Applicable only to students admitted during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics

College of Letters and Science
School of Medicine

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics offers the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics.

Admission

Program Name

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Ph.D. Applicants may apply to the Ph.D. program through UCLA Access to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences.

Address

609 Charles E. Young Drive East
Box 951489
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1489 

Phone

(310) 825-8482 

Email

bridgetw@microbio.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

M.S., Ph.D. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

M.S.: Consult graduate adviser.
Ph.D.: Consult UCLA ACCESS to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences 

GRE (General and/or Subject)

Consult UCLA ACCESS to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences 

Letters of Recommendation 

Consult UCLA ACCESS to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences 

Other Requirements

Under extraordinary circumstances, the program admits Ph.D. applicants directly. Applicants applying directly to the program must have, in advance, the agreement of a faculty adviser to sponsor them academically and financially. Consult the graduate adviser for further information. 

Master's Degree

Advising

Prior to applying to the program, all prospective M.S. students must identify a faculty adviser from the department who is willing to provide academic support to them throughout their time in the program. Soon after being admitted students also must nominate a master's thesis committee of three faculty, including the faculty adviser. The department highly recommends, but does not require, that students include a member from another department at the University on this committee. Students also should consult the departmental staff graduate adviser regarding their programmatic progress throughout their time in the program and for additional details on requirements listed below.

Areas of Study

Consult department.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

M.S. students must receive departmental approval for their full course of study prior to Fall Quarter of their first year.

A minimum of 36 units (usually nine courses) is required for the M.S. degree. The course requirements are as follows:

A minimum of 20 units must be taken at the graduate (200-series) level.

A minimum of 20 units must be taken from courses offered by the department. Remaining units may be taken from courses offered in other life/basic science departments.

A minimum of 12 units must be taken from the 200 series that are not seminar courses.

A minimum of 24 units must be taken for a letter grade.

A maximum of 16 units may be taken from the upper division (100-series) level.

A maximum of eight units of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics 598 may be applied toward the 36-unit requirement.

Teaching Experience

Not required. With the consent of the faculty adviser, master's degree students may serve as teaching assistants if positions are available and they meet eligibility requirements.

Field Experience

Not required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

The written qualifying examination for the doctoral degree in this department, or its equivalent as determined by the department's Graduate Committee, serves as the comprehensive examination for the master's degree.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

Students must obtain approval of the thesis topic from their faculty adviser before beginning work on the thesis. This approval is obtained through submission of a thesis and abstract of proposed research with the original application for admission. The thesis must be approved by the thesis committee before it can be filed in the library.

Time-to-Degree

Normal progress from graduate admission to conferral of degree is two academic years (six quarters).

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Most students are admitted through the UCLA ACCESS to Programs in the Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences. Upon completion of the first year in ACCESS, students join a departmental faculty member's laboratory in which they carry out their research program to complete the dissertation. In some rare cases students are admitted to the program directly through the department. Such students must have a faculty adviser who is willing to sponsor them academically and financially before they are permitted to apply directly to the program. In both cases this faculty member is the student's faculty adviser. The departmental graduate adviser also is available to assist students with University and departmental requirements.

Student progress is monitored throughout graduate study. In consultation with their faculty adviser, students must nominate a doctoral committee during the second year of study. Students meet with their committee, at least once a year, throughout their time in the program. The doctoral committee is responsible for advising as well as evaluation of the second year meeting, the written qualifying and University Oral Qualifying Examinations, annual meetings after advancement to candidacy, and the dissertation presentation at the Final Oral Examination.

Major Fields and Subdisciplines

The graduate program emphasizes the areas of animal virology, general bacteriology, host/parasite relationship, immunology, medical microbiology, microbial genetics, molecular genetics, physiology, recombinant DNA and viral structure/morphogenesis research. Students are prepared for creative research in these respective fields. The objective of the department is to provide depth and training in independent study and research for graduate students.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students are required to enroll full-time in a minimum of 12 units each quarter. In addition to basic course requirements, all students are required to take Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics 296 and 596 or 599 each quarter. The majority of the course requirements are completed during the first year of study through the ACCESS Program. Students who are admitted directly to the program are required to complete the same first-year course requirements that comprise the ACCESS Program.

Teaching Experience

The department considers teaching experience to be an integral part of the graduate program. All Ph.D. students are required to serve as teaching assistants for a minimum of two quarters. One of the teaching assistantships must be for Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics or Life Sciences 3. Students may petition to the departmental graduate adviser to determine if prior experience at another institution is acceptable in fulfillment of the teaching requirement.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

Second Year Meeting. Students must constitute and meet with their doctoral committee before the end of Winter Quarter of the second year of study (first year in the department). At this meeting students present the plans for their dissertation research. The purpose of the meeting is for the committee to evaluate the student's understanding of the rational and background for the proposed research and to provide feedback to the student on its feasibility and experimental strategy.

Qualifying Examinations. The qualifying examinations, written and oral, should be taken before the end of Fall Quarter of the third year of graduate study (second year in the department), and must be passed by the Spring Quarter of that academic year. Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Written Qualifying Examination. The written qualifying examination is fulfilled through submission of a "mini" research grant proposal. The proposal cannot be on a topic in the area of the student's dissertation project. Also, the proposal must utilize an approach that is different from that employed in the student's own research.

University Oral Qualifying Examination. This examination, chaired by the student's adviser and conducted by the doctoral committee, focuses on the discussion and defense of the written proposal. The purpose of this examination is to allow the committee to evaluate the student's understanding of the project. The committee votes pass or not pass, or recommends additional work such as rewriting an inadequate proposal. If two or members vote not pass, the examination is considered a not pass and the student has one opportunity to re-take the examination.

Annual Meeting with Progress Report. After completion of the qualifying examinations and advancement to candidacy, students must submit an annual report. This report is in the form of a one-page abstract that describes the project and the efforts completed to date. An abstract submitted to a scientific meeting may fulfill this requirement. A copy of the report is submitted to the Graduate Student Affairs office. Students schedule the annual meeting with their doctoral committee. This meeting serves a variety of purposes, including an avenue for advice regarding new approaches or directions for students who have reached an impasse in their work, or an avenue for advice regarding how much work remains for the dissertation to be considered complete for students whose work is going well.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

Normal progress from graduate admission to conferral of the degree is six academic years (18 quarters).

Laboratory rotations, approval of progress by the advisory committee, and choice of faculty mentor should be completed by the end of the first year in the ACCESS Program.

Coursework and the second year meeting should be completed by the end of the Spring Quarter of the second year. The written and oral qualifying examinations should be completed by the end of the Spring Quarter of the third year.

The dissertation and final oral examination should be completed during the fifth year, and no later than the sixth year of study.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

In addition to the standard reasons outlined above, a student may be recommended for termination for failure to find a suitable faculty research adviser within a year of matriculation into the program.