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PhD and MS Curriculum Requirements for Immunobiology

PhD candidates majoring in Immunobiology must take at least 72 graduate credits.  These 72 credits include the core course requirements (below) and applicable research credits earned.  Credits taken during a student's MS program in Immunobiology at Iowa State University may count towards their PhD in IMBIO.

Additional coursework for both PhD and MS degrees may be selected by the student in consultation with the Program of Study (POS) Committee to meet departmental requirements and to satisfactorily prepare the student for their research project.

Graduate credits of "B" or better earned at another institution may be transferred at the discretion of the POS Committee and with the approval of the Immunobiology Program and the ISU Graduate College.

Additional information relating to credits required for graduate degrees can be found in the ISU Graduate College Handbook.

Immunobiology Core Curriculum requirements include:

Take each of the following:
BBMB 405Biochemistry II3 credits
IMBIO 602Current Topics Workshop1 credit/year
IMBIO 604Seminar1 credit/year
VMPM 615Molecular Immunology3 credits
Stat 587Statistical Methods for Research Workers4 credits
GR ST 565Responsible Conduct of Research in Science and Engineering1 credit

 

Take one of the following two:
VMPM 520Medical Immunology I4 credits
VMPM 575Immunology3 credits

 

PhD At least 2 courses (MS take at least one) from the following options:
VMPM 629Advanced Topics in Cellular Immunology2 credits
VMPM/Micro 625Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogenesis4 credits
VMPM 608Molecular Virology3 credits
VMPM 540Livestock Immunogenetics2 credits
V Path 660Pathogenesis of Persistent Infections2 credits
GDCB 528Advances in Molecular Cell Biology3 credits
ImBio 661Comparative Immunology and Infectious Disease2 credits
BBMB 645Molecular Signaling2 credits

PhD TOTAL CORE CURRICULUM CREDITS                          **19-20 credits

MS Total Core Curriculum Credits

**Exclusive of seminar, workshop, and research credits.

Non-native English speakers must pass the English Requirement as established by the university.  Depending on the results of this exam additional courses may be required to meet English proficiency standards. 

Immunobiology graduate students need to teach one semester as part of their training for an advanced degree.   Students whose first language is not English must take and pass the Oral English Certification Test (OECT) to be eligible to teach.