PhD Curriculum

Required Graded Coursework

All graded coursework should be completed within the first two years of the program. For graduation, 24 hours of graded coursework, including the following Immunology (IMM) core courses, are required. Students must obtain a B grade or higher to be in good academic standing.

Class

Type

Graded Credit #

IMM PhD

MSTP

IMM544

Principles

3

Yes

No

IMM701D

Pillars

1

Yes

Yes

IMM731S/732S

WIP/Seminar

4

Yes

Yes

IMM791A/791B

Rotation

4

Yes

No

IMM800

Comprehensive

3

Yes

Yes

IMM601

Human Disease

1

Yes

Yes

IMM735/736

Dept JC

0

Yes

Yes

Electives

 

5

Yes

No

IMM544-TA

 

0

Yes

No

Total Graded Credits Minimum Requirement
with Electives & BIOTRAIN 720 (3 credits)
 
24
9


► All students are required to take BIOTRAIN 720: Grant Writing for Biomedical Scientists. Graded credits from this course count towards the minimum 24 graded credits required for IMM PhD students. 

► MSTP students are exempt from IMM 544, the IMM 544 teaching requirement, IMM 791A/791B (laboratory rotations), mini-courses and electives courses.

For additional courses, please refer to the Basic Sciences Master Course Listing and consult with the DGS.

The diagram below shows how the required courses are spread out over time.

Diagram showing the timing of required coursework for the PhD program

Required Non-Graded Coursework

Immunology graduate students are required to enroll in two additional courses through completion of the program.

  • IMM 732S Immunology Seminar (1 credit per semester, 3rd year students and beyond)
  • IMM 735/736 Topics in Immunology (1 credit per semester, starting in the Spring semester of the 1st year)

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

All PhD and MSTP students must complete RCR training before they can graduate. This includes BIOTRAIN 750, 751, 753, 754, and two RCR forum electives in Year 5+. Details of the RCR BIOTRAIN courses are described here.

The Graduate School and School of Medicine monitor participation in RCR courses and training.


Teaching Requirements

Immunology students must participate in one semester of supervised teaching (Teaching Assistant—TA) before the third year of doctoral training. We require one semester of supervised teaching for undergraduate and graduate students in IMM 544 (Principles of Immunology) or IMM 701D (Pillars of Immunology). In IMM 544, TAs lead discussion sessions and make didactic presentations within the framework of faculty-led classes. In IMM 701D, TAs take primary responsibility for all aspects of the course, with faculty oversight.