The Department of Microbiology and Immunology, in the School of Medicine, offers programs of study leading to the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science. For admission to the Ph.D. or M.S. program, the applicant must have attained the B.S or B.A. degree with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 point scale). In addition to the completed application form and $50 application fee, the scores of the General Test Section of the Graduate Record Examination and the TOEFL (when applicable), official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work, two letters of recommendation, and a short biographical sketch are required. The applicant must meet the other general requirements of the Graduate School as outlined in the General Information section of this catalog. Applicants are encouraged to apply early as space is limited. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis beginning February 1st.

The applicant is expected to have completed the following: One year of introductory biology, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics, one semester (or equivalent ) of introductory calculus, and one semester of biochemistry.

Prospective students may be invited for a personal interview with members of the department.

Required Courses:

BIOC 645, Graduate Biochemistry I.............................................(4 credit hours)
either
--MBIO 601, Molecular Microbiology.....................................................(2 credit hours) 
--or
-- MBIO 602, Introductory Immunology...............................(2 credit hours)
MBIO 606, Seminar/Journal Club.................................................(2 credit hours)
MBIO 690, Research Methods in Microbiology and Immunology.....(3 credit hours)

MBIO 619, Research............................................................(1-12 credit hours)
MBIO 620, Thesis (optional)...................................................(1-6 credit hours)

Select two from the following list of suggested electives:
MBIO 658, Cellular and Molecular Immunology........................(3 credit hours)
MBIO 667, Cell Biology..............................................................(3 credit hours)
MBIO 670, Molecular Virology....................................................(3 credit hours)
MBIO 680, Genetics of Infectious Disease.....................................(2 credit hours)
MBIO 685, Microbial Physiology..................................................(3 credit hours)
MBIO 687, Microbial Pathogenesis..............................................(2 credit hours)

If the student has satisfactorily completed the required courses and total credit hour requirements with an overall and program GPA of 3.0, then the student may register as an M.S. candidate.

Program of Study
Students admitted to the M.S. Degree Program should select a research advisor, from a thesis committee, and decide upon an area of research in the first semester. The student and advisor should form a committee of three (3), composed of the advisor, one other graduate faculty member of the department, and a third member with graduate faculty status in another department. The second committee member will serve as co-advisor if the advisor does not have primary appointment in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The department chair may serve as an ex-officio member of the thesis committees.

Students in the M.S. program are required to submit and defend a thesis. The thesis must conform to the Graduate School's guidelines. Students, with the consent of the departmental graduate faculty committee, may elect to substitute a written research proposal instead of a traditional thesis, based on laboratory research performed by the student, describing successive research to be pursued. The final oral defense will be preceded by a research seminar open to everyone. The oral examination will be administered by the thesis committee, and will be open to any other interested graduate faculty members. Evaluation of student competence and thesis acceptability, together with departmental recommendations for graduation, will be forwarded to the Dean of the Graduate School.