Zoology - PhD

The Department of Integrative Biology is the administrative home of the Zoology Graduate Program, which provides M.S. and Ph.D. training in the following broad subject areas: cellular and molecular biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, physiology, ecology, evolution, and animal behavior. Each student’s course of study is tailored to his or her individual interests, career goals, and needs, and we admit students with diverse academic backgrounds. Many students enter with an undergraduate degree and proceed immediately to a Ph.D. or M.S. degree. Other students first receive a M.S. degree and then proceed to a Ph.D. The path taken by a student results from a deliberative process that involves discussions between the student and the student’s advisor and advisory committee.

The Department of Integrative Biology faculty strongly believes that graduate education should be distinguished from undergraduate education in recognition of individuality and emphasis on responsibility in graduate students. This philosophy requires flexibility and is not well served by the imposition of many formal requirements to be met by all students. Rather, more emphasis is placed on the role of advisory committees in devising programs of breadth and depth appropriate for individual students with due regard to areas outside of biology which are important for the student's effectiveness in their chosen field.