phd student biotechnology

Ph.D. Program

The training for a Ph.D. in Biology is focused on helping students achieve their goals of being a successful research scientist and teacher, at the highest level. Students work closely with an established advisor and meet regularly with a committee of faculty members to facilitate their progress. The Biology Ph.D. program is part of the larger Biosciences community at Stanford, which includes doctorate programs in the basic science departments at Stanford Medical School. 

There are two tracks within the Biology Ph.D. program:

• Cell, Molecular and Organismal Biology
• Ecology and Evolution

(Previously a part of the Department of Biology Hopkins Marine Station is now a part of the Oceans Department within  Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability )

All  tracks are focused on excellence in research and teaching in their respective areas; where there are differences between the tracks, they are indicated in the links below. 

Requirements & Forms

Dissertation defense, cellular and molecular biology training program, stanford biology ph.d. preview program, career development resources.

Ph.D. Programs

Educational Opportunities in Biotechnology

The Biotechnology Program at UC Davis offers educational programs for current UC Davis students that are seeking a designated emphasis in biotechnology as part of their Ph.D. program as well as opportunities for employees at regional biotechnology companies to pursue a doctoral degree. To date, over 750 students have gone through these programs.

The Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) is a program that allows Ph.D. students from different UC Davis graduate programs to receive and be credited for specialized education and training in the field of biotechnology.

Corporate Employees

The Advanced Degree Program for corporate employees was established to enable employees at regional biotechnology, biomedical, or bioscience corporations to pursue a doctoral degree in relevant fields to advance their careers.

Biological Sciences

• Mellon College of Science

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences

The mission of the Ph.D. program in Biological Sciences is to train new generations of scientific leaders who make significant and distinctive contributions to society. The department has established a broad range of resources to enable the students to define and achieve their personal mission. With this broad goal in mind, our specific objectives are to mentor students to:

Become contributing, impactful members of their discipline. This requires:

• Being familiar with literature and history of the field
• Understanding how the discipline has evolved and where it is headed
• Identifying novel and important questions
• Identifying desired personal impact on the field.
• Mastering approaches and techniques
• Appreciating the impact of the discipline on a broader community
• Establishing visible profile in the field

Develop professional skills in :

• Scientific writing (papers, proposals, traditional and social media)
• Oral presentation
• Team management (including interdisciplinary teams)
• Communication, networking, connecting with community of researchers & science professionals
• Time management, life/work balance

Establish career development plans through :

• Establishing sense of scholarly citizenship
• Knowing the types of careers paths following from Ph.D. training
• Developing personal career goals
• Appreciating skills required to achieve career goals and how to align personal training with these goals 

Ph.D. Student Research Videos

Emily simon (linstedt lab), andrew wolff (hinman lab).

• Online Application

" CMU provides an innovative environment, where technology meets deep scientific thinking. I received constant guidance both for my research projects and career path. I had the opportunity to explore different areas and expand my imagination about what is possible to discover in biology, by taking selective courses and consulting faculty with a broad range of expertise. Through presenting at international conferences, I established scientific collaborations, which lead to significant findings and publications, one of which is in the highly regarded journal  Nature . A key perk of being a part of the Department of Biological Sciences is the alumni network of CMU, which consists of overachieving and fearless individuals. As a recent hire of a company started by two CMU alumni, I am excited to continue my pursuit of discovering the unknown and challenging the current limits of experimental sciences ."

" One of the characteristics of CMU that I particularly loved was the extensive levels of collaborations between research groups, even from seemingly unrelated fields. Such exquisite collaborations often further the frontiers of research and being a graduate student at CMU allowed me to lead and be a part of such high quality research. This is primarily due to the excellent faculty at CMU who are always interested in exploring new ideas and are very approachable which gave me immense encouragement  ..... Pittsburgh also provided ample opportunities to pursue my varied hobbies, be it art and music or skiing and rock climbing. This was particularly important for me as it provided a way to switch off from research and rejuvenate. "

" As a prospective student in neuroscience, most of the graduate programs I applied to were neuroscience only programs. One of the biggest reasons I am so glad I chose the Biological Sciences graduate program at CMU, is because I not only gained access to excellent training in the field of neuroscience, but I was surrounded by faculty, post-docs, and other graduate students from many other disciplines. This provided me with different perspectives on my research and enabled me to have access to, learn, and incorporate a variety of techniques from different fields during my graduate experience. It also provided me with experience working as part of an interdisciplinary team, which is a very important part of my job now as I work closely with faculty from mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. "

• Graduate Students
• Administration