IMMUN-PHD - Immunology (PhD)

Immunology Ph.D. Curriculum:

All students in the two tracks, Molecular, Cellular, and Translational Immunology (MCTI) and Computational and Systems Immunology (CSI) are required to enroll in the following core courses:  

Candidates for Ph.D. degrees at Stanford must satisfactorily complete a program of study that includes 135 units of graduate course work and research. At least 3 units must be taken with each of four different Stanford faculty members. Students in the MCTI track are expected to complete all their core course requirements by the end of their second year; students in the CSI track should complete their core course work by the end of the third year.

In the third through fifth year, students are required to take course Ethics, Science, and Society, a refresher ethics course that is required by NIH and is offered every other year.

Immediately after the final examination period in Spring Quarter of the first year, first-year immunology graduate students are required to give a presentation on one of their three rotations to the Immunology graduate program committee (Qualifying Examination Process, Part I).  After the rotation presentation, the first-year student will meet with the Stanford Graduate Program Committee in a one-on-one advising session to review degree progress and choice of a Ph.D. thesis lab. 

In Autumn Quarter of the second year, students focus on preparing for Part II of the Qualifying Examination Process, the general oral examination and the Ph.D. thesis dissertation proposal. The student is required to pass the oral examination and write a thesis dissertation proposal which is presented to and evaluated by a qualifying examination committee composed of three faculty members, two of whom must be from the Immunology program faculty and the third faculty member may be from a department outside the program. The Ph.D. adviser is not present for Part II, but is required to submit an evaluation and grade for the Ph.D. thesis dissertation proposal. Upon successful completion of Part II, the student files a petition for Ph.D. candidacy and form their reading dissertation committee.

The dissertation reading committee (generally known as the Ph.D. thesis committee) must be comprised of at least four faculty members who guide the student in the Ph.D. research, and read and approve the final dissertation. Typically three of the four dissertation reading committee members are from the Immunology program faculty. 

In the first through third years, the student must meet with the Ph.D. thesis committee at least once a year. In the fourth and fifth years, the student is expected to meet twice a year with the Ph.D. thesis committee.  In addition, if requested by the student, a secondary adviser is assigned who can provide additional advice on issues such as career path choices and other non-academic issues.

Individual Development Plan: Graduate students are required to meet with their faculty mentors once a year to discuss an individual development plan (IDP). The IDP is intended to help the students take ownership of their training and professional development. The goals of the IDP are to: 1) pause, reflect and intentionally think on short-, mid- and long-term goals; 2) identify resources that help to achieve these goals; and 3) have open and direct dialogue with the Ph.D. thesis adviser and establish clear expectations and steps.   

Track Specific Requirements

In addition to the general requirements listed above, students must also complete requirements within their track. Written petitions for exemptions to core curriculum and lab rotation requirements are considered only in the first year by the advising committee and the chair of the Graduate Program committee. Approval is contingent upon special circumstances and is not routinely granted.

Molecular, Cellular, and Translational Immunology

In addition to the core courses listed above, MCTI first-year students are required to take the following courses in their first year for a letter grade:

Electives:

One elective (see suggested elective list below)

Computational and Systems Immunology

In addition to the core courses listed above, the CSI curriculum trains students to be computational and experimental scientists, who are expected to identify important problems in immunology and to devise integrated computational/ experimental plans for addressing them.  

CSI Core (Required): 

Students in the CSI track are required to take the following core courses in their first and second years, unless demonstrated by proficiency or coursework.  For example, a student, with proficiency in concepts taught in CS 106A, may petition to be exempt from this course and go on to take CS 106B.  Petitions to exempt from the courses CS 106A, CS 109, and CS 161 must be approved by the Chair of the CSI track.

CSI Electives:

Two electives (see suggested elective list below):

Journal Clubs

Both MCTI and CSI students are required to attend the IMMUNOL 305 Immunology Journal Club for their first through third years. Attendance is optional for fourth year and above graduate students.

Immunology and CSI Seminar Series

Graduate seminars are an important means of attaining a broad and comprehensive exposure to all areas in immunology as well as gaining a professional perspective and competence in the field. First-year students are required to attend all immunology seminars (IMMUNOL 311 Seminar in Immunology). Students in their second year and above are required to attend 50% of the seminar series each academic year until the last quarter in which their Ph.D. oral defense takes place. Students in the CSI track are required to attend the Computational and Systems Immunology Seminar Series (IMMUNOL 310 Seminars in Computational and Systems Immunology) held every Summer Quarter.

Immunology Scientific Retreat

In the autumn quarter, the annual Retreat is held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA, and is attended by students, staff, postdocs and faculty of the Stanford immunology community. All immunology graduate students are required to attend. In the third through fifth years, students will present a poster and give a talk on their graduate research.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching experience and training are part of the graduate curriculum. Each student assists in teaching two courses in the immunology core or electives. A TA match process is held in summer quarter in order to match the graduate student's research and teaching preferences to the appropriate courses.  Before beginning their assigned teaching assistantships, students are required to attend a TA orientation workshop held by VPTL before the teaching quarter begins.

First Author Paper Submission

By the fourth or fifth year, graduate students are expected to submit a first author paper for publication. This milestone should be completed before defending a Ph.D. thesis.

Doctoral Dissertation

Before embarking on the dissertation defense process, the graduate student must submit a Petition to Defend to the Director of the Immunology Graduate Program.  Important milestones and degree requirements must be met before proceeding to the oral examination. A substantial draft of the dissertation must be turned in to the student's oral examination committee at least one month before the oral exam is scheduled to take place. At the time of the Ph.D. orals defense, an orals chair is chosen to lead the orals committee, which is a distinct committee, but the basic membership is identical to that of the dissertation reading committee. The correct number of faculty committee members for the orals committee is five. For students with two Ph.D. thesis co-advisors, the exact number of faculty committee members is still five. The final written dissertation must be approved by the student's reading committee and submitted to the Registrar's Office. Upon completion of this final requirement, a student is eligible for conferral of the Ph.D. degree.