Welcome to the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (MPB) Graduate Program!! The MPB Graduate Program guidelines found at the links below describe all the features of our Graduate Program and the various requirements and procedures associated with your journey to a Doctor of Philosophy degree.

Most of your fellow students in the program have entered with a Bachelor’s degree through either the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP), Quantitative & Chemical Biology (QCB) Program or Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). A few students, especially students with an advanced Master’s degree, may have joined the program through direct admission to a MPB preceptor’s laboratory.

After joining the Graduate Program, it typically takes 4-5 years to obtain your Ph.D. degree. The actual timing will depend on your performance and on the nature of the research project you undertake. If you entered the Graduate Program with an advanced Master’s degree the time to graduation will also depend on the number of transferred academic credits, which must be approved by the Graduate Education Committee [GEC], since this will determine the extent of additional coursework that is required.

For the benefit of those students who are about to join the MPB Graduate Program either (1) in mid-May after completing your training in the IGP or QCB program during your first year at Vanderbilt or (2) in mid-May during your second year of training in the MSTP program at Vanderbilt, the following summarizes the key steps on your path to the Ph.D. degree:

1. Shortly after joining the Program, you will meet with the Chair of MPB (Nancy Carrasco), the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS; Richard O’Brien), the Associate Education Director (AED; Julio Ayala) and the Graduate Program Manager (Bobbi Stidham). The DGS will provide an overview of the program and you will have the opportunity to ask questions from the assembled group. After the meeting the DGS will send you a detailed document describing Program requirements and procedures prior to taking the Qualifying Examination.

 

2. During your first year in the Program, you will take required course work and begin your thesis research. At the end of the first year, you will receive a detailed document from the DGS describing the format of the Qualifying Examination and then meet with the DGS to obtain clarification of any aspects of the examination that are unclear.

 

3. At the beginning of your second year in the Program you will prepare for and take the Qualifying Examination.

 

4. After passing the Qualifying Examination the DGS will send you another detailed document describing Program requirements and procedures for your remaining time in the Program prior to your Thesis Defense. These requirements mainly relate to seminar presentations, Thesis Committee meetings and the Thesis Defense.

If you already have a Master’s degree and are about to join the MPB Graduate Program in mid-August after having just arrived at Vanderbilt following direct admission into the laboratory of an MPB preceptor, you will follow a similar path except that your didactic curriculum will be designed with input from the DGS and GEC.

The GEC oversees the MPB Graduate Program and approves all changes to Program guidelines, including the format of the Qualifying Examination and composition of Thesis Committees.

Current Members of the Committee are:

Richard O’Brien (chair)
Julio Ayala
Eric Delpire
Wenbiao Chen
Erkan Karakas
Derek Claxton
​David Jacobson
Gregor Neuert
Elizabeth Rendina-Ruedy
Elma Zaganjor

The following summarizes the Curriculum of the MPB Graduate Program. It varies somewhat depending on whether you entered Vanderbilt through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP), Quantitative & Chemical Biology (QCB) Program or Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) before joining the MPB Graduate Program. If you entered the MPB Graduate Program with a Master’s degree, the GEC will consider the transfer of up to 24 h total credits of which 6 hours (with A or B grades only) may be for didactic credit. These 6 hours of didactic credit can be transferred regardless of whether you were admitted to Vanderbilt through the IGP, QCB program or were directly admitted to a MPB laboratory. The transfer of the remaining 18 ‘non-quality’ hours helps to reduce future tuition costs to your PI and/or the training grant through which you are supported.

(The curriculums for the IGP, QCB program and MSTP can be found on their respective websites so the information below just describes the curriculum after you have joined the MPB Graduate Program).

 

Ph.D. Program

Program for Students with a BS/BA degree Who Entered VU Through the IGP or QCB in mid-August

Having chosen your preceptor and joined the MPB Graduate Program in mid-May you will spend the summer starting your thesis research. The MPB Graduate Program didactic curriculum begins at the start of your second year (mid-August) at Vanderbilt:

 

Fall

4-7 h Didactic (required classes are described below)

5-8 h Non-Candidate Research (MP&B8999)

Spring

4-7 h Didactic (required classes are described below)

5-8 h Non-Candidate Research (MP&B8999)

You must have 24 didactic hours to take the Qualifying Exam in early August

 

Third and subsequent years at Vanderbilt (following the Qualifying Exam)

Fall and Spring

12 h of thesis research (MP&B9999) in each semester until 72 hours are completed. If necessary, you then register for 0 h of MP&B9999 each semester until you defend your thesis.

 

Program for Students with a Master’s degree Who Entered VU Through the IGP or QCB in mid-August

Having chosen your preceptor and joined the MPB Graduate Program in mid-May you will spend the summer starting your thesis research. The MPB Graduate Program didactic curriculum begins at the start of your second year (mid-August) at Vanderbilt.

The MPB Graduate Program curriculum is described below. You must take the required courses and have 24 didactic hours to take the Qualifying Exam in early August. If the GEC allowed the transfer of 6 didactic credit hours, then only 18 additional didactic hours will be required.

Third and subsequent years at Vanderbilt (following the Qualifying Exam)

Fall and Spring

12 h of thesis research (MP&B9999) in each until 72 hours are completed. If necessary, you then register for 0 h of MP&B9999 each semester until you defend your thesis.

 

Program for Students with a Masters degree Who Entered VU Through Direct Admission to a MPB Preceptor’s Laboratory in mid-August

Having been directly admitted into your preceptor’s laboratory and directly joined the MPB Graduate Program in mid-August of your first year at Vanderbilt you will have greater flexibility in the design of your first-year curriculum and you will also be able to immediately start your thesis research. Your didactic curriculum will be designed with input from the DGS and GEC. Depending on your prior training, you may be able to begin the MPB Graduate Program didactic curriculum immediately when you arrive at Vanderbilt. You will still take the Qualifying Exam at the end of your second year at Vanderbilt but the time to graduation will be reduced because you will have spent more time conducting thesis research and less time taking didactic courses.

The MPB Graduate Program curriculum is described below. You must take the required courses and have 24 didactic hours to take the Qualifying Exam in early August. If the GEC allowed the transfer of 6 didactic credit hours, then only 18 additional didactic hours will be required.

Third and subsequent years at Vanderbilt (following the Qualifying Exam)

Fall and Spring

12 h of thesis research (MP&B9999) in each until 72 hours are completed. If necessary, you then register for 0 h of MP&B9999 each semester until you defend your thesis.

 

M.D./Ph.D. Program

Having chosen your preceptor and joined the MPB Graduate Program in mid-May of your second year at Vanderbilt you will spend the summer completing your second year of training in the MSTP before starting your thesis research at the start of your third year (mid-August) at Vanderbilt. You will participate in the orientation session for all new MPB Graduate Students in mid-May but your participation in the MPB Graduate Program didactic curriculum will begin when you join your laboratory in mid-August:

Fall

4 h Graduate School electives (didactic)

8 h Non-Candidate Research (MP&B8999)

[The only required didactic course is Tutorials in Physiology (MP&B8324; 1 hr)]

Spring

4 h Graduate School electives (didactic)

8 h Non-Candidate Research (MP&B8999)

[The only required didactic course is Tutorials in Physiology (MP&B8324; 1 hr)]

You must have 24 didactic hours to take Qualifying Exam in early August following your first graduate year. You receive credit from your prior MSTP training for 16 didactic hours and an additional 32 hours. You will complete a further 8 didactic hours after joining MPB bringing you to the total of 24.

Second and subsequent graduate years following Qualifying Exam:

Fall and Spring

Having completed 72 hours, you will register for 0 hours of MP&B9999 each semester until you defend your thesis.

A full listing of the courses offered by the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics can be found at the Graduate School website:

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/catalogs/graduate/graduate-school/

The following didactic courses are some of the more popular courses offered by the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics:

IGP 8002-24 – Bioregulation II/Molecular Aspects of Obesity and Diabetes (1 hour module) – formerly MP&B 8333

MP&B 8330 – Human Physiology and Molecular Medicine (3 hours)

MP&B 8324 – Tutorial in Physiology (2 hours)

MP&B 8327 – Molecular Endocrinology (2 hours)

MP&B 8385 – Fundamentals of Genetic Analysis (3 hours)

MP&B 8323 – Excitable Membrane Properties in Nerve and Muscle (3 hours)

MP&B 8325 – Physical Measurements on Physical Systems (3 hours)

MP&B 8340 – Human Genetics (3 hours)

MP&B 8342 – Introduction to Physiology, Metabolism and Endocrinology (2 hours)

MP&B 8345 – Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience (4 hours)

While MP&B offers multiple courses, if you entered the MPB Graduate Program through the IGP/QCB or entered through direct admission you are only required to take two of these courses: Human Physiology and Molecular Medicine (MP&B8330) and Tutorials in Physiology (MP&B8324). If you are a M.D./Ph.D. student who entered the MPB Graduate Program through the MSTP you will have taken extensive coursework relating to Human Physiology in your first year of Medical School; this satisfies the departmental Physiology course requirement, so you are only required to take Tutorials in Physiology (MP&B8324) course. These limited didactic course requirements enable you to tailor your didactic curriculum to best meet the needs of your own thesis research.

The remainder of required didactic credit hours (24 hours for students in the Ph.D. program; 18 hours for students in the M.D./Ph.D. program) are selected from the wide variety of elective courses offered by Molecular Physiology & Biophysics (listed above) or other Departments. You are strongly encouraged to consult with your preceptor concerning the best possible choices. There is a limit of one credit hour of a completely seminar-based course which can be applied to your didactic credit hour total.

You also should be aware that funding of your stipend through certain training programs may require you to take additional courses.

In the two semester Tutorials in Physiology course (MP&B8324) you are required to present a critical review of a published paper in the Fall semester and an original research proposal in a mock-Qualifying Exam setting in the Spring semester.

All students (Ph.D. and M.D. Ph.D.) must maintain a B average (GPA of 3.00) in didactic courses to remain in Graduate School. If your didactic course average falls below 3.00 at any time, you will be placed on academic probation and given one semester to remedy the deficiency. The GEC may vote to dismiss you from the Ph.D. program if you show no progress in raising your GPA above 3.00 in your probationary semester. Your preceptor would be consulted for additional information regarding your performance before the GEC makes its decision for dismissal.

Ph.D. students must attain a grade of B or better in Human Physiology and Molecular Medicine (MP&B330) to be eligible to take the Qualifying Exam. If a student fails the course, they will have one opportunity to re-take the course. If they fail a second time it will result in dismissal from the program.

M.D. Ph.D. students must have passed their first year Medical School courses that relate to Human Physiology to be eligible to take the Qualifying Exam.

Near the end of your first year in the MPB Graduate Program (late April) you will receive a detailed document from the DGS describing the format of the Qualifying Examination and then meet with the DGS to obtain clarification of any aspects of the examination that are unclear. Details on the Examination are not provided here because the process undergoes regular GEC approved modifications in an effort to optimize the educational experience for students. Please contact the DGS for the latest version of the Qualifying Examination guidelines. This document also details the administrative mechanisms that are in place to assist you with scheduling the time and location of your Examination.

In general terms, the Qualifying Examination requires you to write a 6-page NRSA-style proposal that is developed in consultation with your preceptor and is based on your thesis project in addition to a 2-page Exploratory Aim that is related to your thesis project but is developed without assistance from your preceptor.

At the end of your first year in the MPB Graduate Program (late May) you are required to submit the Specific Aims Page (one page) and Exploratory Aim summary (half page) of your Qualifying Exam to the AED along with the names of your proposed Thesis Committee members. Your Thesis Committee must be composed of 3 MPB faculty (individuals with either a primary or secondary appointment in MPB) and one non-MPB faculty member (this can be an individual from another department or an individual with a secondary appointment in MPB). More than 4 members may serve on your Thesis Committee if you and your preceptor think it is appropriate. You should not contact the potential Thesis Committee members until their nomination has been approved by the GEC. If the GEC considers a suggested individual to be inappropriate for any reason (e.g., over commitment, etc.) the GEC will recommend a replacement to you and your preceptor.

After approval of your Specific Aims, Exploratory Aim and Thesis Committee composition by the GEC you will be able to contact the individuals on your proposed Thesis Committee and request that they serve on your committee. The DGS/AES will resolve situations in which specific Thesis Committee members, while approved by the GEC, are unable to serve. You and your preceptor should also identify who you would like to serve as the Chairperson of your Thesis Committee and ask that Committee member to serve in that capacity in advance of the Qualifying Examination.

After approval of your Specific Aims, you will then have 5 weeks to write your Qualifying Examination document. The actual examination will take place in early August. During the examination you are allowed to present a 15 min summary of your proposal. This is followed by a 90 min oral question and answer session.

The Qualifying Exam committee is composed of your Thesis Committee plus one member of the GEC along with either the DGS or AED. The GEC member will ask questions during the examination whereas the DGS/AED will just be there to observe and ensure consistency in outcome decisions. The additional member of the GEC is not required if a member of the GEC is already amongst the 3 MPB faculty members on the thesis committee. The preceptor is NOT part of the Examination Committee. You have two opportunities to pass the Qualifying Examination. Failure to pass the Qualifying Examination at the second attempt will result in dismissal from the program.

After passing the Qualifying Examination the DGS will send you another detailed document describing Program requirements and procedures for your remaining time in the Program prior to your Thesis Defense. These requirements mainly relate to seminar presentations and Thesis Committee meetings. The document will also detail all the administrative mechanisms that are in place to assist you with scheduling these seminar presentations, your Thesis Committee meetings and your Thesis Defense.

The Qualifying Examination serves a dual purpose as your first Thesis Committee Meeting. Within 6 months of passing the Qualifying Exam you are required to have your second Thesis Committee meeting. Subsequent Thesis Committee meetings are held every 6 months, or less if you would like additional input from your committee.

While your preceptor is not present during the Qualifying Examination, your preceptor will be present at all subsequent Thesis Committee meetings. However, your preceptor is not allowed to serve as the Chair of your committee or vote when it comes time to determine whether you have progressed sufficiently to merit permission to move forward with your Thesis Defense. Similarly, if you elect to declare two preceptors (i.e., co-mentors), neither one can serve as the Chair of your committee or as a voting committee member.

Thesis Committee meetings are usually scheduled to last 2 hours. Since commitments of other Thesis Committee members may generate scheduling difficulties, a minimum of 3 out of the 4 members (i.e., the Thesis Committee chair plus two additional members) are required at meetings other than those for the Qualifying Examination and Thesis Defense, which must be attended by the entire Thesis Committee. You should meet individually with Thesis Committee members who are not able to attend a scheduled meeting to update them on your progress.

Prior to Thesis Committee meetings you are required to circulate a document to your committee describing your progress over the previous 6 months. This document follows a structured format; you will receive details on the requirements for this document from the DGS after you pass your Qualifying Examination.

At your Thesis Committee meetings your preceptor will meet in private with the other members of your Thesis Committee to discuss your progress. In addition, after your meeting your preceptor will meet in private with the other members of your Thesis Committee to discuss your performance at the meeting and complete an on-line assessment form that provides feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. This form is especially helpful is guiding you on areas that require development. It provides you with an accurate perception of your committee’s assessment of your performance at each meeting and of what is expected of you in subsequent months. During the actual Thesis Committee meeting your preceptor is not allowed to talk! This ensures that your committee can accurately gauge your understanding of your project.

Within one week of your Thesis Committee meetings, you should send your Committee Chairperson a 1-2 page written summary of the meeting, developed in consultation with your preceptor. The summary should accurately document issues that were raised at the meeting, Committee recommendations for continuance of the project, and also areas for improvement of slide preparation and presentation style. Once your Chair has approved this document it should be sent to all committee members (both absent and present at the meeting) via email. Your email should remind Committee members that they have 2 weeks to send any comments to you, your preceptor and your Chairperson. After 2 weeks your Chairperson will sign your summary and it will be filed by the Program Manager in your records. This process ensures that you, your preceptor and your Thesis Committee are in complete agreement about future expectations and is intended to facilitate timely completion of your thesis. Thesis Committee meetings are not considered to be complete until the approved and signed summary letter is filed by the Program Manager in your records. Failure to file this document in a timely manner will be viewed as a critical communication breakdown, which will be resolved by the GEC.

The purpose of the interaction between you and your Thesis Committee is to assure that you generate the highest quality thesis possible. Your committee members will help you develop your critical thinking skills and will provide advice on those occasions when you are faced with experimental difficulties. In this way your Thesis Committee will ensure that you make steady research progress toward the award of your Ph.D. degree, so you are encouraged to view the members of your Thesis Committee as sources of support. Other than the Qualifying Examination, your subsequent Thesis Committee meetings are not formal examinations! Instead, the frequent consultations between you, your preceptor and your Thesis Committee help facilitate timely completion of your Thesis and your professional development.

Unless there are documented mitigating circumstances, if Thesis Committee meetings are not scheduled on time, the GEC has the option to place students on Academic Probation or, if Thesis Committee meetings continue to not be scheduled, to dismiss students from the Graduate Program.

Students are required to meet with their Ph.D. committee every six months and have a first author peer-reviewed manuscript that is accepted for publication or published prior to the dissertation defense. While a first author peer-reviewed publication is required it should not be viewed as sufficient. In other words, thesis committees will only grant permission to defend once a student has accumulated a sufficient body of work and has demonstrated that they can answer questions about their project at thesis committee meetings at a level expected for a student obtaining a Ph.D. degree from MP&B.

The MP&B Graduate Program does NOT require the following:

1. A requirement to apply for internal and/or external grants
2. A requirement to present data at an academic conference

MP&B Policy on eLife Publications:

The journal eLife is now guaranteeing publication of all articles that are sent out for review.  Articles will be published along with the reviewer’s comments, but the authors will not be required to perform additional experiments in response. The MP&B Graduate Program has adopted the following guidelines with respect to eLife:

1. A 1st author eLife publication will meet our MP&B requirement for a 1st author publication but we require that the manuscript is sent out for review, simply submitting a manuscript to the journal will not be sufficient. (The eLife editorial board only sends a small percentage of manuscripts out for review).
2. We also require that the thesis committee has the opportunity to read the manuscript and reviewer’s comments before granting a student permission to defend their thesis. This will address the highly unlikely scenario in which a reviewer has identified a major flaw in the work that was overlooked by the committee, the student and their PI.
3. If a student’s 1st author publication is in eLife, then the decision to give a student permission to write their thesis and defend their thesis will become two distinct things. This will ensure that reviewer’s comments on a manuscript submitted to eLife will receive oversight by a thesis committee before permission to defend is granted. (In the past, permission to write a thesis and defend a thesis typically occurred at the same time after one or more 1st author paper(s) had been accepted in a peer-reviewed journal).

This same policy will apply to other journals that decide to follow the policy at eLife.

The emphasis of the graduate program is on research and research training in the areas of molecular and cell biology, cellular regulation and endocrinology, electrophysiology and biophysics, whole animal physiology and pathophysiology, and genetics. However, the training experience is applicable across a wide range of future career options.

Multiple career and professional resources are provided by the Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET) office:

https://medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu/bret/professional-resources-2/

The MP&B Graduate Program has NO requirement for teaching. However, if you are interested in teaching opportunities, please discuss this with your advisor and/or the Director of Graduate Studies.

The expectations of the Molecular Physiology & Biophysics program with respect to advising and mentoring are as follows:

1. Most students enter the MP&B program after 2 semesters in the IGP or QCB where they will have completed 4 research rotations. These rotations enable them to identify an advisor whose area of research best matches their own interests. A few students, who typically already hold a Master’s degree, will identify an advisor and directly join that laboratory and the MP&B program without participating in the IGP or QCB.
2. The MP&B program requires all preceptors to have completed mentoring training. Specifically, one or more of the following:

(i) Culturally Aware Mentor (CAM) training

(ii) Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) training modules

(iii) The Minnesota online course “Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring 101”

3. The MP&B program requires new students and their advisors to complete an ‘Aligning Expectations’ document when they first join the MP&B program. As the name suggests, this document spells out the expectations of the relationship between the student and advisor.
4. The BRET office requires the completion of an annual individual development plan (IDP). In contrast to the ‘Aligning Expectations’ document, the IDP is focused on questions related to research progress and goals and the exploration of career development options.
5. The MP&B program provides clear guidelines on the roles and responsibilities of students pre- and post-qualifying exam. These are distributed in the form of pdf files sent to students by the DGS when they first join the program and once they have passed the qualifying exam. The roles and responsibilities of mentors are not formerly listed and instead we have found that they are best established on a case by case basis through the Aligning Expectations document and the participation of faculty in mentoring workshops.
6. Grievances that arise due to student and PI disagreements are typically initially handled by the MP&B DGS but the BRET Auxiliary Mentoring system offers another option for students to obtain independent advice:

https://medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu/bret/auxiliary-mentoring/

Other grievances and ideas for program improvement are addressed at regular meetings between the MPB Chair, DGS and Graduate Student Association (GSA) leadership committee.

7. The MP&B program obtains additional feedback on our program from the exit interviews that are conducted by the BRET office prior to graduation. This feedback is anonymous and represents the combined opinions of multiple students.
8. In cases where a student wants to change advisors, the MP&B program uses the procedures established by the BRET office:

https://medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu/bret/changing-research-groups/

The faculty in the MP&B program are committed to ensuring that students graduate with their Ph.D. degree in a timely fashion.  As such, the faculty invest the time to contribute to Ph.D. committees that meet every six months, which is more often than most other graduate programs.

The MP&B program does not have a specific requirement for time to degree completion. The Graduate School sets a 4-year time limit for completion of Ph.D. degrees that starts once a student has passed the qualifying examination. The MP&B program has a track record of successfully requesting extensions from the Graduate School for students who have exceeded this 4-year time limit due to unforeseen circumstances.

Once you, your preceptor and your Committee Chairperson believe sufficient research has been accomplished for a thesis, you should seek approval to write your dissertation at your next Thesis Committee meeting. Your presentation at that meeting should include a summary of the complete results of your research, as well as a detailed outline of the proposed composition of your Dissertation. Your committee may grant approval to write your dissertation as well as providing guidance on the planned content of the Dissertation or they may recommend that additional research is still needed for the dissertation.

You must have at least one first-author paper either published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal prior to completion of your dissertation and Thesis Defense. However, publication of a first-author peer-reviewed paper should not necessarily be viewed as sufficient research for preparation of the Ph.D. thesis. This requirement may be waived under extraordinary circumstances, but only by unanimous consent of the MPB Chair, your Thesis Committee and the GEC.

When your Thesis Committee is satisfied with your dissertation research and the written Dissertation is near completion, you should schedule a proposed date for the final defense with your Thesis Committee. The Program Manager will assist you finding rooms for both components of your Thesis Defense – the Thesis Presentation and the post-presentation meeting with your Thesis Committee. The Program Manager will also assist you regarding the timely filing of the necessary paperwork with the Graduate School, such as the Intent to Graduate Form, and the advertisement of your Thesis Defense within the framework of Graduate School deadlines. According to Graduate School rules, this written notification must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the defense. It is your responsibility to meet with the responsible individual in the Graduate School to confirm that the format of your Dissertation conforms to Graduate School rules and regulations.

You must distribute a complete version of the Dissertation to your Thesis Committee two weeks prior to the proposed defense date. In extreme cases relating to major deficiencies in general content, style, quality etc. of the document, the Thesis Committee has the option to require postponement of the Thesis Defense to permit the problems to be rectified.

Your Thesis Presentation will be open to the public. After the presentation and questions from the general audience, the audience is excused and your post-presentation meeting with your Thesis Committee will begin. At this meeting, just as at regular Thesis Committee meetings, your Thesis Committee will meet with your preceptor in private to discuss your Thesis Presentation and your written Thesis. You will then re-enter the room and your Thesis Committee will ask questions about your project. This can last anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours. When the Committee has finished asking questions you will again be excused. The Thesis Committee will discuss your performance answering questions at the meeting and complete the on-line assessment form that provides feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, the Committee will vote on whether you have passed the Thesis Defense examination. They will also formulate a plan as to whether all or just one member of the Committee will be reading the revised dissertation, in the event that substantial revisions are required. Finally, you will be asked to re-enter the room and hear the result.

It is important to note that Thesis Committee’s almost always recommend changes/additions to Theses at the meeting that follows the Thesis presentation. In extreme cases these changes/additions can take several weeks. In some cases all members of a Thesis Committee may wish to re-read the revised document to ensure that the required changes have been completed in a satisfactory manner. The Committee may recommend that the formal examination “Results of Dissertation Defense” document not be submitted to the Graduate School until the required changes are made. Until this document has been submitted you cannot be considered to have passed your Thesis Defense and have obtained a Ph.D. As such you should not plan on starting employment that requires a Ph.D. degree the day immediately after your Thesis Defense!!

The Graduate School requires that Ph.D. studies are completed 4 years after students have passed the Qualifying exam. In the event that a student requires more time, the Chair of their Thesis Committee will contact other committee members and seek their input as to whether an extension is merited. If the committee concludes that an extension is not merited the student would be dismissed from Graduate School.  If the committee concludes that an extension is merited, they would determine the duration of the extension and any conditions attached to that extension. Typically, a committee would recommend an extension of 2-6 months and require that the thesis be written in that time.

Once the DGS has received the committee’s recommendation, he/she would communicate those recommendations to the student and request the extension from the Graduate School.  If the student has not completed their Ph.D. studies during the extension period, the process would be repeated with the Thesis Committee again recommending either dismissal or an additional extension.

 

On rare occasions a student in the MPB Graduate Program may need to transfer to a new laboratory due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, a student or their PI may determine that the current laboratory is not a good fit due to a change in research interests, misaligned expectations, inter-personal conflicts, or for other reasons. In these situations, the DGS would assist the student with the identification of a new laboratory in MPB or in another graduate program. The GEC would be required to approve transfer of a student to another laboratory within the MPB Graduate Program. The BRET Office would fund the student for a period of eight weeks, allowing them to perform two, four-week rotations in alternate laboratories. Students that are unable to identify an alternate laboratory within this time frame would be dismissed from the program.

Financial support for the transfer process is initiated by contacting the Senior Associate Dean for BRET.

https://medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu/bret/changing-research-groups/

The department admits graduate students with aspirations toward the Ph.D. degree. However, the GEC will consider petitions for withdrawal from the Ph.D. program and the awarding of a Master’s degree. The Master’s degree requires completion of the didactic course requirements of the Ph.D. program (a total of 24 didactic credit hours) plus 6 research hours, giving a total of 30 hours. If you wish to be considered for the Master’s degree you must inform the DGS of your intentions in writing, including an explanation for your reasons behind your decision. The GEC would then consider your academic record and define any additional requirements for awarding of a Master’s degree.

Student progress is regularly assessed at Thesis Committee meetings. If a student is found to have made unsatisfactory progress, this will be clearly documented in a memo to the student written by the Thesis Committee Chair, copying the DGS, the MPB Chair and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School. This memo will outline expectations that need to be met within a defined deadline (typically 3-6 months) in order for the student to remediate the problem(s) and correct course. The Thesis Committee would meet at the determined deadline to assess whether the student had met the clearly documented requirements identified in the memo. If the student has failed to meet the documented requirements, the Thesis Committee will meet with the PI, DGS and MPB Chair to discuss the specific circumstances and determine whether a recommendation will be made to the Graduate School for dismissal.

Once you have generated sufficient data in your thesis research you are strongly encouraged to apply for independent funding. This provides excellent experience in grant writing, looks good on your CV and, if successful, provides additional funding to support your research. Your NRSA-style Qualifying Examination document can be used as the template for grant applications. There are multiple agencies that support graduate students including the NIH, AHA, ADA and JDRF.

The BRET Office website has a detailed description of the procedures, rules & regulations relating to travel. All student travel must be booked in advance according to these guidelines and travel documented by the submission of reimbursement forms with attached receipts. Please contact Aaron Howard ( aaron.w.howard@vanderbilt.edu ) in the BRET office if you have any questions.

There are five potential funding sources available to support MPB graduate student travel. Students are encouraged to seek support from multiple sources to cover the full cost of travel.
1. Graduate School.
Information on the process to obtain funds from the Graduate School can be found here.

2. T32 Training Grants.
Students appointed to T32 training grants typically qualify for travel support, and each has its own procedures for requesting these funds. The METP, which supports many MPB students, will provide $1000-1500 for travel each year that a student is appointed (contact Dr. O’Brien for further information).

3. Independent fellowship awards.
Most independent graduate fellowship awards (e.g., from NIH, AHA or other agencies) include support for travel to scientific conferences.

4. PI/Lab funds.
Students should consult with their preceptors to ascertain whether funds are available to support travel.

5. MPB Endowed Funds.
MPB has two endowed funds that support student travel and education: the Charles R. Park Student Education Fund and the Jackie D. Corbin/ Sharron H. Francis Student Travel Award. These endowments have accumulated from generous donations from MPB faculty, staff, trainees, alumni and friends.

Students may apply for these awards for travel to:

1) scientific meetings in order to gain experience in presenting their work;
2) attend educational workshops;
3) acquire new skills by visiting another institution to participate in collaborations.

The return on these endowments is currently sufficient to support 13-14 full travel awards ($1,000 each) annually. The number and amount of individual awards may be adjusted as returns on these endowments change. To facilitate future expansion of these programs, we strongly encourage further direct donations to either fund, via the annual “Vanderbilt Giving Day”, or by other special gifts, such as “in memoriam” or “in honor”.

Eligibility: MPB Travel Awards are available to all graduate students that are officially enrolled in the MPB graduate program, students from other graduate programs that are doing their thesis research in the lab of a faculty member with a primary appointment in MPB and postdocs that are affiliated with the MPB program. Students must be in good academic standing to receive an award. Awards will not usually be provided to support travel of the same student in consecutive years. If funds become limiting, preference will be given to more senior students that have passed the Ph.D. qualifying exam and are presenting the results of their thesis research.

Applications: Applications for MPB student travel awards should be submitted at least two weeks, but not more than three months, before the planned travel. If funds are requested for travel to a scientific conference, the student should typically be the primary presenter of a poster or talk at that meeting, and a copy of the meeting abstract should be attached to the travel form. If funds are to be used to further the student’s specific educational needs, collaborations, or acquisition of new skills at another institution, a letter should explicitly describe the reason for this travel and anticipated gains to be made. This documentation can be submitted with the application. The application process for MPB student travel funds is initiated by the student via REDCap and then submitted for approval to the preceptor and department.

MPB Student Travel Fund Committee: The committee is currently composed of Dr. Francis, Dr. Corbin, the Director of Graduate Studies (Dr. O’Brien), the Vice Chair of MPB (Dr. Colbran) and Chair of MPB (Dr. Carrasco).

MPB Graduate Program Manager: Bobbi Stidham

Click here to view and edit the Travel Form. Click “File” then “Save as” to save it to your computer.

Information on general policies related to vacation etc. can be found on the BRET website at the following link:

https://medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu/bret/guidelines_policies/  

Full-time Effort Policy

Graduate students in the Molecular Physiology & Biophysics program receiving Vanderbilt University financial support or services must devote full-time effort to graduate study. Students cannot accept jobs for pay within or outside the University unless prior approval is given by their advisor, their Director of Graduate Studies, and the Dean for the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training. Exceptions to this rule include part-time internships and activities that contribute to career development and that do not exceed the time commitment outlined by the National Institutes of Health, service as course associates at Vanderbilt, and occasional and temporary part-time pursuits (e.g. house sitting). Engagement in outside employment without obtaining approval may result in loss of financial aid, including stipend.

Student Internship Policy

Graduate students receiving Vanderbilt University financial support or services must devote full-time effort to graduate study. Students cannot accept jobs for pay within or outside the University unless prior approval is given by their thesis advisor, the DGS, and the Chair. Engagement in outside employment without obtaining approval may result in loss of financial support, including stipend.  BRET graduate programs recognize that students may wish to obtain practical experience outside of the program, as well as prepare for potential employment opportunities, by participating in an internship, which typically takes place over the summer. All PhD students must have completed all coursework for their degree and passed their qualifying exams prior to the start of the internship. Students who wish to undertake an internship must discuss it with their mentor prior to applying, obtain approval from the mentor before signing an offer, and notify their PhD Program Manager. Outside unpaid internships or other career development activities that require students to be away for more than brief period must be approved by the Director of Graduate studies. Full-time paid internships require approval from the DGS and the Senior Associate Dean, and filling out the BRET Financial Termination Survey to discontinue their VU stipend while being paid by an outside organization.