The Cell and Molecular Biology Predoctoral Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania is a University-wide, interdepartmental and interschool program for careers in modern biology. The group of trainers consists of more than 100 senior and younger faculty from many parts of the University. These faculty members, and the training they provide, are organized into Graduate Groups according to disciplines of interest. These Graduate Groups, which are interdepartmental and interschool in membership and fully responsible for graduate education, are not the same as or coextensive with Departments. Individual Graduate Groups set requirements for degrees, admit and monitor the progress of students, and eventually certify their degrees. organizationally, two of the Graduate Groups that participate in this program are in the School of Arts and Sciences (Biology and Chemistry), and the remaining 10 Groups come under Biomedical Graduate Studies in the School of Medicine, which provides a central point for processing applications, keeping records, coordinating curricula and other activities of the individual Graduate Groups, and through which considerable University funding for student support is channeled. This somewhat unusual arrangement, whereby graduate education is handled by Graduate Groups rather than Departments, promotes interaction among the many faculty having common interests in cell and molecular biology, and, contributes strongly to the interdisciplinary spirit of graduate training and collaborative research in these areas at the University of Pennsylvania. The Training Program in Cell and Molecular Biology is an important component in attempts to maximize interaction among students and faculty of various Departments. Trainees meet together periodically and, approximately once per year, choose a topic for a special 1-2 day seminar, select and invite speakers, and otherwise organize all aspects of the seminar. only students working toward the Ph.D. degree are supported by this Training Program. In total, 34 students were supported for part or all of the present year, out of a total pool of more than 300 matriculated Ph.D. students interested in cell and molecular biology. Individual Graduate Groups differ somewhat in their procedures and methods used in training. All use a mix of formal courses, pre-thesis laboratory rotations, seminars, and individual laboratory research work leading to a thesis. Examination and supervision of research progress are done by faculty committees, sometimes with the addition of persons from outside the University
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