PhD or MA in Physiology or Biophysics
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine offers
programs leading to a PhD or an MA in Physiology or Biophysics. Each
program stresses laboratory training and original research performed
under the direction of a faculty member, as well as satisfactory
performance in graduate coursework.
In the first and second years of both the PhD and MA programs, a core
curriculum of Foundations in Biomedical Sciences courses is
supplemented with biophysics and physiology. The program emphasizes
flexibility and individual choice. In the first year, students do research
rotations in the laboratories of 3–4 (PhD) or 2–3 (MA, optional) faculty
members to gain firsthand knowledge of a variety of research areas.
At the end of the first year, students select a degree advisor and
continue research toward the MA or PhD degree. In the second year
students continue to take courses and PhD students must pass a
qualifying exam. Throughout their training, students also participate in a
weekly department seminar series and report their research progress
annually at a student seminar day.
Learning Outcomes
- All students graduating with the PhD in Physiology or Biophysics from
the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM are expected to: - Generate an original body of work in the biomedical sciences that reflects critical
thinking and independent thought. - Demonstrate competencies in advanced research skills.
- Develop the ability to communicate in both written and oral methods within their
chosen field of expertise with both specialists and nonexperts.
Demonstrate a commitment to professional development and continued learning in
their chosen field.
All students graduating with the MA in Physiology or Biophysics from
the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine are expected to:
- Generate an original body of work or a library thesis in physiology or biophysics that
reflects critical thinking and independent thought. - Demonstrate competencies in research skills or library research skills.
- Develop the ability to communicate through written documents within their chosen
field of expertise with both specialists and nonexperts. - Demonstrate a commitment to professional development and continued learning in
their chosen field.
Purpose and Background
The department, under the aegis of Dr. Venetia Zachariou as chair,
brings together active faculty members to provide excellence in research
and graduate education. Research interests in the department span the
modern areas of cellular physiology and molecular biophysics, with
strong concentrations in structural biology, vision research, muscle
physiology, neurophysiology, and the biology and physical chemistry of
proteins, lipids, and lipoproteins. Faculty members are nationally and
internationally recognized as leaders in their areas of research. The
department provides flexible graduate programs with pathways either
leading toward a degree in physiology or in biophysics. The department
offers these two programs in a strong, collegial environment to
encompass and promote the diverse overlapping research of all
members of the department.
The goal of our programs in Physiology or Biophysics is to produce
graduate students who understand the thermodynamic, chemical,
electrical, and structural aspects of biological systems at the atomic level
and in the context of the cell and organism. The training across scientific
and medical disciplines provides graduates the advantage of learning
physiology and biophysics in the context of the regulation of
homeostasis and pathogenicity of the cell, and of the organism as a
whole. Graduates will be able to communicate and collaborate effectively
with a broad range of disciplines ranging from medical personnel to
chemists, engineers, and physicists.
A set of required core courses will be taken by the students in the first
and/or second year that will lead to a level of understanding of the two
disciplines necessary for a degree in physiology or biophysics. After
completing the core course requirements, students have flexibility to
choose the appropriate additional coursework for their interests, within
the guidelines set out below. The courses for first-year students are
chosen with the guidance of members of the Student Admissions &
Affairs Committee (SAAC), and in the second year with input from their
PhD or MA advisor. Students who successfully complete the program
are awarded either a PhD or an MA in Physiology or in Biophysics.
Similar Paths for PhD, MD/PhD, and Post-MA PhD
students
Requirements for PhD and MD/PhD students are similar. Students in the
PhD program take their qualifying examination in their second year.
MD/PhD students enter after completing the second-year Medical
Curriculum and are therefore treated as post-MA students with a lower
course and unit requirement (32 versus 64 total units), and take their
qualifying exam at the end of their first year in the program.
Transfer and post-MA students are handled on a case-by-case basis,
and may be able to take the qualifying examination at the end of their
first year.
In all cases, post-MA students are able to choose a suitable set of
courses tailored to their backgrounds and research interests, with input
from the SAAC during the first year and from their advisor in following
years.
The MA Programs
MA programs in Physiology or Biophysics are offered. In some cases, a
qualified MA student may subsequently apply to the Program in
Biomedical Sciences (PiBS) PhD program. This decision is dependent
on the student’s application and acceptance into the PiBS umbrella
program through the PiBS admissions process.
An MA requires 32 unit hours (paid for by the student) and requires
either a literature-based dissertation or a short laboratory-based
dissertation with two readers from within the department.
The Path of a Graduate Student
On joining the department, students follow a path of requirements with
specific coursework dependent on their concentration in either
Physiology or Biophysics. Students with a concentration in Physiology
are required to take at least one course in Biophysics and students with
a concentration in Biophysics take at least one course in Physiology.
Seminar Courses (GMS BY 871, 872 or GMS PH 841,
842; 2 units per term)
In the second year (required) and additional years (optional), all students
in the department participate in the Special Topics Seminar course,
aimed at developing the student’s ability to read the scientific literature
and present the merits and/or deficits of a current research paper to
other students and a proctoring faculty member. The students use a
whiteboard and computer for their presentations. This component of the
course meets for one hour each week, as specified by the faculty
member proctoring the class. Typically, all students present at least once
each term, and possibly more often, based on the number of enrolled
students. Additionally, students are taught to write grants, research
papers, and more general scientific articles such as “News and Views”
on papers from the current literature. An important complement to the
student presentations is required attendance at the Department Seminar
Series where the students are exposed to cutting-edge research by
outstanding speakers.
All graduate students in the department earn 2 graded units per term.
The faculty member who teaches this course is rotated after each term,
to allow a fresh viewpoint and area of expertise to be covered. The Chair
of the SAC, with input from the Program Steering Committee, selects 6–
8 faculty who are interested in teaching this course on a rotating basis.
Student Seminars
In years 3–5, or starting with the spring term after the qualifying
examination has been completed, all PhD candidates will present a 20–
30-minute seminar on their dissertation research. These seminars form a
logical extension of the departmental Seminar Series and the Special
Topics course and take place on a specified Student Seminar Day (or
days). Predissertation committee members for a presenting student take
notes on the quality of the presentation and meet with the student within
2–3 days, on either a one-to-one basis or in small groups with other
committee members, to provide feedback with the goal of improving the
student’s presentation skills.
Student Poster Presentations
Students who have completed their qualifying exams present a poster
during Russek Day in the spring of each year, to improve their
organization and presentation skills. In addition, students are
encouraged to enter their posters in the Scholars’ Day poster
competition held at the Boston University Charles River Campus.
Students are encouraged to attend local and national meetings to
present their research.
Student Individual Development Plans and Professional
Development
Students, together with Student Affairs committee members, each create
an individual development plan that is updated at least annually. The
Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs office provides
monthly workshops, lectures, and panel discussions, which students are
encouraged to attend as they progress through the program.
Course Requirements
Incoming PhD and MA students are required to take either five or three
modules, respectively, from the Foundations in Biomedical Sciences
curriculum, including Protein Structure, Cell Dynamics, Genetics and
Genomics, Mechanisms of Cell Communication, and Cellular Physiology
(GMS FC 701, 702, 703, 704, and 707 for PhD; FC 701, 703, and 704
for MA). PhD and MA students must take a statistics course (e.g. GMS
MS700 or MS75); MA students may meet this requirement through an
undergraduate statistics course.To allow flexibility for the breadth of the
fields of physiology and biophysics, yet ensure a working knowledge of
both, students are required to take a minimum of one physiology course
and one biophysics course.
The acceptable biophysics courses are:
- GMS BY 760 A Macromolecular Assemblies: Protein-Protein, Protein-Nucleic Acid,
and Membrane Protein Assemblies (2 units)] - GMS BY 760 B Macromolecular Assemblies: Lipid-Protein Assemblies (2 units)
- GMS BY 771 B Foundations of Structural Biology: Computation, Thermodynamics,
Spectroscopy, and NMR (2 units) - GMS PH 771 A Foundations of Structural Biology: Structure Determination byCrystallography and Electron Microscopy (2 units)The acceptable physiology courses are:
- GMS FC 707 Physiology of Specialized Cells (3 units)
- GMS PH 730 Human Physiology A (4 units)
- GMS PH 731 Human Physiology B (4 units)
Elective coursework is chosen jointly by the student and their advisor or
dissertation committee. To achieve a balanced curriculum for all
students, Graduate Medical Sciences PhD degree requirements include
a minimum of 24 units in formal coursework, or 12 units for the post-MA.
It is expected, although not required, that the formal coursework units
are acquired prior to the qualifying examination at the end of the second
year. Beyond 24 coursework units, students are encouraged to
informally audit courses following consultation with their dissertation
committee. Post-MA students who have already taken an appropriate
graduate-level course in the core curriculum are permitted to substitute
an elective or electives in the first term.
The Qualifying Examination
Success in science requires that students be able to express their
thoughts both verbally and in written form. The necessary verbal skills
are developed through participation in the Special Topics Seminar
course and by giving presentations in yearly research seminars at the
Student Seminar Day(s), laboratory group meetings, predissertation
meetings, and the dissertation defense seminar. Written skills are
developed in required coursework and in the writing of papers and the
dissertation. This process begins with the writing of a research proposal
using the NIH National Research Service Award (NRSA) or American
Heart Association Research Training Grants and Fellowships format, to
fulfill the written qualifying exam requirement.
The qualifying examination is given at the end of the second term within
the second year for PhD students. MD/PhD, post-MA, and some transfer
students in the PhD program have the option of taking the qualifying
examination at the end of the second term of the first year.
Administration of the qualifying examination will be overseen by the
SAAC. Program faculty members serve on the qualifying examination
committees on a rotating basis. The two-part exam consists of:
- For the written qualifying examination, students write a research proposal that
correlates with, but may or may not include, their planned dissertation research.
This document is judged by three members of the SAAC committee for the
student’s understanding of the relevant scientific literature and ability to propose
testable scientific hypotheses. - For the oral examination, a five member examination committee will ask questions
to test the student’s ability to think critically about their chosen research field,
including the scientific methods, theory, and background of the proposed research.
In addition to assessing the student’s understanding of their proposed research, the
oral qualifying exam committee can ask general concept questions to help them
assess the student’s knowledge of their area of concentration, as well as their
foundational knowledge in appropriate areas of the biomedical sciences, including
cell physiology, biophysics, biochemistry, etc. Dissertation advisors will not
participate in the oral defense of students who are pursuing a PhD in their
laboratory. The oral examination is given 2-4 weeks after the due date of the written
examination.
Both the written and oral portion of the qualifying exam must be passed
in order for a student to continue in the PhD program. Students who fail
either the oral or the written portion of the exam (or both) can retake that
portion of the exam once in order to achieve a passing score. MA
students do not take the qualifying examination.
Dissertation
Predissertation Meetings
After the student has passed the qualifying exam, a predissertation
committee of at least five members must be established in the fall of that
year and submitted to the SAAC. Students submit their dissertation
proposal in grant form to the members of the committee two weeks
before the first predissertation committee meeting. At least one member
from outside the department, and preferably from a different institution,
should be included in the final dissertation committee. An external
committee member is not required for predissertation meetings, which
will be held about every 10–12 months or at least three times prior to
graduation.
Dissertation Defense
The PhD dissertation defense consists of a public seminar followed by a
closed-door dissertation defense with a minimum of five committee
members, including one member from outside the department.
Program Resources
All members of the faculty of the department participate in the graduate
programs in Physiology or Biophysics. The faculty have well-funded
research programs and extensively equipped individual laboratories for
carrying out research in cellular physiology and biophysics. In addition,
the department maintains core facilities in molecular biology,
spectroscopy, NMR, and structural electron microscopy that will be used
by students carrying out their research.
Admission
Recruitment directly into the Program in Biomedical Sciences is the
route of entry for PhD students, and MA candidates apply directly to our
programs in Physiology or in Biophysics.
There is no strict formula for acceptance to the programs, and many
factors go into the Admissions Committee’s decisions. The programs
seek students from a wide range of backgrounds including physics,
chemistry, biochemistry, biology, and medical sciences.
For acceptance into the program, students should have outstanding
grades in a rigorous curriculum, and applicants should have completed
organic chemistry, physics, and physical chemistry courses. The GRE
general test and subject tests are not required. Foreign students are
required to take the TOEFL. We are especially interested in candidates
with research experience. Finally, the letters from the applicant’s
references are extremely important, as is the applicant’s personal
statement. Underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.
Administration
The chair of the department is the director of the graduate programs and
has the ultimate responsibility for administering the graduate programs in
Physiology or Biophysics. A Program Steering Committee oversees the
graduate programs and advises the Chair of the Student Admissions &
Affairs Committee (SAAC) on specific needs of the programs. Steering
Committee members select faculty members to serve on the SAAC and
oversee the appointment of committees that deal with developing new
courses along with the review and updating of existing courses.
The Steering Committee and the SAAC Chair work jointly to supervise
the appointment of faculty to run the departmental seminar series and
plan the departmental retreat. Student Seminar Days are organized by
faculty members who are running the department seminar series in a
given year.
The Student Admissions & Affairs
Committee (SAAC)
The SAAC oversees the day-to-day operations of the graduate
programs, including: student recruitment, admissions, orientation,
rotations, assignment of dissertation advisors, and qualifying
examinations. The SAAC is comprised of 5–7 faculty members who
adequately represent the diverse research interests within the
department.
The SAAC serves many roles in the department. The SAAC is charged
with overseeing student affairs and academic standing, curriculum
development, and administering the qualifying examination. The SAAC
is also available to help with student problems and to mediate issues
between students and advisors.