The present proposal represents an amalgam of two current graduate training programs at UCSD, one covering the areas of Cell and Molecular Biology, and the other focused on the application of Genetic methods to problems of gene regulation and development. The primary mission of this new combined program is to train graduate students for career as independent research scientists. All entering graduate students complete an intensive, one year core curriculum covering virtually every facet of contemporary biology, with an emphasis on the diverse techniques now available for the characterization of fundamental and conserved cellular processes. During this first year of study, students are exposed to a broad spectrum of research problems through 4 or 5 laboratory """"""""rotations."""""""" After successful completion of a rigorous comprehensive examination, and selection of a thesis mentor, each student conducts independent research. Given recent progress in the elucidation of common mechanisms underlying seemingly disparate processes, we place a heavy emphasis on a broad training environment, whereby students engaged in traditionally diverse fields of study are brought together in common symposia, workshops, journal clubs, retreats, and informal tutorials. The proposed training program includes 98 faculty spanning two different departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the UCSD School of Medicine, and The Salk Institute. Funds are requested to maintain the current level of support (53 graduate students), even though there has been a dramatic expansion in the training program due to the inclusion of Salk faculty in a common graduate curriculum. The proposed training program includes two tiers of organization. First, faculty are organized according to their participation in the formal training of all graduate students, with an emphasis on the traditional disciplines of Genetics, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology & Biochemistry, and Cell Biology. Secondly, the faculty are distributed among four principal fields of contemporary research, including Transcription and Gene Regulation, Signal Transduction, Cell Biology (particularly membrane biogenesis and cellular compartments), and Molecular Evolution.
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