 |
|
 |
|
Graduate program
We offer both M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs. Requirements for the M.S. are a research proposal, 26 graduate credits, a thesis and an oral defense of thesis. Requirements for the Ph.D. are 60 graduate credits, a research proposal with an oral defense, and a dissertation with an oral defense. Students may include courses offered elsewhere, Both within the University, such as at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, amd the University of Miami School of Medicine, and outside the University.
Students usually choose their major professor before entering graduate school, and later select an independent research topic that associates them closely with the graduate faculty. To choose a major professor, contact one or more of the following professors before putting in your formal application: Dr. Chiba, Dallman, Gaines, Goldstein, Green, Herbert, Horvitz, Janos, Lu, Potts, Prince, Sealey, Searcy, SKromne, Sternberg, Tokarz, Tosney, Waddington, Whitlock, Wikramanayake, A. Wilson
|
| above, graduate students collecting in the everglades |
Research
Research strengths of the program include ecology, behavior, conservation, evolutionary biology, tropical biology and mathematical and theoretical and biology. The department is currently expanding significantly in the areas of developmental biology and neuroscience.
|
The University
The University of Miami was founded in 1925 as a private, coeducational institution and is now composed of fourteen colleges and schools. The Coral Gables campus is a 260-acre tract containing 120 buildings and is located 15 minutes from both the University’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (on Virginia Key) and School of Medicine (in the city of Miami). The University has an enrollment of 14,000 students, with approximately 3,000 graduate students. The department usually has about 50 graduate students. |
| |
Location
The Department of Biology is situated on the main campus in Coral Gables, in a subtropical environment, 30 minutes from the Everglades and 15 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. Local cultural facilities include an opera, art and science museums, three theaters that offer Broadway plays, and various smaller theaters. Local tourist and recreational attractions include professional football, basketball, baseball, and hockey teams; Parrot Jungle; Monkey Jungle; the SeaQuarium; the Metro Zoo; and various marinas, parks, and paths for running or biking. Areas for fishing and diving in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys are within 10 to 90 minutes of the campus. Everglades National Park, where hiking, canoeing, and camping can be enjoyed, is less than an hour from campus. Students may live in University housing accommodations that range from shared rooms to apartments; the costs range from $2920 to $3010 per semester. Off-campus housing is available from approximately $650 per month upward. The cost of living in Miami is equivalent to that of other metropolitan areas. |
| |
Graduate funding
Students admitted to the PhD program in the Department of Biology are guaranteed ten semesters of support as either a teaching assistant or a research assistant. Both provide an $18,000 nine-month stipend and an 18-credit tuition waiver. Three types of fellowships are available to applicants on a competitive basis, a University Fellowship, a Maytag Fellowship and The Lisa D. Anness Graduate Fellowship; these suppy a stipend of $20,000 for one year, an 18-credit tuition waiver, and are renewable for up to 3 years. The Lisa D. Anness Graduate Fellowship (for an article on Lisa Anness, click here) supports graduate students in Biology who will be co-mentored by a member of the faculty of the University of Miami and a member of the research staff of the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Once students are enrolled, they are eligible to supply for in-house research support from a variety of departmental sources. |
| |
Opportunity to take outside courses
The Department will fund students to take a field or training course outside the University, for instance at the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, or Cold Spring Harbour. The Department of Biology is a charter member of OTS and several departmental faculty participate in teaching OTS field courses. Biology also maintains close ties with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. |
| |
Graduate-selected visiting professor
Each year, graduate students select a Distinguished Visiting Professor to visit and teach for two weeks. This program has brought to the department such outstanding scientists as Drs. F. Bazzaz, J. Brockman, D. Brooks, H. Caswell, E. L. Charnov, N. Davies, L. Ehrman, J. S. Farris, D. J. Futuyma, J.W. Gibbons, L. E. Gilbert, R. K. Koehn, J. R. Krebs, M. F. Mickevich, N. Nadkarni, P. Narins, G. Nelson, G. Northcutt, R. Pulliam, P. J. Regal, D. Reznick, R. E. Ricklefs, D. E. Rosen, M. Rosenzweig, J. Roughgarden, M. J. Ryan, D. Simberloff, J. Travis, E. O. Willis, and L. Wolf. This year Professor Aaron M. Ellison from Harvard University will visit our department from February 24th to March 8th of 2008.
|
| Application materials needed are described here and the application itself is available online. These materials may also obtained by writing to "The Director of Graduate Studies" at the department address below. All completed application forms, including letters of application, must be mailed directly to the director of graduate studies by January 1. Before submitting the formal application, students must contact one or more members of the graduate faculty, stating their career goals and research interests, and arranging faculty sponsorship. In the application, recommendations from at least three academic referees should address the student’s motivation, ability to conceptualize and deal quantitatively with biological problems, and research potential. Evidence of research capability should be included. Scores on the GRE General and Subject Tests in biology are essential. International students must submit a TOEFL score of at least 550 (paper-based), at least 212 (computer-based) or at least 59 (excluding speaking, internet-based). Following tentative acceptance of a student and his or her research topic, the complete file is evaluated by the Graduate Admissions and Advisory Committee, which notifies the Graduate School or International Admissions regarding admission. Decisions on admission and awards are announced by April 15. |
| |
|
|
