Curriculum

During orientation, all the first year graduate students in all the different program attend a mini-course that explains how to establish the framework for an experimental project, how to set up a system, design experiments within that system, and how to determine and use the correct set of controls. This course also covers an introduction to rigor and reproducibility in experimentation that is necessary for all the students. Students also get mandatory training in Laboratory Safety, an orientation on sexual violence and response, as well as discrimination, harassment, and gender-based misconduct policy. Students also get a lecture on Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), where they will also receive the publication "On Being a Scientist," as well as Columbia University's institutional RCR policy.

To select a rotation, the incoming students should study the website to determine with which faculty members they may be interested in doing a laboratory rotation. The Program Director (PD) meets with each student individually to discuss his/her rotation choices and provides extensive input on the selection of the rotation. At the end of the rotation, the PD receives written evaluation from faculty mentors, and discusses the evaluation with the student to examine problems that may have arisen and how they can be addressed.

• First year fall semester: Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology I and Mechanisms of Human Disease I
• First year spring semester: Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology II; Mechanisms of Human Disease II; and Statistics for Basic Scientists
• Second year fall semester: Molecular Genetics
• Second year spring semester: Cellular Tissue & Architecture and Responsible Conduct of Research

During the second year, students prepare for their qualifying examination. This examination is used as a formal evaluation of the student's potential as a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. It is designed to assess the student's ability to develop a sophisticated, in-depth understanding of their thesis project and it also serves as a tool for identifying deficiencies in the students' background that could be remedied by further coursework or additional reading.

During the fall of the third year, the students have their first meeting with their Thesis Committee. The Thesis Committee is typically the same as the qualifying examination committee, although occasionally one of the members might be replaced, especially if the student's research is going in a different direction. This Committee provides scientific expertise related to the student's projects and monitors thesis research. For the first Committee meeting that is held either in the spring or summer of the second year, the student presents a short written report that contains the Specific Aims of their proposal and any progress they have made since the qualifying examination. The Committee discusses with the student the progress to date and the priorities for the order in which the work will proceed, as well as the chosen design of experiments. It is possible that the Committee may recommend changes to the experimental design or priorities. The Committee also decides when to have the next meeting, which can be either in 3, 6 or 9 months, but no longer than one year. For these subsequent meetings, the student prepares a 1-2 page report outlining their progress on the previous aims and presents their timetable for finishing their thesis work. The Committee can and should recommend improvements to experimental strategies and fallback plans for difficult or risky experiments.

Thesis Committees

During the fall of the third year, the students have their first meeting with their Thesis Committee. The Thesis Committee is typically the same as the qualifying examination committee, although occasionally one of the members might be replaced, especially if the student's research is going in a different direction. This Committee provides scientific expertise related to the student's projects and monitors thesis research. For the first Committee meeting that is held either in the spring or summer of the second year, the student presents a short written report that contains the Specific Aims of their proposal and any progress they have made since the qualifying examination. The Committee discusses with the student the progress to date and the priorities for the order in which the work will proceed, as well as the chosen design of experiments. It is possible that the Committee may recommend changes to the experimental design or priorities. The Committee also decides when to have the next meeting, which can be either in 3, 6 or 9 months, but no longer than one year. For these subsequent meetings, the student prepares a 1-2 page report outlining their progress on the previous aims and presents their timetable for finishing their thesis work. The Committee can and should recommend improvements to experimental strategies and fallback plans for difficult or risky experiments.

After the thesis committee gives its approval for the student to finish writing the thesis, the defense is scheduled. The final thesis committee consists of the mentor, three existing thesis committee members, and one additional examiner. If the additional examiner is outside the University, they have to be approved by the Program and the Dissertation Office as a competent examiner. The thesis should be submitted to the committee two weeks before the scheduled defense. A public presentation is given immediately before the closed defense. At the time of the closed defense, the student may be asked to make additional revisions that will then need to be approved by the mentor and one other member of the committee (assigned at the time of the defense.) On rare occasions, the student may be required to do additional experimental work, extensive thesis revisions or a second dissertation defense. Students are required to submit a first author paper before their defense.