Overview

The primary goal of the Graduate Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) is to provide students with high quality training in preparation for productive careers in research and teaching in the general fields of molecular and cellular biology. The program includes 70 faculty with primary appointments in the department of Biological Sciences and the department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, Genetics, Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology, Pathology, and Physiology of Dartmouth Medical School and in the Thayer School of Engineering.

The MCB Graduate Program provides students with a wide range of research opportunities, extensive course offerings, and broad exposure to research outside of Dartmouth through a number of seminar series composed of speakers from across the US and Canada as well as from overseas. Additional activities of the program include retreats, an annual Life Sciences Symposium held each October, a number of weekly journal clubs, and student research-in-progress seminars. In addition, each summer the students host seminar speakers from around the country and the world while they are in New Hampshire attending the annual Gordon Conferences.

Only students who intend to pursue the Ph.D. degree full-time are accepted into the program. Graduate training begins with research rotations, a set of required courses, and advanced electives. Students entering the program may choose from among the combined faculty for their three research rotations during their first year of graduate study. Following the completion of three research rotations, students will choose a thesis advisor. Graduate training culminates in the production of a publishable thesis based on original laboratory research in the student's chosen field of investigation.