Focused Specializations Across Ph.D. Programs
A Designated Emphasis (DE) is an area of specialization, such as a new method of inquiry, important field of application or focus that maps near the edges, or overlaps with, the traditional disciplinary boundaries that define existing Ph.D. programs. The curriculum of a DE thus tends to focus on emerging fields or technologies that are interdisciplinary in nature and, by definition, are relevant to more than one doctoral program.
MCIP Ph.D. students are encouraged to pursue opportunities offered in Designated Emphases. Students should decide on participation in their first year, and participants are required to have a faculty representative from the Designated Emphasis on their Qualifying Examination and dissertation committees.
The graduate programs in biological sciences offer the following Designated Emphases:
Biophotonics and Bioimaging
This program offers specific training in fundamental principles of the interaction of light with biological organisms, tissues, cells and molecules and develops new technology for basic science and applications based on these principles in biology and medicine.
View Biophotonics and Bioimaging DE info
Biotechnology
This program provides a very effective multidisciplinary biotechnology concentration, which includes exposure to bioethics, business and legal aspects of biotechnology as well as a 3-6 month internship in a biotechnology company or research laboratory in another college or national laboratory.
Reproductive Biology
This program offers research opportunities ranging from molecular to organismal, and from basic research to applied studies in agricultural and health-related sciences. The astonishing breadth and depth of the campuses research programs in this field have created a dynamic research environment that promotes collaborative investigations and provides outstanding opportunities for graduate education.
View Reproductive Biology DE info
Translational Research
This program allows Ph.D. students to receive and be credited for training in the area of translational research. This training is a key component of a larger UC Davis strategy to create a multidisciplinary approach to changes how we train our basic scientist students to discover answers to medical challenges. The program provides an innovative model for training a new cadre of Ph.D. biologists for careers in clinically-relevant basic research.