GENETICS, PH.D. at University of Wisconsin

Graduate training in genetics emphasizes study and research leading to a Ph.D. degree in genetics. 

The goal of the genetics graduate training program is to train the next generation of professional geneticists. This includes selecting the most promising university graduates for admission to the program and training those students in the methods and logic of genetic analysis. Such analyses are increasingly important in contemporary biological and biomedical research. The curriculum includes:

1. coursework on the principles of genetics and on the methods of genetic and genomic analyses, and
2. original research in a specialized area, which culminates in the writing and defense of a doctoral thesis. 

The genetics graduate program is supported by the oldest and one of the largest NIH-funded genetics training grants in the country. 

The strength of genetics research at Wisconsin derives in large part from the Laboratory of Genetics, but state-of-the-art genetics research is conducted in many campus departments and centers. Training faculty of the genetics Ph.D. program includes over 80 trainers selected from 22 campus departments and schools based on the strength of their scholarly genetics research. A key feature of the trainers is that they conduct genetic research, using any number of tools, and can therefore provide students with a solid foundation of genetic knowledge and experiences. The genetics research pursued on campus provides an exceptional community.

Genetics Ph.D. students choose one of the training faculty as the graduate thesis advisor and mentor. Genetics graduate students spend time during the first semester of graduate school rotating in the laboratories of three or four faculty trainers, selected by the student. Following rotations, a graduate thesis advisor is chosen by mutual consent of both student and professor. Students are expected to acquire a broad and fundamental knowledge of genetics during their coursework, after which they conduct independent scholarly research based on individual interests and under the guidance and mentoring of the thesis advisor. Formal coursework requirements are modest, and independent study that includes original research is of paramount importance in the program. Students choose an individualized thesis advisory committee of five faculty members (including the thesis advisor) that approves formal coursework and provides scientific and career development advice throughout a student's graduate career.