Program Description
Functional Genomics

This is an integrated program leading to an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Functional Genomics. Students will receive training in the biological, physical, and computational sciences through a combination of courses, workshops, and research seminars. Emphasis will be placed in a high quality research environment and a tutorial relationship between the student, mentor, and program committee. Central to the training is the use of a paired mentoring system, in which a primary mentor will come from the area of the student’s primary area of research, and a secondary mentor will be in a second discipline. These mentors and the student will develop a research project dependent upon interdisciplinary collaborations.

Application requirements: Minimum admission standards are 1) three strong letters of recommendation from qualified individuals in science or engineering, 2) a GPA of 3.5, 3) GRE scores greater than 1800. Exceptional letters of recommendation and significant prior research experience can compensate for weaknesses in GPA or GRE performance.

General program requirements: During the first year, the Executive Committee will serve the role of the program committee until a thesis committee is selected. The Executive Committee includes the Program Director Barbara Knowles, JAX; Co-program Director Keith Hutchison, UMaine; Kate Beard, UMaine; Robert Lad, UMaine; and Don Wojchowski, Maine Medical Center Research Institute. This committee will aid in course and laboratory rotation selection. The thesis committee will consist of 5 faculty members including the research mentors. At least one member must be faculty at the Univ. Maine, Orono, and at least 2 institutions must be represented. The following coursework is required for students in this program:

Annual Short Course in Medical and Exp. Mammalian Genetics at the Jackson Laboratory
Computational Methods in Genomics
Functional Genomics
Microscale Bioengineering
Interdisciplinary Training – Proposal Preparation

Other courses may be suggested or required by the thesis committee depending on the background of the student.

Completion of program: The student’s advisory committee is responsible for determining when the thesis work has been completed.

For more information, contact:
Barbara Deshane
Functional Genomics Ph.D. Program
208 Holmes Hall
University of Maine, Orono

Further information and online application at the Functional Genomics Ph.D. Program website.