GENE-PHD - Genetics (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics

Graduate Degrees describes university requirements for the master’s degree. 

The PhD program in the Department of Genetics offers graduate students the opportunity to pursue a discipline that encompasses both a set of tools and a coherent way of thinking about biology and medicine. All significant areas of genetics and genomics are represented in the department, including human genetics (molecular identification of Mendelian traits and the pathophysiology of genetic disease, gene therapy, genetic epidemiology, analysis of complex traits, genome functional analysis and human evolution), and application of model organisms such as bacteria, yeast, flies, worms, and mice to basic and translational areas of biomedical research. The department is especially strong in genomic and bioinformatic approaches to genome biology and evolution. It includes several genome-scale databases and Centers such as the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine (SCGPM), Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD), the Stanford Microarray Database (SMD), and the Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base (PharmGKB), the ENCODE project, Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC), ClinGen, eGTEX, and iPOP.

The Genetics Department works to support new generations of science scholars who reflect the diversity of life experiences, intellectual perspectives, races, abilities, and cultures representing society. The Stanford Genomics Diversity Summer Program is designed to help increase the number of underrepresented scientists pursuing and succeeding in genetics, genomics, or other research careers. The department supports this goal by recruiting highly motivated students from diverse backgrounds and exposing them to cutting-edge research in top and well-resourced laboratories.

Exposure to the intellectual scope of the department is provided by laboratory rotations, dissertation research, advanced courses in genetics and other areas of biomedical science, seminar series, journal clubs, and an annual three-day retreat of faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff scientists. Emphasis is placed on interactions and collaborations among students, postdoctoral students, and faculty within the department and throughout the campus.

During their first year, graduate students in the department take graduate courses and sample areas of research by carrying out rotations in three or four laboratories. At the end of the first three quarters, students may select a laboratory to do their dissertation research. While the dissertation research is generally performed in one laboratory, collaborative projects with more than one faculty member are encouraged. In addition to interacting with their faculty advisor, graduate students receive advice regularly from other faculty members who serve as dissertation committee members. Studying for the PhD generally requires between four and five years of graduate work, most of which is focused on dissertation research.

Students are primarily enrolled in the program to receive the PhD degree, although a limited number of MD candidates can combine research training in genetics with their medical studies. PhD candidates who have passed the qualifying exam in the second year can opt to receive the MS as a terminal degree.

There are opportunities for graduate students to teach in graduate-level and professional-school courses. In addition, students can participate in educational outreach activities coordinated by the department, including opportunities to interact with secondary school students and teachers, lay groups, and local science museums.

Students who have recently received a bachelor’s, master’s, MD, or PhD degree in related fields may apply for graduate study. Prospective students must have a biology, mathematics, physics, and chemistry background. Admission decisions are based on comparing the relative merits of all the candidates’ academic abilities and potential for research and the department’s interest in promoting a diverse learning environment. Interviews occur in late February or early March, and successful applicants are offered admission by early spring. Students who wish to pursue a combined MD/PhD degree are considered for admission into the department’s graduate program after being admitted to the MD program in the School of Medicine.

Students begin graduate studies in autumn quarter. Prospective students are encouraged to start the application process early to ensure they can submit a complete application by the December deadline. All students accepted into the Department of Genetics PhD program are provided full tuition and a stipend. A training grant from the National Institutes of Health provides significant support for the graduate training program in the department. Other student support is provided by departmental funds, the School of Medicine, and research grants, both federal and private, of the faculty. In addition, several graduate students are funded by fellowships, including those from the National Science Foundation and the Stanford Graduate Fellows program.