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

Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology

College of Letters and Science
Interdepartmental Program

Graduate Degrees

The Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Program offers the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology.

Admission

Program Name

Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology

Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology is an interdepartmental program.  Interdepartmental programs provide an integrated curriculum of several disciplines.

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

Address

122 Hershey Hall
Box 957246
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1527 

Phone

(310) 825-3891 

Email

mcarr@physci.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

Ph.D. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

December 15th 

GRE (General and/or Subject)

GRE: General and Subject in Biology or in the applicant's undergraduate major

MCAT scores may be submitted by applicants with MDs. 

Letters of Recommendation 

3 

Other Requirements

In addition to the University's minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are expected to submit an essay describing academic background, work experience, motivation for research, and career goals.

Applicants must have a bachelor's degree in a biological or physical science. Applicants are generally expected to have completed university coursework in mathematics through calculus, college physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and biology. Courses in cell and molecular biology are recommended. If an applicant lacks preparation in a recommended course, but has an otherwise outstanding academic record, the applicant may be admitted to graduate status provided that the deficiencies are corrected.

In addition to requirements listed above, applicants must submit transcripts of all university coursework.

Students whose native language is not English must demonstrate sufficient capability to understand and communicate in English to be able to successfully complete graduate education.

Selected applicants will be invited to interview with selected members of the faculty and graduate student representatives. The graduate program committee makes admissions decisions based on application information, recommendations of the interviewers, availability of appropriate training faculty, and availability of financial support for the applicant.

STAR program participants are admissible to the Ph.D. program if their research mentor is on the training faculty of the interdepartmental program. 

Master's Degree

None.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

First year students are advised by a faculty adviser who is appointed by the Graduate Program Committee representing one of the three program subdisciplines (biophysics, cellular and molecular physiology, or integrative/comparative physiology). First-year advisers counsel students on laboratory rotations, choice of research mentors, and coursework.

By the end of Spring Quarter of the second year, students are expected to form an advisory committee. The advisory committee consists of a minimum of four faculty, including the student's anticipated dissertation adviser, who are qualified in the student's selected subdiscipline. The duties of the advisory committee are to evaluate the feasibility and adequacy of the planned dissertation project for satisfying the requirements for the doctoral degree. The advisory committee should also be attentive to the professional development of the student, and be available to serve a professional advisory role throughout the student's training.

The student's advisory committee usually becomes the doctoral committee, although the student or committee members may elect to change the committee composition to best reflect the expertise required for advising and analysis of the dissertation. The doctoral committee should be selected by the Winter Quarter of the third year. In addition to the general advisory role of the doctoral committee, its duty is to administer the University Oral Qualifying Examination, the midstream oral presentation, and the final oral examination (defense of the dissertation), as well as to read, approve, and certify the dissertation.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

These include biophysics, cellular and molecular physiology, and integrative/comparative physiology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Students who matriculate directly into the program are required to complete approved graduate coursework in molecular biology, cellular biology, research ethics, and physiology during their first year. Students admitted through the ACCESS Program will have satisfied the program's first-year course requirements for molecular biology, cellular biology, and research ethics by completion of the ACCESS curriculum. Students who have completed professional or graduate degrees (e.g., M.D., D.D.S., M.S.) prior to admission to the program may be exempted from required first-year coursework if they have completed substantially similar courses elsewhere. Students also are required to complete one seminar each quarter of their first year of enrollment.

During the second year students are required to complete one didactic course in their subdiscipline. The second-year course must be related to the student's research interest and must be approved by the student's adviser and the Graduate Program Committee. In addition, each student must take a total of three seminar courses during the second and third years. At least one of these three seminars must be taken during the second year. The remaining units necessary for completion of the degree are fulfilled through research training (596), preparation for qualifying examinations (597), and dissertation research (599).

Teaching Experience

Students are expected to complete a minimum of two quarters as a teaching assistant in coursework approved by the Graduate Program Committee. Advanced students, such as participants in the STAR or MSTP programs, or students who already hold the M.S. degree, may be exempted from the teaching requirement. The teaching requirement ordinarily will be completed in the second and third years of graduate study.

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.

The written qualifying examination must be completed by the end of Winter Quarter of the second year. Students are required to write a National Institute of Health (NIH)-style grant proposal that is approximately one-half of the length of a standard NIH proposal. Each student independently selects the topic of the research proposal, designs the hypotheses to be tested and formulates the experimental approach. The topic of the proposal requires approval in advance by the student's advisory committee and by the IDP Steering Committee. Although the topic and hypotheses are to be selected by the student, the student is free to consult with other individuals in formulating the experimental approach. The topic for the proposal may not be the anticipated dissertation research topic, and may not be an active or anticipated research project in the laboratory of the student's mentor. The examination is graded pass/fail by the IDP Steering Committee. Students who do not pass the examination are permitted one re-examination by the same committee in the same examination format on a date no later than the end of Spring Quarter of the second year.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination must be completed before the end of Fall Quarter of the third year. Students prepare a written description of the scientific background of the dissertation research project, the specific aims of the project, a description of preliminary findings and an experimental plan for addressing the specific aims. The dissertation proposal is then submitted to the student's doctoral committee in advance of the examination. The examination consists of an oral presentation of the proposal by the student to the committee. The student's oral presentation and examination are expected to demonstrate: (1) a scholarly understanding of the background of the dissertation proposal; (2) well-designed and testable aims; (3) a critical understanding of the technical applications to be employed in the dissertation; and (4) an understanding of potential experimental outcomes and their interpretation.

No later than 12 months following the University Oral Qualifying Examination, students are required to give a midstream oral presentation of their dissertation research progress to their doctoral committee. The purpose of the presentation is to monitor the student's progress, identify difficulties that may occur in progressing toward successful completion of the dissertation and, if necessary, to approve changes in the dissertation project. The presentation is not an examination. The student's dissertation adviser is required to summarize the committee recommendation in writing for inclusion in the student's file.

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

Normative time-do-degree is specified as five years for those students entering with a bachelor's degree only. Students who enter with an M.D. or M.S. degree in a relevant discipline are expected to complete the degree in three years.

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

None.