NRSA in Genetics

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. The Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology (GMB) is a well-established and highly ranked interdepartmental PhD program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). For more than 60 years this program has provided cutting-edge research opportunities to trainees. In addition to our ongoing expertise in key areas in genetics (e.g., genetics of model microbes, plants, and animals) and molecular biology (e.g., signal transduction, gene expression, and virology), we have added strengths in epigenetics, clinical and translational genetics, systems genetics, quantitative genetics, computational genetics, and genomics. Extensive interaction between researchers in broad areas is promoted by the interdepartmental and inter-school nature of the program, as well as many faculty centers, and is facilitated by the physical proximity of the different units on a single campus. Our mission is to train students to conduct responsible research leading to a PhD, while also providing training and acquisition of skills for them to enter a variety of careers in research and research-related fields. We continuously update our program, based on our own studies and best practices throughout the field to ensure that it is modern and innovative. In addition to semester-long courses, we have modular 5-week courses that allow students to tailor their coursework more closely to their needs. We offer numerous career information and training events, as well as internships in industry, academia, and non-profit sectors. We compete nationally for the top students. Our students are successful in obtaining competitive external funding, and every student publishes at least one first- or co-first-authored research paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Most of our students remain in scientific careers after they graduate, with a large fraction doing postdoctoral research in academia, government labs, or private research foundations. Some remain in academic/government research, while others go into industry, science teaching, or science policy.