Graduate Student Handbook (may take a minute to download)

Course Work

Year 1. All entering students take the core sequence consisting of MOCB 630 Molecular Genetics (3 cr) and MICB 701 Teaching Training (1 cr) in the Fall. In the Spring, students will take MOCB 639 (3 cr) Advanced Cell Biology and MICB 760 Advanced Virology (3 cr). All courses will be taught on the University of Maryland campus. After the first year, students will be familiar with modern molecular and cellular biology and how viruses in general reproduce and interact with their hosts.

Year 2. Second year students will take MICB 688V Special Topics in Virology I (2 cr) in the Fall. In the Spring, students will take BIOL 600 Responsible Conduct of Scientific Research and MICB 688L Virology Journal Club.

Year 3. Third year students will take MICB 688W Special Topics in Virology II (2 cr) in the Fall. Although students are only required to take the Special Topics course twice, they will be highly encouraged to attend the course in all remaining years. In the Spring of the third year and all remaining years, students will take MICB688L Journal Club in Virology.

Description of the core courses

Molecular Genetics This course introduces students to methods of genetic analysis of model organisms such as E. coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, Drosophila melanogaster, mouse and humans. Methods for the identification of informative mutations, particularly those that reveal new genes or new gene functions, are studied for each species. Also presented are methods for testing the expression and function of wild-type and modified genes. and how genetic analysis in non-model organisms is facilitated by information from model systems. The course emphasizes in-depth analysis of papers in the primary literature of molecular genetics by students in the class. This course is a requirement of all CBMG graduate students.

Advanced Cell Biology This course focuses on the concepts and current developments in modern cell biology. Topics covered include signal transduction, cytoskeleton, cell cycle, membrane trafficking, and membrane channels. The course involves lectures, paper discussion, and writing of an original research proposal. This course insures that students develop a full understanding of the powerful research methods in cell biology and the skill to gather information from the literature and identify interesting research topics. This course is a requirement of all CBMG graduate students.

Advanced Virology This course uses the text “Principles of Virology” by S.J. Flint et al. and concentrates on animal RNA/DNA viruses and host responses to viral infections. In addition to topics on replication and gene expression, students become familiar with the latest research on retroviruses, pathogenesis, virus evolution and establishment of the antiviral state. Modern methods of purifying viruses and viral components, determining virus structure and assessing virus titers is also covered. Near the end of the semester, small groups of students present a seminar and recent journal paper on topics that focus on the replication and gene expression of RNA viruses and retroviruses. At the completion of the course, students have an advanced understanding of molecular mechanisms of virus replication for several important families of animal viruses.

Special Topics in Virology I and II This course will be taken twice for credit by students in their second and third years and students will be encouraged to sit in on the class during their remaining years. The course is team taught by all the Virology faculty, with each faculty member presenting two weeks of lectures on his/her research area every other year. This course allows students to become familiar with virus replication and gene expression (and other topics in Virology) in a wide variety of systems including DNA and RNA viruses with human, animal, plant and fungal hosts and such unusual infectious agents as viroids and prions. Students become familiar with the research process by having prominent virologists describe not only recent results but the history of their project. This course allows students to become familiar with how research is conducted in a number of systems and thus help breakdown barriers that exist between studies on replication and gene expression in plant, animal, and fungal systems. Since many faculty work on vaccine development, students will learn how basic research is applied to real life problems in health and agriculture.

Virology Journal Club In the semester that the Special Topics in Virology course does not meet (ie., Spring semester), students will be required to participate in the Virology Journal Club, which is also attended by postdoctoral researchers and faculty. Students present papers on a variety of topics and systems in Virology and participation in discussions is fostered. Students learn to become comfortable with the literature on a number of different systems and learn how to critically analyze experiments and results.

Responsible Conduct of Scientific Research Two members of the biology faculty, in conjunction with their NIH training grant on Neuroethology, annually team-teach this course that deals with scientific ethics. The course will be required of all students.

Additional elective courses

Students may choose, in consultation with their research director and their dissertation committee, to take additional elective courses.

Laboratory rotations

The multi-institutional nature of our Virology Training Program is a great strength but can also be a weakness if students are not required/encouraged to fully explore their research options. Furthermore, courses and TA assignments for first year students will be at the University of Maryland, thus adding additional logistical complications to students wishing to explore laboratories at the NIH. Therefore, laboratory rotations for first year students have been freshly designed with the nature of our unique program in mind. During their first semester, all students, in consultation with two Virology faculty members who comprise the First Year Student Committee, will choose 3 laboratories to rotate through for three weeks each. Virology Faculty members with space for predoctoral students will submit a statement of possible dissertation projects to the New Student Committee, who will make the information available to the students. One laboratory will be required to be selected from faculty at NIH. This NIH rotation will be conducted during intersession (in January) when students will have no teaching or course work, allowing for logistical ease in commuting to the NIH campus. It will also allow for students to visit several laboratories at the NIH since there are no other program commitments during this time period. While two weeks is insufficient for the conducting of research during these rotations, it is sufficient to allow students to explore many diverse Virology labs, interact with PIs, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, learn about the systems being studied, the techniques being used and the questions being addressed. By the end of January, students will select one of these rotation aboratories in which to conduct a one semester rotation, extending through the end of June. At this time, students can elect to remain in their rotation lab and begin their dissertation research, or they can choose another laboratory in which to conduct a summer rotation. Before the beginning of their second year, students will be required to choose a dissertation laboratory. The First Year Student Committee will rotate membership each year, with Committee members encouraged to develop close relationships with the new students such that they can become part of the mentoring process throughout the training of the students.

Teaching

All students should have some experience teaching and working with undergraduates. This not only enhances opportunities for future employment by having direct teaching experience, it also helps the trainees develop communication skills that will be useful through all phases of their scientific careers. Students will be required to teach for at least one semester, which in nearly all cases will be the first semester of their first year. This semester was chosen as to be the least disruptive to students conducting dissertation research off campus.

Seminars

All Units with faculty involved in the Virology Training Program sponsor weekly seminar speakers. First semester students will be required to attend the CBMG seminar series. After the first semester, students can continue to attend the CBMG seminars or attend the weekly seminars presented in the program units or their laboratory director.

Monthly group meetings

Informal interaction between faculty and students is an integral part of our training program. Since September 2000, the Virology faculty, their students and postdocs, have met monthly for 1½ hour sessions on the University of Maryland campus. Two faculty labs present their current research each month. Talks are given by faculty, postdocs, and senior predoctoral trainees and include guest talks from other Virology researchers at nearby institutions, including other investigators at NIH. These talks have led to many lively discussions and a much better appreciation and understanding of different systems by both faculty and students. Some of the labs break into groups after the meeting to discuss specific research topics in more detail.

Yearly retreat

With the large number of labs in the Virology Program, it is doubtful that trainees will have the opportunity to present their research more than once at the monthly group meetings. For that reason, and to foster increased interactions by members of the Virology Training Program, the Virology Program will hold an annual retreat at one of the institutions in the Virology Training Program. In 2004, the retreat will be held at the University of Maryland Student Union on Saturday, October 2nd. The retreat will feature two guest speakers (One is Dr. James Van Etten). In addition, there will be talks from faculty, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in the program, and two large poster sessions where all trainees and other graduate students and postdocs not presenting talks will present their research. This will allow trainees the opportunity to become familiar with describing their research to a diverse virology audience in preparation for similar presentations at national and international virology meetings. Other institutions (within a 30 minute drive of the University of Maryland) who will be invited in future years to participate in the annual meeting include: University of Maryland Baltimore County, Frederick Cancer Research Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Advancement to candidacy

By the end of their fourth semester, trainees, in conjunction with their research advisor, will choose a Research Committee whose first assignment will be to conduct the Admission to Candidacy Examination. The Examination is held in two parts. Students will be required to write and submit a research proposal by the end of their 5th semester that summarizes the relevant literature, objectives, experimental methods, and significance of a research project that the student and the advisor believe is appropriate for a PhD dissertation. A meeting based upon the written proposal will be held at which time the committee will either approve the proposal or suggest changes. By the end of the 6th semester, the official Admission to Candidacy Oral Examination will be held. In particular, the student is expected: 1) to exhibit a sophisticated understanding of the advanced knowledge necessary to conceptualize and to perform the critical experiments in the research proposal; 2) to defend the project outlined in the research proposal as having the potential to become appropriate and worthy of a high-quality PhD dissertation; and 3) to demonstrate considerable ability for independent and creative thinking as it relates to the identification of important questions, the design of experimental hypotheses, and the testing of those hypotheses in other relevant research areas not addressed in the proposal. In addition, the faculty reserve the option to ask general knowledge questions in other areas of Virology. After passing the Advancement to Candidacy Exam, students will be required to hold yearly meetings with their Research Committee (although more can be scheduled, if desired).

Monitoring and guidance of students

The Virology Training Program places great emphasis on the monitoring and guidance of trainees. When students first arrive, they will have individual meetings with the First Year Student Committee, which is composed of one member from NIH and a second member from either CBMG, CBR, VetMed or USDA. The First Year Student Committee will help students choose laboratories for their five rotations (based on the interests of the students) and help them navigate the logistics of rotating at the NIH and USDA (e.g., transportation and parking). Students can contact the committee members as needed during their first year to help with any classroom, TA, or research situations that arise. When students choose a dissertation laboratory, the guidance duties will switch to the laboratory’s Virology faculty member and the Program Director. In addition, at least once each semester following the monthly group meetings, the program director will meet with predoctoral trainees to discuss any concerns that they are having about their training experience, and ways of improving the Virology Training Program. In addition, the trainees will have developed relationships with members of their First Year Committee, and students will be encouraged to stay in contact with, and approach Committee members for advise any time during the training period.

Trainee progress will be monitored at the end of the first year with regards to coursework, teaching and research. Such monitoring is the first line of evaluation of each predoctoral trainee. In addition, since predoctoral traineeship awards are made on a yearly basis, the Selection Committee will evaluate all trainees who request renewal of their support for a additional year to determine research progress as well as if they are fulfilling the requirements of the program, participating in seminars, monthly meetings and journal clubs. Trainees, and their mentors, will be asked to provide input to the evaluation process and the trainees are given feedback as to the findings of the Selection Committee. Our previous records as individuals indicate great success at placing our students in quality postdoctoral positions and many of our previous students are now heading their own laboratories in BioMedical Fields.