Penn State University's Department of Veterinary Science: Program Description

Program Description     Teaching    Financial Aid
Application Procedure    Life at Penn State
Housing    Graduate Courses
Requirements for the PH.D.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The graduate program in Pathobiology is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of disease. Housed in the Department of Veterinary Science, the Pathobiology program has a young and active faculty. This affords graduates students an outstanding selection of laboratories in which to work.

Research focuses on three areas: immunology, toxicology, and pathogenesis of disease. Immunology faculty seek to understand the mechanisms by which the body fights disease. Their work covers a range of important research areas, from the role of cell signaling in B and T lymphocytes to that of macrophages in cell‑mediated immunity. Similarly, faculty in toxicology provide exciting opportunities to study the response of cells to toxic compounds and how antioxidants affect cellular metabolism. The study of pathogenesis has brought together a diverse faculty with a wide range of techniques to bear on both human diseases and those that affect agricultural animals. Faculty research is well funded, with external funding coming primarily from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. and Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture.

Within Penn State's Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science and the Life Sciences Consortium Biotechnology Institute are core facilities that include DNA sequencing, oligonucleotide, flow cytometry and cell sorting, hybridoma and monoclonal antibody production, production of transgenic mice and the targeted mutation of genes using embryonic stem cell technology, electron microscopy, phospho‑imager analysis, and the capability to study gene expression using microarrays.

Students have the opportunity to attend seminars presented by nationally and internationally known researchers. The Department of Veterinary & Biomedical Science sponsors the Bortree Lecture Series and in collaboration with the Life Sciences Consortium sponsors a seminar series in molecular toxicology and immunobiology. Numerous other seminar series sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Department of Biology, and the Life Sciences Consortium help provide a rich atmosphere for biomedical research.

TEACHING

Teaching provides the student with an opportunity to strengthen organizational and communication skills necessary for a successful career in biomedical research. Students are encouraged to assist a faculty member in teaching a course.

FINANCIAL AID

All students will receive financial support, including a grant‑in‑aid for tuition and a living stipend.

APPLICATIONS PROCEDURE

How To Apply

The Pathobiology Graduate Program at Penn State University accepts applications for Fall admission only. Applications must be completed electronically. Penn State University no longer accepts paper-based applications. The receipt and completion of a graduate application package does not guarantee admission to the Pathobiology graduate program.

Deadline for Fall admission:

International: - February 15
U.S. Citizen: - April 1

The Graduate Admissions Committee will review applications and invite prospective students to campus for an interview. These interviews are extremely helpful to both the students and the admissions committee.

Other documents required for admission are: Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (an advanced-subject test score in biology or chemistry is encouraged), academic transcripts, three letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and an electronically completed Graduate School application. Foreign applicants also submit an application for visa document and a financial certification form.

LIFE AT PENN STATE

The University Park campus of Penn State is located in State College, a central Pennsylvania community with a population of nearly 80,000. State College is just a three‑to‑five hour drive from several major cities: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Residents enjoy a vibrant shopping district and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which draws more than 400 artists and crafts people and 100,000 visitors from around the country each summer. The community and University work together throughout the year to present a variety of other cultural events.

Penn State provides a wide range of athletic activities for both participants and spectators. The University competes in the Big Ten Conference, which provides a high level of competition in all Inter-collegiate sports. For those who want to participate, the campus has six modern gymnasiums with racquetball and squash courts, several indoor swimming pools, and weight training facilities. Outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, and golf courses are also available.

For outdoor enthusiasts, the surrounding rural area offers many outdoor recreation opportunities, including hiking, camping, skiing, canoeing, kayaking, and trout fishing.

HOUSING

Graduate students, both married and single, will find a variety of housing opportunities in the Penn State community. Most graduate students prefer off campus housing; a large number of furnished and unfurnished apartments and houses are available for rent near campus.

For more info visit:
Penn State On‑Campus Housing
State College Apartment Listings
Local Classifieds

GRADUATE COURSES

The curriculum is designed to provide all students with a solid foundation in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and statistics. Beyond that, depending on the student's interests, core courses in immunology, toxicology, or experimental pathology will provide the comprehensive knowledge necessary to carry out thesis research. In addition, upper level special topics courses designed to present a particular subject in a detailed seminar format are available for upper level students.

Students choose a research mentor after three laboratory rotations done during the fall semester of the first year. These preliminary research projects are normally four to six weeks in length, allowing students to identify a research mentor with similar interests. Research is a large component of the Ph.D. program. We are committed to maintaining an open and interactive atmosphere where graduate students can freely interact with other laboratories in the program or across campus to learn new techniques and gain new insights into approaching their research. To that end, we have developed journal clubs, where students can present and discuss current journal articles, and the Pathobiology Colloquium, where students and faculty present their research to others in the program. These programs help students develop the communication and organization skills they will need in the future. All graduate students are required to complete one credit of V SC 590 Colloquium each semester as well as 8 credits from list of courses.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PH.D.

The minimum requirements for a Ph.D. in pathobiology are specified by the Graduate School and the Pathobiology program. Once these course requirements have been met, students must pass a Ph.D. candidacy exam, an oral comprehensive exam that mainly concerns the student's research specialty area, and a final oral thesis defense.

The candidacy exam, given during the second semester of the second year, is designed to evaluate whether students can apply the knowledge learned in course work to solve problems based on experimental data. Once the candidacy exam is passed, the student selects a thesis committee to provide guidance during his or her thesis research. The thesis committee consists of the student's research mentor and four other professors.

In the third year, the student takes a comprehensive exam, administered by the thesis committee,which will focus on topics directly related to the student's proposed thesis research. Upon successful completion of the thesis research, the student will orally defend the thesis as the final requirement for the Ph.D.


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