Graduate Programs

Once a student enters Vanderbilt through one of these admission programs, he or she takes courses and does research rotations in different faculty laboratories for the first year. At the end of that year, they choose a faculty advisor and a graduate program in which to pursue their PhD. Students can choose departmentally-based or non-departmentally based graduate programs.  For example, students with interests in chemical biology might choose a departmentally-based program such as Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Pharmacology or a non-departmentally based program such as Chemical and Physical Biology.  The requirements for course hours are the same for all graduate programs and all students do three or four research rotations during their first year before choosing a research advisor and graduate program.  This gives students the best opportunity to find a program and laboratory that best suits them.  Information on the specific requirements for the various graduate programs is available through the links provided.

Biochemistry Graduate Program

Chemical & Physical Biology Graduate Program

Chemistry Graduate Program

Pharmacology Graduate Program

Chemical & Physical Biology Graduate Admissions
A program that allows students who have earned undergraduate or masters degrees in the quantitative sciences (e.g. chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physics) to pursue graduate studies at the interface of these disciplines with the biological sciences.

Chemistry Department Graduate Admissions
This multidisciplinary Ph.D. program trains chemists in a number of areas including chemical biology.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Admissions
Individuals pursuing a Ph.D. in the basic biomedical or biological science departments at Vanderbilt University join participating departments through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in the Biomedical Sciences (IGP).