by the end of the second semester, passing the Preliminary Examination in the fall of their second academic year, presenting a research proposal by the end of the second academic year as specified by Departmental Rules and Regulations, and pursuing research activities toward the student’s dissertation with due diligence and effort. The Graduate College has mandated that the PhD must be awarded within seven years following matriculation. However, the Division of Biochemistry will enforce a five-year deadline, but will allow extensions that are justified and approved by the Graduate Program Committee.

Biochemistry: Research Interests

Members of the Division of Biochemistry’s faculty conduct a broad range of extramurally funded research activities. Many faculty members focus their research efforts on cartilage tissues, synovial joints and arthritic diseases. A strong interaction exists between practicing clinicians and members of the Division of Biochemistry, and sometimes leads to a full consolidation of research programs. The diverse interests of the faculty provide investigative expertise in the areas of connective tissue biochemistry, etiology of arthritis, animal models of arthritis, joint imaging, regulation of gene expression, cytokines and growth factors, signal transduction, biomechanics, tribology, musculoskeletal cell biology, cancer cell biology, cell membrane and lipid biochemistry and the application of clinical biochemistry to medical problems. Some of these research programs are joint efforts with other departments, giving the student an opportunity to interact with investigators in other disciplines as well as with clinicians and physician scientists. The departmental laboratories are fully equipped with instrumentation required for modern research in biochemistry, tissue culture and molecular biology.

Biochemistry: Curriculum

The PhD degree is a research degree conferred in recognition of proficiency in research, breadth and soundness of scholarship and a thorough acquaintance with a specific field of knowledge as determined by the faculty. To attain these goals, the curriculum includes the following:

• Graduate College “core curriculum” courses (GCC courses) provide a common knowledge base in molecular and cell biology for most graduate students in all divisions.
• A core of required biochemistry courses (BCH courses), which provide the basis for the students to pursue their own specialized biochemistry research programs
• A variety of elective courses, which provide the students with the flexibility to tailor their coursework to their research interests or needs
• Initiation of research as soon as possible in the student’s first academic year

During the first year, the student will complete all required biochemistry and Graduate College Core curriculum courses. By the end of the second year, the elective course requirements should be completed.

At the end of the summer term of the student’s first academic year (usually at the beginning of September; the academic year begins with the fall semester), the student sits for the Preliminary Examination, which is a combination of a written examination, take-home examination and oral examination. By the end of his or her second academic year (i.e., before the fall semester of the student’s third academic year begins) the student is required to submit and defend a written dissertation proposal before the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. Following this, the successful student continues his or her research work, as approved by the Dissertation Advisory Committee.

When the student’s advisor and his or her Dissertation Advisory Committee agree that the student has completed his or her task, which is evaluated at an announced “Permission to Write Meeting,” he or she writes a dissertation, which is defended in a public seminar and in a separate executive session with the student’s Dissertation Examination Committee. Another requirement is that one or more manuscripts, based on the student’s dissertation work, be published, accepted or submitted for publication in a full-length peer-reviewed journal, with the student listed as first author. To participate in the May commencement ceremony, all requirements for the PhD degree must be met by the beginning of the month.