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Laboratory rotation program
Course work requirements
Qualifying examination (QE)
Seminars and journal clubs
Research
Graduate Congress
Financial assistance for attending international conferences

FAQs

About the Program

The Department has an excellent graduate program leading to M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees by research. It has and aspires to have a strong research culture. The infrastructure and research facilities along with research interests in the four main focus areas including structural biology and proteomics, molecular and developmental biology, biotechnology, and biodiversity and ecology are an attraction to aspiring students in the region. Our graduate students have the opportunity to learn cuttingedge techniques in several of our state-of-the-art facilities. They also have opportunities to interact with some of the well known visiting scientists.

The current graduate student numbers in DBS ( January 2008 ): 263 Origins of the students: Singapore, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Poland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Laboratory rotation program
All new graduate students are required to select two labs and spend one month in each lab. The new students can work with a senior student or other lab member during the attachment period. Each student is to write a short report (2-3 pages long) on completion of the attachment to the two labs. At the end of this period, students are to decide to work for the thesis research in one of the two labs to which they were attached.

Course work requirements
All students need to meet the following course work requirements:

M.Sc. program: Three graduate modules (level 5000); CAP 3.0 (B-)

Ph.D. program: Six graduate modules (level 5000); CAP, 3.5 (B)

Qualifying examination (QE) for Ph.D. program
For students who wish to carry out Ph.D. studies, they should take a Qualifying Examination (QE) during their second year (usually within the first 18 months after registration). The students need to submit a written report comprising a research plan including background, progress and future plan. The Department will form a QE committee for each student and the student needs to present an open seminar to the department and undergo the oral examination. The QE Committee then determines and recommends whether the student is to be transferred to the Ph.D. program. The students who fail the QE will stay in the graduate program and complete their M.Sc. theses.

Thesis advisory committee
Each Ph.D. student will have a thesis advisory committee; the supervisor will arrange for such committees in consultation with the students. This committee (usually, it comprises of the supervisor and two faculty members) will assess the research progress at regular intervals.

Departmental seminars and journal clubs
Attendance in the departmental seminars is compulsory for graduate students. Our regular departmental seminars are scheduled on Fridays from 4 PM to 5 PM. To improve the skill of oral presentation and to develop the ability of critical thinking, all students are required to join a journal club. In the journal club, on a rotation basis, students will present a research paper (usually outside their fields) from a recent, top scientific journal and discuss the paper with fellow students and professors. Currently there are ten journal clubs with different research focuses in the department:

Research
Graduate students are the major work force in our research programs in the department. Every year, over half of our scientific papers from our department are contributed by graduate students. Many of the papers are published in top scientific journals such as Nature Genetics, Nature Structural Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Journal of Biological Chemistry, etc.

Awards
In addition to the NUS Research Scholarship, outstanding students have opportunities to receive other highly prestigious awards such as President's Awards, Singapore Millennium Fellowship, etc. Several awards for best theses are also available for competition. Every year, we have several students who win these awards.

Graduate congress
Each year, the department holds a graduate congress. This congress is run by the graduate students themselves and aims to increase communication among the students within and outside of the department (regionally as well as internationally). The graduate congresses have been conducted every year since 1996. Each congress has its own theme. In 2005, the theme was 'Exploring the Biofrontiers'. The 2007 Congress was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia co-hosted by University of Malaya.

Financial assistance for attending international conferences
Our graduate students may receive partial financial assistance from the department for attending international conferences depending on the availability of funds. Each student can avail one such travel support during the tenure as graduate student. The primary factor for support will be the academic merit of the paper or poster being presented along with the reputation of the conference. Additionally, priority will be given to students who actively participate in organizing the departmental activities. Students may also be able to receive funding for conference travel from outside agencies on a competitive basis.