Detailed Ph.D. Program Information for Current Students

The major goals of the Ph.D. program in biochemistry are to master known principles and techniques, develop the intellectual tools for collecting and analyzing data, to produce new fundamental knowledge through research, and to be able to effectively communicate the results of original research through oral and written means. 

The academic and other requirements for obtaining a Ph.D. degree are outlined below. Students are responsible for understanding their degree program and fulfilling these requirements. In addition, other pertinent information is provided for course registration, salary support, health insurance, exams, and other topics.

This page is provided as a reference, however, the most complete and up-to-date information for current students can be found in the Departmental Rules for Advanced Degrees, available in the Helpful Links & Useful Documents section below.

  1. Fall

    Arriving on Campus

    1st year students begin at the University of Colorado Boulder in August with a series of orientations. The department will reach out to students with more detailed instructions prior to the beginning of the semester.

  2. Year 1

    Fall and Spring Semesters of Year 1

    The 1st year typically consists of laboratory rotations, coursework, and a teaching assistantship.

    Laboratory Rotations – Students participate in four rotations during their first academic year (two during each semester). The rotation lasts ~8-weeks. A rotation is a time when a student previews joining a laboratory by participating in research and attending laboratory events/meetings. The goal of laboratory rotations is to help students find a match with prospective thesis advisor. Biochemistry Ph.D. students can rotate with investigators from across the University but must perform their first rotation with a Biochemistry faculty member.

    Coursework – Students take a number of graduate-level courses within their first year. The most important are two semesters of Biochemistry Core, a class only for Biochemistry Ph.D. students that provides a foundation in principles of biochemistry and essentials for research.

    Teaching Assistantship – Students are typically funded as Teaching Assistants for their 1st year. In subsequent years, students are typically funded by their thesis advisors lab as Research Assistants.

  3. Summer

    Joining a Lab

    1st year students typically “join a lab” at the end of Spring Semester of their first year. Joining a lab consists of selecting a thesis advisor (also called mentor) with whom to perform their dissertation research. Labs may begin financially supporting students at this time. Students are encouraged to apply to one of the NIH training grants at the University of Colorado Boulder during this time.

  4. Year 2

    Year 2

    After joining a lab, 2nd year students in Biochemistry labs usually no longer teach. This year typically consists of applying for fellowships, taking qualifying exams (also known as COMPs), completing elective coursework, and dissertation research.

    Applying for Fellowships – Biochemistry Ph.D. students are encouraged, but not required, to apply to fellowships to support their stipend and research. Our students have received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP), National Institutes of Health (NIH) F31 Predoctoral Fellowship, and many other prestigious fellowships.

    Qualifying Exams (COMPs) – During the second year, students take qualifying exams. Passing these exams advances students to Ph.D. Candidacy.

    Coursework – Students complete the remaining coursework required to fulfill their degree. Typically, second year students take electives on specialty topics they choose.

    Dissertation Research – After joining a laboratory, students spend virtually all of their time working with their thesis advisor to perform research for their dissertation.

  5. Years 3–5

    Years 3–5

    After advancing to Ph.D. candidacy, students spend virtually all of their time working with their thesis advisor to perform research for their dissertation. Students in Biochemistry convene a Thesis Committee of 3–5 faculty members who meet annually to provide advice and guide students through their degree.

  6. Graduation

    Graduation and Degree Conferral

    Students who have fulfilled the degree requirements for a Ph.D. in Biochemistry prepare a written Dissertation/Thesis and hold a Thesis Defense. The average time to completion is 5.5 years.

Need Help?

For questions about the graduate program, contact:

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

All students in the Biochemistry Ph.D. program must be admitted through the University of Colorado Boulder Graduate School. For more information on applying to Biochemistry, see Prospective Graduate Students.

Ph.D. students are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of approved coursework and 30 dissertation credits.

Students must be enrolled as a full-time, degree seeking graduate students each semester, maintain satisfactory academic performance, and maintain progress toward their degree.

Course Registration

Prior to starting in the fall term, the department liaison will register incoming students. Students are expected to register for spring courses through the Buff portal. Please review the Biochemistry Summary Checklist or Year-by-Year Biochemistry Handbook under Helpful Links & Useful Documents.

Students in their 2nd - 6th year are expected to register for fall and spring courses the Buff portal according to the requirements for each year. Please review the Biochemistry Summary Checklist or Year-by-Year Biochemistry Handbook, link below. However, 5th and 6th year students that plan their final exam for summer – after June 1 and before the start of the fall term – must register for five dissertation credits. Please review the Graduate School Rules, Full-Time status and Minimum Registration Requirements under Helpful Links & Useful Documents.

 Normally, students do not register for summer courses. However, if a student is enrolled in fewer than 3 credit hours (unless enrolled in only 1 credit hour to complete a thesis or dissertation after completing all required classroom work) they are required to participate in student retirement. See http://www.cu.edu/employee-services/student-employee-retirement for further details.

The department liaison will enter a tuition waiver every fall and spring for each student on a Research or Teaching Assistantship equal to the percentage of their appointment. This tuition waiver is applied to the student’s bill as a credit. If a student’s final defense takes place in the summer and they have a Research Assistantship, a tuition waiver will be applied to the student’s bill.

  1. Courses taken through Continuing Education, Extended Studies, or Outreach programs do not qualify for tuition coverage.
  2. Courses taken not for credit (audited course) do not qualify for tuition coverage.
  3. Withdrawal from a course after the census date will result in loss of tuition coverage for that course.
  4. Students must work at least 12 weeks during each semester to be eligible for the tuition and insurance contribution. The 12 week start date is always the first day of classes in the fall and January 1 in the spring.

All domestic non-resident graduate students (including permanent residents) must obtain Colorado in-state tuition classification prior to the start of their second year of employment as a graduate student.  Instructions on how to apply for residency can be found on the registrar’s website: http://www.colorado.edu/registrar/students/state-residency/guidelines.  
Failure to do so will result in ineligibility for tuition coverage, starting with the following semester. https://www.colorado.edu/registrar/students/state-residency

Salary Information & Student Retirement

All students who are accepted into the graduate program in Biochemistry at Boulder who maintain a good academic standing, are provided with financial support in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships. For first-year students, financial support is typically in the form of a teaching assistantship during the academic year and a research assistantship during the summer. Outstanding first-year students are supported by fellowships or traineeship assistance. Students beyond their first year are typically supported by research assistantships from faculty research grants. 

Some national fellowship programs are available to qualified graduate students in biochemistry. These include those offered by the National Science Foundation and the Danforth Foundation. Application for these should be made early in the senior year of undergraduate school. A number of other types of financial aid are administered by the Graduate School or the Department. These include University of Colorado, Chancellor's, Conoco, Edward King, Dow, Shell, Huffman, and Argabright Fellowships. The Department also has several research fellowships, which are normally awarded to more advanced graduate students, although several biochemistry traineeships for first-year students are available. Students who submit a complete application for admission to the graduate program in biochemistry are automatically considered for all scholarships and fellowships for which they are eligible. Further information about these opportunities is available from the Graduate Student Manager for the Department of Biochemistry.

  1. Teaching Assistantship – typically PhD students are funded as Teaching Assistants for their 1st year at the pre-comp rate. However, students interested in teaching may have opportunities to TA later in their academic career.
  2. Research Assistantship – students join a lab at the conclusion of their 1st year and are paid the summer of their 1st year, 2nd year and summer at the pre-comprehensive exam rate. Once a student passes their comprehensive exam they will be paid the post-comprehensive exam rate starting the fall semester of their 3rd year.
  3. Fellowship + Supplemental RA – students that are successful in writing a grant for their research may find that the award is not sufficient enough to pay for their research materials, salary, tuition, and mandatory fees. Sometimes a supplemental RA is necessary to bridge the salary gap or but this depends on the faculty advisors funding situation.
  4. Outside Funding – occasionally, students come into the Biochemistry PhD program with funding outside University of Colorado.
  5. Student Retirement – if a student is enrolled in fewer than 3 credit hours (unless enrolled in only 1 credit hour to complete a thesis or dissertation after completing all required classroom work) they are required to participate in student retirement. See http://www.cu.edu/employee-services/student-employee-retirement for further details.
  6. Other Funding Resources –
    1. Awards & Grants: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/funding/awards-grants
    2. National Fellowship Opportunities: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/funding/national-fellowship-opportunities

Health Insurance and Fees

Every summer the Graduate School determines the amount of student health insurance the University will pay toward the CU Student Health Insurance Plan. On average, the University covers 90% or more of the cost, leaving the student to pay the remaining balance as part of their mandatory fees. For more information about the CU Student Health Insurance Program: https://www.colorado.edu/healthcenter/

Students are responsible for paying mandatory student fees. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in a registration hold placed on the student’s account and late fee and finance charges added to the unpaid balance.

Mandatory Training & Tasks

  1. All faculty, and any other employee or student with responsibility for the design, conduct or reporting of research are considered critical to the research process and must disclose any significant financial interest and external professional activity that could compromise university decision making or duties. Projects and protocols submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts or to the IRB cannot receive approval until an annual DEPA is submitted, reviewed and approved. It is not for each individual researcher to decide if he/she must report based on a belief that no conflicts exist. ALL personnel listed in the groups below must report, as stipulated, in order for the institution to be in compliance with federal regulations and institutional policies. 
    1. Log in to Buff Portal at http://buffportal.colorado.edu. 
    2. In Buff Portal, open the search function by clicking the menu icon in the top left corner of the page.
    3. Search "DEPA" and select the link, then click Log into DEPA.
    4. Follow the instructions on the DEPA reporting page.

Students are required to complete discrimination and harassment training.  For instructions on how to complete this training, see the Mandatory Training for New Faculty and Staff at http://www.colorado.edu/institutionalequity/training-and-education

Effort reporting is a requirement for recipients of federal awards as a means of attesting to the appropriateness of salaries and wages charged to the contract or grant. If you are paid to work on sponsored projects you need to certify how much time you spend on these projects.

Sponsoring agencies require reasonable assurance that labor costs charged to a sponsored project reflect the actual effort expended on the project.

It is the responsibility of each graduate student to certify their effort on these projects at the end of each semester. Watch this video: https://www.cu.edu/controller/training/epers-training/certifying-electronic-personnel-effort-reports-epers

To access your ePER:

  1. Log in to your campus portal http://buffportal.colorado.edu. 
  2. Click on the CU Resources Home drop-down menu
  3. Select Business Tools
  4. Click on the ePERS tile

Exams

The Preliminary Exam is the written portion of a two-part comprehensive exam. To receive a PhD in Biochemistry, graduate students are required to complete and pass the written and oral comprehensive examination.

Please review the Departmental Graduate Student Rules for the timing, composition, grading and certification of the exam.

Past Comprehensive Exams

Oral Exam - please review the Departmental Graduate Student Rules for more information about the composition of the examining board and panel, time frame, dissertation research proposal, composition of the exam, and determination of outcome. Every student taking the oral portion of the comprehensive exam is required to:

  1. Upon successful completion of the orals exam, complete the Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academic-resources/forms-current-students
    1. Tip: use your CU Boulder unofficial transcript to chronologically list all graduate level coursework and grades. For courses in progress, enter “IP” in the grade column.
    2. Sign the document and acquire the signature of your faculty advisor and DocuSign the document to the Graduate Program Manager (GPM) for their signature. The GPM will need to verify the courses and grades before signing the document. If the document is inaccurate, you will need to re-do the document.
      1. The GPM will submit the Doctoral Examination Report form and the Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree to the Graduate School. If approved, you should receive an email from the Graduate School congratulating you on advancing to Candidacy. When students are admitted to Candidacy, their salary increases in fall and typically mandatory student fees decrease.
  2. Complete the Doctoral Examination Report form https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academic-resources/forms-current-students with the names of their orals committee member three (3) weeks before the exam date. This form needs to be approved by the Graduate School before the exam takes place. Check the box for “comprehensive” exam and give completed form to the Graduate Program Manager (GPM) to send to the Graduate School. When the GPM receives the approved form from the Graduate School, they will DocuSign the exam form to the orals committee for signatures.

 

  1. Final Exam: Please review the Departmental Graduate Student Rules for the timing, composition, grading and certification of the exam.
    1. Email the final exam details to the GPM at least three (3) weeks before the exam for the email announcement to be sent to the department.
      1. Title of Dissertation
      2. Abstract
      3. Time / Date / Location and Room # / Zoom details
    2. Complete the Doctoral Examination Report form https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academic-resources/forms-current-students with the names of their orals committee member three (3) weeks before the exam date. This form needs to be approved by the Graduate School before the exam takes place. If the composition of the committee includes people outside of the Boulder Campus, the GPM must make sure that the person has a Check the box for “final” exam and give completed form to the Graduate Program Manager (GPM) to send to the Graduate School. When the GPM receives the approved form from the Graduate School, they will DocuSign the exam form to the orals committee for signatures.
    3. Email the names of the committee members for the final exam to the GMP at lease four (4) weeks prior to the final exam. Each committee member has to be approved by the Graduate School and have a Graduate Faculty Appointment (GFA) before they can sit on a Doctoral Examination Board. If the outside committee member does not have a GFA, the student is responsible for acquiring the CV of the committee member and submitting that information to the Graduate Program Manager (GPM) to get the GFA approved.
    4. Please review the Graduate School website https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academic-resources/graduation-requirements/doctoral-graduation-information  It is expected that all graduate students ready to graduate will review and complete :
      1. Graduation Requirements
      2. Online Graduate Application
      3. Doctoral Examination Report
      4. Dissertation Final Grade Report
      5. Thesis Specifications & Submission Information
      6. Thesis Approval Form

Helpful Links & Useful Documents

 

Biochemistry Resources

  •   Internal Resources
    • Annual Committee Meeting Report 
    • Biochemistry Handbook Year-by-Year
    • Departmental Rules for Advanced Degrees
    • Example Written Exams (COMPs)

Graduate School Resources

Other Resources