Ph.D. Requirements and Curriculum

Graduate Curriculum Requirements For The PhD

The requirements listed below are the minimum requirements to be met by all students in the Ph.D. program.   The student's supervisory committee may require or recommend additional courses as deemed appropriate, based on the student's background and research plans.

Graded Course Requirements

1. A total of 18 graded credits are required before taking the General Exam, and a minimum 2.7 grade in each course is required. Students are required to take courses in bacteriology, virology, and biostatistics chosen from the following lists, with the required minimum number of credits indicated for each area of study. 

   Bacteriology (3 credits)
   •    CONJ 557 (Spring, 2 credits), Microbial Evolution
   •    CONJ 558 (Winter, 1.5 credits), Prokaryotic Biology

   Virology (3 credits)
   •    MICROM 540 (Autumn, even years, 3 credits), Virology
   •    MCB 532 (Autumn, odd years, 3 credits), Human Pathogenic Viruses

   Biostatistics (2 credits)
   •    BIOSTAT 511    (Autumn, 4 credits), Introduction to Statistics in Health Sciences
   •    UCONJ 510 (Summer, 2 credits), Introductory Laboratory Based Biostatistics

   The remaining credits (for a total of 18 graded credits) can come from taking more than the minimum number of credits in each distribution or from additional departmentally approved 500-level graduate courses listed in Appendix 1. If you are interested in a class that is not listed, please petition the Graduate Program Policy and Advising Committee (GPAC) by contacting the chair for permission to have it count towards the degree before you take the class.  Note that courses change, so verify course details online.  Also investigate the anticipated workload, which varies considerably among graduate classes. Program policy limits you to no more than 6 graded credits per quarter.

Program Academic Requirements

1. Attending departmental seminars (MICROM 520) and “Work in Progress” (WIP, MICROM 522) is mandatory. Both courses are graded Credit/No-Credit. Departmental seminars are crucial for contributing to the breadth of student knowledge, and students must register for seminar each year of graduate school. WIP serves to develop oral presentation skills. Students must register for WIP through year 5 and will be scheduled and must present in WIP every year of graduate school. The requirement for a grade of “Credit” and the manner in which this requirement will be assessed will be conveyed to students at the beginning of the academic year.  A grade of “No-Credit” will result in a warning, which may escalate to Probation, Final Probation, and Drop (see https://grad.uw.edu/policies/3-7-academic-performance-and-progress/) should the deficiency not be addressed satisfactorily. Failure to register for WIP will immediately escalate to Probation.
2. While completing the course requirements, students should register for enough MICROM 500 or MICROM 600 to bring their total credits to 10-18 per quarter in Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Register for exactly 2 credits in Summer, which is either UCONJ 510 (to fulfill the biostatistics requirement) or MICROM 600.  When graded credit requirements have been fulfilled, register for MICROM 600 prior to completing the General Exam and for MICROM 800 after passing the General Exam for a total of 10-18 credits per quarter during the academic year and for exactly 2 credits during summer quarter.
3. BIOETHICS. All of our students must complete either 8 hours of Biomedical Research Integrity: Responsible Conduct of Research training (register at https://www.washington.edu/research/required-training/biomedical-research-integrity-program-nih-required-responsible-conduct-of-research-rcr-training/) or Bioethics 101 taught by the Biochemistry Department (register for the Winter Quarter BIOC 533), by the end of Summer quarter of the second year.
4. TA one laboratory course in Microbiology. Developing good teaching skills is an important part of graduate training. Students will be assigned to TA a specific course by the Microbiology Teaching Faculty. Generally, students teach in their second year, and the teaching requirement must be met by the end of the second year. This an academic requirement and does not constitute a change in ASE duties as outlined in the annual appointment letter. Note that for students who entered the program prior to Autumn 2024, two TAships are required.
5. Creditable passage of the Topic Exam.
6. Present a lecture in an undergraduate Microbiology course, preferably in the fourth or fifth years. Arrangements for giving these lectures can be made by contacting individual course directors. For example, this requirement can be fulfilled by presenting lectures in the undergraduate methods course (MICROM 431). At the conclusion of the lecture, students must complete a self-assessment (Microbiology Undergraduate Lecture Self-Assessment) and review their answers with the course instructor(s) within 2 weeks of the lecture. The completed self-assessment must be sent to the GPA (microgpa@uw.edu) as evidence of completion of the lecture requirement. Note that for students who entered the program prior to Autumn 2021, two lectures are required.
7. Be first author on at least one paper related to thesis research, which is published or accepted for publication in refereed journals prior to the thesis defense.

First Year Students (mandatory, not graded)
MICROM	599	2	A	Faculty Research Presentations for 1st year students
Throughout Graduate School (mandatory, not graded)
MICROM	520	1	A,W,Sp	Micro Seminar series
MICROM	522	1	A,W,Sp	Work in Progress (WIP)
Conditional (mandatory, not graded)
MICROM	500	(var)	A,W,Sp, Su	Lab Rotations. Minimum of 3 quarters. First Year
MICROM	600	(var)	A,W,Sp, Su	Independent Study Lab research.  Prior to passing general exam.
MICROM	800	(var)	A,W,Sp, Su	Doctoral Dissertation.  After passing general exam.

Graduate School Requirements

(https://grad.uw.edu/policies/1-1-graduate-degree-requirements/)

1. Completion of a program of study and research as planned by the Graduate Program Coordinator in the student's major department or college and by the Ph.D. Supervisory Committee. At least 18 credits of course work at the 500 level and above must be completed prior to scheduling the General Examination.  Note that this includes classes that are not graded (CR/NC).
2. Presentation of 90 credits, 60 of which must be taken at the University of Washington.
3. Numerical grades must be received in at least 18 quarter credits of course work taken at the University of Washington prior to scheduling the General Examination. The Graduate School accepts numerical grades in departmentally approved 400 and 500 level courses. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required for a graduate degree at the University.
4. Completion of a total of 60 credits prior to scheduling the General Examination (a master's degree from the UW or another institution may be used as a substitute for 30 of these credits).
5. Creditable passage of the General Examination.  Registration and completion of credits as a graduate student is required the quarter the exam is taken and candidacy is conferred.
6. The Candidate must register and complete a minimum of 27 credits of dissertation (MICROM 800) over a period of at least three quarters.  At least one quarter must come after the student passes the General Examination. With the exception of summer, when students take 2 credits, students are limited to a maximum of 10 credits per quarter of dissertation (MICROM 800).
7. Creditable passage of a Final Examination, which is usually devoted to the defense of the dissertation in the field with which it is concerned. The General and Final Examinations cannot be scheduled during the same quarter. Registration and completion of credit as a graduate student is required the quarter the exam is taken AND the degree is conferred.
8. Preparation of and acceptance by the Dean of the Graduate School of a dissertation that is a significant contribution to knowledge and clearly indicates training in research.
9. Completion of all work for the doctoral degree within ten years. This includes quarters spent On-Leave or out of status as well as applicable work from the master's degree from the University of Washington or a master's degree from another institution, if used to substitute for 30 credits of enrollment.
10. Registration and completion of credits as a full- or part-time graduate student at the University for the quarter in which the degree is conferred (see detailed information under Final Quarter Registration).

Training Grants

All U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to apply for training grants.

APPENDIX 1:  Other Courses

The following courses are approved to count towards the degree.  Keep in mind that we try to keep this list accurate; however, departmental offerings change from year to year.  And, the quarter in which courses are offered, especially conjoints (CONJ), can vary.  Note that the categories are based on the course title rather than a thorough review of the syllabus.

BIOCHEMISTRY CLASSES:

Dept	Number	Title	Credits	A	W	Sp	Su
B STR	515	Biological X-Ray Structure Analysis	3		X
B STR	519	Current Problems in Macromolecular Structure	2			X
BIOC	440	Biochemistry	4	X
BIOC	441	Biochemistry	4		X
BIOC	442	Biochemistry	4			X
BIOC	530	Introduction to Structural Biology	3	X
BIOC	540*	Literature Review	2	X
BIOC	541*	Literature Review	2		X
BIOC	542*	Literature Review	2			X
CONJ	544	Protein Structure, Modification, and Regulation	1.5		X
CONJ	545	Molecular Interactions and Medicine	1.5			X
GENOME	540	Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology: Genome and Protein Sequence Analysis	4		X
GENOME	555**	Protein Technology	1.5			X
MEDCH	541	Biological Mass Spectrometry	3			X

CELL BIOLOGY CLASSES:

Dept	Number	Title	Credits	A	W	Sp	Su
CONJ	524	Structural Basis of Signal Transduction	1.5		X
CONJ	530	Directing Stem Cells Toward Regenerative Medicine	3			X
CONJ	531	Signaling Mechanisms in Excitable Cells	1.5	X
CONJ	532	Signal Transduction from the Cell Membrane to the Nucleus	1.5	X
CONJ	533	The Dynamic Chromosome	1.5	X
CONJ	537	Mechanism of Transcriptional Regulation	1.5	X
CONJ	542	Development	1.5	X
CONJ	583	Molecular Targets in Cancer Therapy	1.5	X
GENOME	551**	Principles of Gene Regulation	1.5		X
MCB	539	Biological Basis of Neoplasia	3			X
MCB	543	Logic Constructs and Methodologies of Biological Research	3			X

TEACHING, COMMUNICATING SCIENCE, AND COMMERCIALIZATION:

Dept	Number	Title	Credits	A	W	Sp	Su
BIOL	505	Evidence-Based Teaching in Biology: Teaching for Equity in STEM	2		X
BIOEN	504	Introduction to Technology Commercialization	4	X
CONJ	512	Scientific Speaking Seminar	1.5		X
CONJ	559	Scientific Ideas at Work	1.5		X

GENETICS:

Dept	Number	Title	Credits	A	W	Sp	Su
GENOME	541	Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology: Molecular Evolution	4			X
GENOME	552**	Technologies for Genome Analysis	1.5	X
GENOME	553**	Advanced Genetic Analysis	1.5	X
GENOME	559	Introduction to Statistical and Computational Genomics	3		X
GENOME	561	Molecular Population Genetics and Evolution	1.5		X
GENOME	565	Advanced Human Genetics	4		X
GENOME	570	Phylogenetic Inference	3		X
MCB	533	Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics	3			X

IMMUNOLOGY, MEDICINE, PATHOGENESIS, and OTHERS:

Dept	Number	Title	Credits	A	W	Sp	Su
BIOENG	599	Special Topics – Contemporary Microscopy and Biophotonics	3			X
CONJ	504	Topics of Molecular Medicine	1.5			X
CONJ	526	Introduction to Systems Biology	1.5		X
CONJ	539	Modern Approaches to Vaccines	1.5			X
CWEA	540	Microbiological Process Fundamentals	3	X
EPI	520	Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases	3		X
EPI	527	Vaccines	3	X
EPI	529	Emerging Infections of International Public Health Importance	3
G H	560	Principles of STD/HIV Research	3				X
IMMUN	441	Introduction to Immunology	4	X
IMMUN	532	Intersection of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Disease	4		X
IMMUN	537	Immunological Methods	1.5	X
IMMUN	538	Immunological Based Diseases and Treatments	2			X
IMMUN	550	Selected Topics in Immunology	1	X	X	X
MCB	536	Tools For Computational Biology	3	X
MEDCH	561	Immunizing and Antimicrobial Agents	4			X
MICROM	555	Advanced Clinical Microbiology	2.5	X	X	X
MOLMED	514	Molecular Medicine	1.5		X
MOLMED	540	Medicine in Action	1.5	X	X	X
PABIO	551	Biochemistry and Genetics of Pathogens and Their Hosts	4	X
PABIO	552	Cell Biology of Human Pathogens and Disease	4		X

* These classes are primarily for Biochemistry graduate students, who take them as a cohort.  Microbiology students can take them with permission of the instructor.

** These are smaller Genome Sciences class, so registration may be difficult.