Trainees on the Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease Traing Grant are enrolled in a variety of Northwestern graduate programs. If you are interested in applying for the training grant, please browse the summaries of these programs below and click on the links or titles of the programs to be taken to the apporpriate website. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

THE INTERBIOLOGICAL SCIENCES PROGRAM (IBiS)

The Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Program (IBiS) is located on the 240-acre main campus in Evanston. IBiS brings together faculty from basic and applied sciences departments (including Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology; Neurobiology and Physiology; Chemistry; Chemical Engineering) and the medical staff of the Evanston Healthcare Research Institute of Evanston Hospital. The program prepares students to become creative and independent research scientists who are able to pursue careers in academics and/or industry.Training focuses on the fundamentals of cellular, molecular and structural biology, with exposure to the key research paradigms upon which these disciplines are built.

After completion of the first year of core courses, electives and laboratory rotations, students pursue research in one of six areas of concentration: biochemistry and biophysics; biotechnology; cell and molecular biology; developmental biology and genetics; molecular endocrinology; and integrative biology. Graduate study in IBiS leads directly to the PhD degree through The Graduate School.

The student/faculty ratio of one-and-a-half to one enhances direct interaction between professors and students in the classroom as well as in the guidance of individual research. A wide range of faculty participate in the various graduate courses, journal clubs and in house research colloquia. These programs are complemented with seminar series sponsored by departments, training programs in the life sciences, university research centers, and The Feinberg School of Medicine. Consequently, students in the IBiS program cross disciplinary boundaries in both their academic training and their thesis research. The Ibis program is designed to be completed in approximately five years. Each student has a committee which follows his or her research and works with the research advisor to ensure timely progress to the PhD.

Applicants should contact the program or see www.biochem.northwestern.edu/ibis/ to learn about program-specific requirements for admission.

 
INTEGRATED GRADUATE PROGRAM (IGP)

Answers to many of the most challenging, interesting, and important questions in modern biomedical and life sciences are best obtained by multidisciplinary approaches that bridge the boundaries among traditional disciplines of research. In recognition of these changing approaches to research, the graduate programs of the basic science departments on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University were combined into a single program: the Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (IGP).

Interests of the faculty of this doctoral training program cover the full range of research in contemporary biomedical and life sciences. Presently, over 130 faculty are available as dissertation research advisors in the IGP. The basic science departments involved in the IGP are Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbiology-Immunology, Pathology, and Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry. Faculty members from several clinical departments also participate in the IGP and are potential student preceptors.

Graduate study in the IGP leads directly to the PhD degree through The Graduate School. The IGP is organized into ten curricular programs: cancer biology, cell biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, immunology and microbial pathogenesis, molecular biology and genetics, neurobiology, pharmacology and toxicology, structural biology and biochemistry, and chemical biology and drug discovery. The PhD program is designed to be completed in four-and-a-half to six years. Choice of a curriculum is nonbinding, and students may move freely from one to another during the first year of graduate study. Course requirements are completed in the first and second years.

Applicants should contact the program or see www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/igp/ to learn about program-specific requirements for admission.

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY INTERDEPARTMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE PROGRAM (NUIN)

In recent years, research on the nervous system has produced many important discoveries in a wide range of disciplines, from molecular biology to electrophysiology and clinical research. At Northwestern, neuroscience is a major area of research on both campuses, involving more than 100 neuroscientists in 25 departments. To facilitate research and training in neuroscience, the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience program (NUIN) was formed in 1989. The Institute offers a core curriculum in neuroscience and organizes various University activities intended to enhance the environment for research and training in neuroscience.

Students working toward a PhD in neuroscience are required to complete three laboratory rotations in their first year. Over the first two years, students must complete nine graded courses, including three required core courses and six electives chosen in consultation with their advisers. Students are expected to have a dissertation adviser by the beginning of their second year. When the student selects a dissertation adviser, the student is automatically affiliated with the adviser's department. If an adviser is a member of more than one department, the student declares one of those departments as his/her "home" department. The choice of electives is governed by the student's adviser.

Applicants should contact the program or see www.northwestern.edu/nuin/ to learn about program-specific requirements for admission.