Life Sciences Major, PhD

The Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education offers a graduate program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Life Sciences: Genome Science & Technology (LFSC: GST). This interdisciplinary degree is a collaborative effort supported by selected faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, the Herbert College of Agriculture, and the Tickle College of Engineering, in addition to research staff of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These research and educational leaders are appointed as faculty members of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. Members of the Bredesen Center faculty determine the curriculum and serve as the primary resource for the teaching, research, and mentoring of the students admitted to the program. The Bredesen Center Graduate Admissions Committee makes decisions on admissions, transfer, evaluation, and continuation of graduate students in the program.

Concentration (Required)

Genome Science and Technology

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

In order to be admitted to the PhD program in Life Sciences: Genome Science & Technology, student applicants must fulfill the general admission criteria for the Graduate School of the University of Tennessee Knoxville. In addition, the student must have at least a Bachelor’s degree in either engineering or a scientific field (e.g., analytics, biology, chemistry, computational science, mathematics, physics, statistics, etc.), or the equivalent. Students with other undergraduate degrees may also be admitted on a case-by-case basis by the Bredesen Center Graduate Admissions Committee. Dependent on the student’s background, additional coursework may be required to satisfy co- and prerequisites.

Genome Science and Technology Concentration

Todd Reynolds, Interim Director

The program trains students around the interface of the biological and computational sciences. Graduates typically pursue careers in biological science in academia, industry, or governmental organizations. The program is designed to take advantage of collaboration between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Students conduct research and develop scientific creativity in emerging areas of life science, with emphasis on genomics, structural biology, proteomics, computational biology and bioinformatics, and bioanalytical technologies.

Credit Hours Required

Minimum of 72 graduate credit hours beyond the bachelor’s or master’s
- Minimum of 36 graduate credit hours beyond the Bachelor’s; 24 hours beyond the Master’s.
Of the 72 credit hours at least 30 must be graded A-F and at least 36 must be graded A-F or S/NC. Students who apply their master’s degree credits towards the PhD must meet the same requirements.
Minimum of 24 graduate credit hours of Dissertation Research (LFSC 600 or equivalent).

Required Courses

Completion of the genome science and technology core courses:
LFSC 505 - Research Rotation
LFSC 515 - First-year seminar
LFSC 520 - Genome Science and Technology I
Completion of at least 6 credit hours at the 600-level graded A-F.
Courses related to training in Biochemistry (6-8 hours)
Required programming course relevant to Life Sciences (at least 3 hours)
Participation in LFSC 541 - Colloquium, every spring
LFSC 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation , 24 Credit Hours

Non-Course Requirements

Advisor/Major Professor

Each graduate student must confirm and begin work with a research advisor (committee chair) by the end of the Spring semester of their first year in the program.
The committee chair must hold a Bredesen Center faculty appointment prior to submission of the Admission to Candidacy.
The program director may serve as temporary advisor until the committee chair has been confirmed.

Doctoral Committee

The committee chair directs the student’s dissertation research and chairs the doctoral committee.
The student and major professor identify a doctoral committee composed of at least four faculty members (including the chair).
At least two members must be UT tenured or tenure-track faculty.
Committee members should be chosen to ensure multidisciplinary breadth.
The Program Director has oversight responsibility to ensure the multidisciplinary nature of the committee.
The committee should be confirmed and approved no later than the end of the second year enrolled.
Once formed, the doctoral committee will meet as a group with the student to ensure timely progress toward the degree. At a minimum, the committee should meet at least once during each academic year.

Admission to Candidacy

Admission to candidacy indicates that the student has demonstrated ability to do acceptable graduate work and that satisfactory progress has been made toward the degree. This action usually connotes that all prerequisites to admission have been completed and a program of study has been approved.
Admission to Candidacy should occur no later than the end of the third academic year.
A student must pass the comprehensive examination and maintain at least a B average in all graduate coursework prior to submitting Admission to Candidacy.
Each student is responsible for coordinating with their committee to file the Admission to Candidacy form.

Graduate Student Examinations

Two examinations are required as part of the LFSC doctoral program.

Candidacy Examination

In the first semester of the third year following entrance into the PhD program, each student must take a comprehensive examination.
The candidacy exam includes a written and oral presentation and approval of the proposed dissertation research. More specific exam expectations are provided in the Bredesen Center student handbook.
The candidacy examination may be completed as early as the end of the second year following entrance into the PhD program and prior to admission to candidacy and must be passed no later than the last semester of the third year.
The timing is late enough in a student’s academic program to permit most of his/her graduate course work to be covered on the examination, and early enough to permit modification of the student’s program based on the results of the exam.
Once the candidacy examination is passed and before the following semester, the student should file for and be admitted to candidacy.
At the discretion of the Doctoral Committee, supplemental reexaminations for the Comprehensive Examination and/or proposed dissertation research may be required.
In case of failure, the candidate may appeal to retake the examination through the Bredesen Center Graduate Curriculum Committee within 30 days of notification of the result. If the appeal is granted, the student must retake the examination in the following semester. The result of the second examination is final.

Defense of Dissertation Examination

After completion of the dissertation, prior to graduation, each student must pass a dissertation defense examination administered by the student’s doctoral committee.
A doctoral candidate must pass an oral examination on the dissertation.
The dissertation, in the form approved by the major professor, must be distributed to the committee at least two weeks before the examination.
The examination must be scheduled through the Graduate School at least one week prior to the examination and must be conducted in university-approved facilities or virtual meeting software.
The examination is announced publicly and is open to all students and faculty members.

Undergraduates

Graduate Students