What Makes Tulane's Program Unique?
Tulane’s Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Sciences takes an interdisciplinary approach to graduate education and research. There are many ways to shape your Tulane experience to fit your needs and career goals, and our program has an array of options to accelerate, customize, and enrich your education and, ultimately, your career. The program is dynamic, giving you an array of controls that allows you to heavily customize your experience here to suit you.
Students complete all course requirements in their first two years. Core courses including Advanced Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Human Molecular Genetics, Biostatistics, Systems Biology, and Biomedical Informatics, which along with Basic Science electives provide a broad foundation for future research. More than 150 scientists from Basic Science and Clinical Departments and School Of Medicine Centers participate fully in the BMS program. Students have ample opportunities to match with one of these scientists by conducting at least three lab rotations in their first year prior to selecting their Dissertation Advisor.
All PhD students receive a full tuition waiver and a stipend of approximately $33,000 per year for the entire duration of the program.
A minimum of 48 credit hours of course work and independent study is required for a Ph.D at Tulane University. Students take an identical Core Curriculum in the first year (except for Biomedical Informatics Track), totaling 27 credit hours. In the second year, students must complete at least 21 credits hours. Coursework in the second year must include at least 6 credit hours of lecture-based course work (electives), with the remaining credit hours consisting of Independent Study and/or Special Topics (research). Students may take Independent Study and/or Special Topics for 1-6 credits each per semester for a maximum of 12 credits each until course completion. Electives are selected from the elective curriculum by the student in consultation with the dissertation advisor.
| Year 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credit Hours | |
| Total coursework for the First Year Fall + Spring must equal 27 credit hours | ||
| BMSP 6070 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3 |
| GBCH 6010 | Graduate Biochemistry | 4 |
| BMSP 7140 | Biomedical Sci Seminar | 1 |
| BMSP 7120 | Research Topics and Rotations (2 credits for seminar, 2 for first rotation) | 4 |
| BMSP 7100 | Biomed Sciences Workshop | 1 |
| INTD 6010 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 0 |
| Credit Hours | 13 | |
| Spring | ||
| GBCH 7250 | Biomed Stats & Data Analysis | 2 |
| EPID 7810 | Human Molecular Genetics | 3 |
| BMSP 7770 or BIMI 7500 | Systems Biology or Genomic Sequence and Omics Data Analysis | 3 |
| BMSP 7150 | Seminar | 1 |
| BMSP 7130 | Research Topics and Rotations (2 credits each for 2nd and 3rd rotations) | 4 |
| BMSP 7110 | Workshop | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Summer Session | ||
| BMSP 9990 | Dissertation Research | 0 |
| Credit Hours | 0 | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Fall | ||
| Total for Second Year Fall + Spring must equal at least 21 credit hours. 1 | 21 | |
| Biomedical Sci Seminar | ||
| Biomed Sciences Workshop | ||
| Independent Study (Flexible, max 6 hrs/semester) | ||
| Special Topics (Flexible, max 6 hrs/semester) | ||
Electives (to be chosen in consultation with dissertation advisor) | ||
| Credit Hours | 21 | |
| Spring | ||
| Workshop | ||
| Seminar | ||
| Independent Study (Flexible, max 6 hrs/semester) | ||
| Special Topics (Flexible, max 6 hrs/semester) | ||
Electives (to be chosen in consultation with dissertation advisor) | ||
| Credit Hours | 0 | |
| Summer Session | ||
| BMSP 9990 | Dissertation Research | 0 |
| Credit Hours | 0 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 48 | |
- 1
Credit hours in year 2 must total a minimum of 21 credits; Fall & Spring term credit hour totals vary by student.