Education
The Department of Biochemistry offers a Ph.D. degree. The program of study is designed to prepare students for careers in research and teaching. The major emphasis is training in research. Students work closely with a dissertation adviser and members of a research group on novel and important biological problems at the molecular level. Group size averages about 10, with a maximum of about 15 students and postdocs. To promote interaction among students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members, laboratory rooms are shared by members of various research groups. In addition to offering students access to all of the faculty members, this unique arrangement encourages collaboration between groups and has fostered the development of many new technologies. Predoctoral training begins in the fall of each year.
Courses in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology are taught by the faculty, and advanced courses in specialized areas are also offered. These include the chemistry and biology of proteins, nucleic acids, and membranes; biological regulatory mechanisms; mechanistic aspects of enzyme action; bioinformatics and genomics; and molecular and genetic aspects of cellular and developmental biology. The program of study is created in consultation with the adviser to best fulfill each student’s educational goals. Graduate students learn about teaching by assisting in the departmental teaching programs.
All of the biosciences departments and programs at Stanford participate in a flexible admissions program. This unique program offers first-year graduate students immersion into a particular research environment that matches the student’s interests in a home program while also offering a choice of laboratory rotations and a research adviser from all of the more than 100 bioscience research laboratories at Stanford.
