The Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology provides educational and research experience in molecular, cell, and evolutionary biology; biochemistry; biophysics; genetics and functional genomics; physiology; and root biology to help students prepare for teaching and research positions. The program was ranked among the top-four programs of its kind by the latest National Research Council Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs.
The Plant Biology program includes faculty members from 10 departments in three colleges. Their research interests range from the cellular, molecular, and biochemical levels to whole-plant physiology and ecophysiology. Advised by these faculty members, students complete a thesis based on their own original research, and take a comprehensive set of courses that reflect the breadth of fields in the biological sciences
First-year students in the Ph.D. program spend time in different labs to explore potential Ph.D. projects and advisors. These lab rotations introduce students to faculty research programs and develop their skills in problem solving. After students have chosen an advisor, or dual advisors, they will become associated with the (primary) advisor’s academic department, which provides research facilities and office space.
Participating Departments
The departments represented by program faculty are:
- Agricultural and Biological Engineering
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Biology
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry
- Ecosystem Science and Management
- Entomology
- Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology
- Plant Science
- Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Research Areas
The 11 research areas of the Plant Biology program are:
- Environment And Stress Plant Physiology
- Photosynthesis
- Phytobiomes
- Plant Biochemistry
- Plant Cell Biology
- Plant Chemical Ecology
- Plant Developmental Biology
- Plant Ecophysiology
- Plant Molecular Biology And Biotechnology
- Root Biology
- Whole Plant Physiology
