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BCP Program Framework

Biological Chemistry Program Overview

The Biological Chemistry Program (BCP) is an NIH supported graduate training program that can be joined as a track through two departments: Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the Medicinal Chemistry Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The program is interdisciplinary and students undertake research rotations, courses and seminars involving all three departments. The background for BCP students is expected to include a year of biochemistry and a year of physical chemistry. In our program, students:

• Satisfy all home department requirements. It is expected that students will remain in good academic standing in their home department, and will achieve candidacy and the Ph.D. degree through that department.
• Undertake research rotations in at least two programs. Generally, 2 rotations are taken in the fall and 2 in the spring of the first year, and, for BCP students, laboratories in at least two BCP programs must be included. Students often choose their thesis advisor by spring break and the fourth rotation can be in this lab even if previously visited. A rotation poster session is held during our Journal Club after each rotation period. Students are expected to devote 10-15 hours per week to the rotation and will receive a grade. Rotations are an excellent hands-on opportunity to learn about a new area of research as well as for learning more about a potential thesis lab. Students are encouraged to use one of their rotations for something completely out of their experience – for example, a synthetic chemist might try cloning and expressing a protein.
• Undertake one cross-disciplinary core courses and an ethics course. BCP students must use one of their electives for core courses outside of their home deiscipline, in addition to satisfying all requirementf for their home deree program. In general, students must have at least one course from the Biological and Chemical core courses listed below. Students must also take an ethics course such as MCB695e.
• Undertake thesis research with any of the ~35 BCP faculty, regardless of home department. Although most students will have a thesis advisor from their home department, we offer the opportunity for BCP students to work with any of the BCP faculty.
• Assemble a thesis committee with at least one member outside of their home program. Generally this person will be a BCP faculty member with cross-disciplinary interests in the student’s research area. Students are encouraged to use this as a means for initiating cross-disciplinary collaborations.
• Attend the weekly BCP Journal Club. Attend the weekly BCP Journal Club. The BCP Journal Club is a forum to discuss subjects of contemporary interest from the literature and also for members of the BCP program to share their research results. Students are expected to attend throughout their graduate careers. Generally, students will present rotation posters in the Journal Club during their first year and will subequently give two 50 minute presentations during their graduate career. The first presentation will be in the third year of study, and could be a presentation of a journal article from the literature or a talk about their research project if desired. The second talk will be a full research seminar, to be held in the fourth year of study or later.
• Are eligible for BCP fellowships. Applications are solicited each spring; awards are made based on merit, generally within the second and third years.

• Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
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