Graduate Program
The interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, established over 45 years ago, trains students in the frontiers of Genetics research and develops leaders that meet the upcoming challenges in the field of Genetics. The program has been supported for 40 years by a NIH grants.
Students enrolling in the program are encouraged to obtain a broad background in genetics while being flexible enough to permit students to choose a program of formal courses that fits their individual needs. Courses are chosen from the Genetics Program list as well as from participating departments.
Currently, about 40 Ph.D. students are enrolled in the program. The program includes over 70 faculty from 18 departments in four colleges at the University of Iowa studying all fields of modern Genetics.
Students conduct research rotations in 3 faculty labs before affiliating with one of these for their thesis research. To earn their PhD in Genetics, students will complete and publish a significant research project. To help prepare students for academic careers, they will participate in an interactive course in scientific integrity, and they will serve as part-time Teaching Assistants for 2 semesters. Thus, our PhD graduates are well equipped to meet the challenges of their postdoctoral paths.
Subtrack
The area of Bioinformatics that deals with computational analysis of large datasets from all branches of Genetics research. This subtrack provides students with strength both in the biological aspects of Genetics and in the computational theory and tools for bioinformatic analyses.
Typical Year of Graduate School in the Genetics Program
Description of first and second year requirements in our program