Graduate Studies
PhD in Medicinal Biochemistry
You will need to complete 64 semester hours with a B average (GPA 3.0) to graduate. If you have an assistantship, you will need to maintain a GPA of 3.0 at all times to keep the assistantship. To complete the program in 4-5 years, you will need to take 7-8 credits in each semester excluding Summer. You do not need to register for any courses during the Summer Semester, unless you graduate during Summer. The following courses are required:
Coursework
- CHE 556 Receptor Biochemistry (3 credits)
- CHE 557 Nucleic Acid Biochemistry (3 credits)
- CHE 656 Enzyme Mechanisms (3 credits)
- CHE 663 Medicinal Chemistry (3 credits)
- CHE 660 Biochemical Pharmacology and Disease Targets (3 credits)
Seminars
- CHE 751 Graduate Seminar I (1 credit)
- CHE 752 Graduate Seminar II (1 credit)
You are expected to attend all posted seminars for the entire time of graduate study, even during semesters you are not enrolled in a seminar course.
Dissertation Research course
- CHE 799 Dissertation (12 credits)
Electives and additional research
You may take elective and research courses as advised by your Dissertation advisor and committee in order to focus in one of the 3 research tracks in the program.
Other Requirements
Directed graduate research: Students will choose a research advisor and should begin their dissertation research within the first 3 months of the starting the program.
Qualifiers: Students will be required to pass two oral examinations for full admission into the program. These examinations must occur within 24 months of entering the program. The first examination will be given after the student has chosen a dissertation advisor and will be in the form of a public presentation of a research proposal, based on the research the student will be performing. A second exam will follow in which that proposal, written in the NIH style, will be defended in a private meeting with the students dissertation committee. The student must satisfactorily complete the oral presentation before defending the written proposal. Students will be given one opportunity to re-take the qualifiers if they are unsuccessful on the first attempt. After successful completion of the qualifiers, students may begin enrolling for dissertation research, CHE 799. Prior to the completion of the qualifiers, students may enroll in “Research Problems in Medicinal Biochemistry” CHE 780.
Internship: A particularly novel aspect of the PhD in Medicinal Biochemistry is the potential for internship experience. During one summer or semester, the student may work in a full time internship position in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company within North Carolina . This experience will provide the student with first-hand knowledge about how industry works. Students will work on a project to be determined by the company sponsoring the internship, with the approval of the student’s dissertation committee. Students whose future workplace is in industry will have a distinct advantage after this experience, because they will have gained knowledge about industry that cannot be acquired in an academic department. Students whose future workplace is in academia or government laboratories will also have gained a valuable understanding of how industry works.
Seminar: Students are required to attend all departmental seminars on Friday afternoons.
Dissertation Committee: Students must choose a dissertation committee prior to the completion of 18 semester hours in the program. The committee must consist of 4 members of the graduate faculty, two of which must be full members. The chair of the committee must be a graduate faculty member of the home department.
Dissertation: Students must complete a written research dissertation and give a public oral presentation of their completed work while registered for Che 752 seminar. In addition, the student must defend this dissertation orally to his/her dissertation committee. The seminar and dissertation defense should occur in the same term that the student applies for graduation.
Annual Reports: Each year students meet with their committee and review a brief written report (prepared by the student), which details research progress made during the preceding year.
