This is a proposal for the continued training of predoctoral graduate students in the area of molecular and cellular biology. The program is comprised of 45 Trainer-directed research programs and 15 trainee positions for graduate students, who will do their dissertation research in the Trainer labs. The graduate students are recruited primarily from four graduate programs (known as Graduate Groups), namely Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics and Microbiology, and are appointed to the Training Grant in their second year in the graduate program. The program is administered by a seven-person Executive Committee. The Training faculty will provide individual training programs, will be actively involved in recruiting graduate students to the Davis campus, and will provide courses in molecular and cell biology. There currently is (and will be) a highly successful Training Program Seminar Series in which extramural speakers are selected and hosted by the Trainees, an Annual Research Retreat, which is held at Lake Tahoe and serves as a forum for presentation of research seminars by students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members, and Brown-Bag lunches for the trainees with the Executive Committee to present and discuss their research. The Training Faculty and student Trainees will be evaluated on a yearly basis in order to ensure that the quality of the training programs, as well as Trainees, is maintained at a high level. Mechanisms for these evaluations are formalized and will be carried out by the Executive Committee. Evaluation of the Training Faculty emphasizes quality of the training programs (e.g. grant support, publication record and student training record), as well as a commitment to graduate education and the Program (e.g. attendance at retreats and seminars, participation in courses, and activity in Graduate Groups). Students will be evaluated on the basis of their research seminars, interviews, written report and publication record. The overall guiding principle is to support students from Training Grant funds who are highly productive.
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