Program Information
The Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology (MIC) Department is the home department for over 60 Ph.D. candidates and (MSTP) Biomedical Sciences (BIMS) graduate students. Our graduate students study under internationally-recognized scientists in the areas of immunology, cancer biology, virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, biodefense, cell-signaling, and gene regulation.
The diversity of our Department ensures that students in MIC are offered diverse, interdisciplinary training throughout their graduate career. The wide variety of choices in laboratories and coursework, coupled with flexible departmental requirements, enables each student to design a custom-tailored training program that culminates in the awarding of the Ph.D. degree.
BIMS students who select primary or secondary MIC faculty for their theses mentors and choose to pursue their Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology have specific curriculum requirements.
Requirements for Ph.D. in Microbiology
Required Courses
Based on the thesis lab selection and the specific thesis project a student’s mentor will direct the student’s course-selection to fulfill MIC Ph.D. and NIH training program requirements.
All BIMS students must complete a minimum of 72 hours of graduate credit. A minimum of 24 out of the 72 credit hours must be graded coursework, and no more than 48 of the 72 credit hours can be comprised of Non-Topical Research. Requirements for graduation include the following courses:
Laboratory Rotations for new first year students
Course:
Summer-
(Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) and
Fall -
(graded), and
Spring -
(graded)
In exceptional circumstances whereby students are not able to join the program until August they will miss the summer rotation and may take their third rotation in the spring.
Colloquium
MIC Colloquium course where primary literature is read, presented, and discussed with classmates and faculty.
Electives
Four 6-week courses of electives are required. At least two of these must be MIC-specific courses.
Various 6-week modular courses may be taken concurrently and/or sequentially, potentially allowing all course work to be completed in the first year of graduate studies, or students and their mentors may choose to spread the course work over the second and third years.
Students can formally enroll in classes offered by BIMS/SOM basic science departments and across Grounds throughout their tenure as a graduate student. Note that permission from your mentor is needed before enrolling in any formal coursework outside of your degree requirements.
Thesis
Qualifying Exam:
Toward the end of the second year, each student must prepare a 12 page written document and orally defend this detailed dissertation research proposal in the form of a “qualifying exam.” Ph.D. candidates are required to successfully prepare and defend the proposal before July 1st of the second year in order to remain in good standing as a Ph.D. candidate, and to continue receiving financial support from the Department. MSTP students are required to successfully prepare and defend the proposal before Oct. 1st of the second grad-year. One of the faculty with a primary microbiology appointment (not the student’s mentor) should serve as the chairperson or first-reader of the committee. The student’s mentor will be an essentially silent member of the committee during the oral defense of the qualifying exam.
It is not uncommon for a qualifying exam (dissertation) proposal to require revision, and perhaps a second committee meeting, before a student is passed into candidacy. Successful completion of the qualifying exam and any revisions allows the student to advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Those not admitted to candidacy may, on approval of the faculty, be permitted to complete the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences in Biological and Physical Sciences.
More information about the Qualifying Exam process may be found HERE.
Exceptions
An extension to the completion date of the Qualifying Exam may under extenuating circumstances be granted upon written request to the Director of Graduate Studies. Extensions must be requested no later than May 31st.
Milestone: PHDCAND
Committee:
Each student and his/her mentor should select BIMS Faculty to serve on the student’s Dissertation committee as soon as possible. Each Dissertation committee must be comprised of at least five BIMS Faculty including the student’s mentor. For the MIC student at least three of these must have a primary faculty appointment in MIC. At least one primary MIC faculty (not including the mentor) must be tenured.
One member of the committee will serve as a representative of the School of Medicine to affirm that the student has been assessed fairly and with due rigor. This individual may be drawn from the tenured or tenure-track faculty of the School of Medicine or other graduate schools at the University, but must hold a primary appointment outside of the student’s department/program. He/she must hold a Ph.D. and/or serve as a BIMS-approved mentor, any individual who does not meet these criteria must be approved by the BIMS Steering Committee.
All Dissertation committees must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies before the student contacts any faculty to participate on the committee. For the qualifying exam, one primary MIC faculty from the committee should be selected by the student and mentor to serve as the first-reader/chairperson. The chairperson will be the primary liaison between the student and the student’s committee. A proposal must be sent to all committee members at least one week prior to the qualifying exam.
BIMS students are required to have at least one committee meeting every 12 months to remain in good academic standing, and this is especially important now that the Individual Development Plan (IDP) is in place.
For each annual committee meetings after the Qualifier, MIC students will be required to send a 1-page summary of their progress to their entire committee a few days before the annual committee meeting.
All students need to let Amy Anderson (aea5c) know in advance when they have a committee meeting arranged. Two forms are sent to the student’s committee chair before the meeting in preparation for the annual meeting.
Defense:
The dissertation represents the summation of the student’s independent research. Therefore, adequate time must be set aside for preparation of the dissertation and for the Dissertation Committee members to evaluate the work. The student is expected to have at least one first-author, peer-reviewed and accepted research publication prior to the private defense. While a student may begin writing their dissertation prior to formal acceptance of the paper, the formal acceptance of the manuscript must occur before the private defense. The student should contact Amy Anderson when they begin writing their thesis, and must apply for graduation in SIS for the semester they plan to graduate in. The deadlines to apply in SIS are Fall – October 1, Spring – February 1, Summer – July 1.
- The dissertation is to be prepared in consultation with the mentor.
- When the document is complete to the satisfaction of both the student and mentor it should be submitted to the first reader/chairperson. The first reader must have at least two weeks to evaluate and comment on the dissertation.
- Any changes to the dissertation deemed necessary by the first reader must be incorporated into the document and approved by the first reader and the student’s mentor before it can be submitted to the rest of the committee.
- The dissertation must be submitted to the full committee a minimum of one week prior to the Private Defense date.
- Private Defense. A private defense must be arranged on a date which is agreeable to all members of the committee. Any changes and revisions to the dissertation deemed necessary by the committee during the Private Defense must be made and approved prior to completing this graduation requirement.
Milestone: PHDPVDF
- Public Defense. The Public Defense should be scheduled well in advance to allow Amy Anderson to publicise the date. The Public Defense can take place prior to the Private Defense, with both defenses scheduled on the same day, or can be scheduled on a day following the Private Defense.
Milestone: PHDDEFENSE
Summation of Thesis to UVA Library’s LIBRA System
Doctoral students must upload the final, approved version of their dissertation to the University Library’s digital repository, also known as LIBRA, adhering to the same deadline for the Final Exam form.
Information regarding the repository, the submission process and copyright law is available through the LIBRA web site. Please note the following:
- The title page of the dissertation should be formatted according to the approved template. Signatures of the dissertation committee members should appear only on the Final Examination Form and not on the title page of the document uploaded to LIBRA.
- The studet is responsible for ensuring they upload the final, approved version of their thesis. Documents submitted to LIBRA cannot be deleted or corrected.
- The thesis title submitted to the BIMS Administrator is entered in SIS and will appear in the LIBRA upload interface. If the title listed in LIBRA does not match the final title of the thesis being uploaded, the student must stop the upload process and inform the BIMS Administrator of the correct title.
- LIBRA will accept the thesis as a single PDF document up to 100MB. Students also have the option to upload supplemental files.
- Formatting Requirements: There are no formatting requirements or restrictions.
Milestone: LIBRA
Survey of Earned Doctorates
All graduating students are required to complete the online National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates during the term when they graduate. This online survey takes about 15 minutes to complete. The survey link can be found in SIS under the Academic Requirements.
Milestone: DOSURVEYFM
Requirements for Dual Degree Program
Microbiology welcomes students from the Medical Scientist Training Program. Students in the (MSTP) are in an accelerated curriculum and generally complete their Graduate Requirements within 4 years.
Students enrolled in the MSTP will often use the coursework completed during the MD preclinical curriculum to receive transfer credit for course requirements. For example, MSTP students can petition the Director of Graduate Studies for the PhD degree-granting program with which the student affiliates to receive transfer credit for BIMS 6000 (Core Course in Integrative Biology). Decisions on these petitions will be made by the DGS in consultation with the MSTP Director and the student’s research advisor.
Beginning with the cohort of MSTPs matriculating into the MD program in summer of 2021, and based on the School of Medicine’s Policy on course credit equivalencies, students who are awarded transfer credits for the core course requirement will be awarded 10 topical credits, the equivalent graded credit hours of the Core Course in Integrative Biology.
For those MSTPs who take the core course, the pre-clerkship curriculum will be evaluated by the Director of Graduate Studies of their selected degree-granting program for other appropriate coursework equivalencies for which they may receive transfer credit (up to 10 credits in total).
Return to: