The mission of this program is the training of graduate students toward the Ph.D. degree in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology. The long term goal is to produce biomedical researchers of the future. The training program's major component is laboratory research. The research areas covered in this program include such fields as mechanistic enzymology, signal transduction, gene expression, virology, cell biology, and a very strong structural biology component. Training will begin in a classroom environment through formal course work, but the goal is to move students away from dependency on classroom education to become independent thinkers capable of advanced problem solving skills. The trainers chosen for this program include Purdue Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMP) Program faculty who have research funding from a major national source. We anticipate the training of 6 graduate students annually through the proposed program. All trainees will have at least a B.S. or equivalent in a field such as biochemistry, chemistry or biology. Most of our trainees have had some form of laboratory experience as an undergraduate or perhaps as a laboratory technician. We feel that laboratory experience is an important indicator of motivation and persistence for conducting thesis research. Our students complete Ph.D. requirements in an average of 5 years after their arrival.
