Home > News > UMD to offer rare Ph.D. program
UMD to offer rare Ph.D. program
BY MIKE McGRATH
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
ISSUE: 78/18
This September, UMD will offer a Ph.D program in Integrated Biosciences (IBS) after five years of planning and input from more than 50 scientists around Minnesota. IBS allows students to receive training in multiple fields, ranging from aquatic ecology to the study of genes that control hibernation in mammals. Students will specialize in one field, but also learn the basics of other biological areas of study, according to www.d.umn.edu/ibs.
“To understand the impact of any one biological consequence, you really have to understand this whole world of living organisms, and that is the goal behind this whole program,” said Matt Andrews, head of the IBS program and UMD professor. Two years ago, UMD began offering a M.S. degree in Integrated Biosciences. Brian Black is currently in his second year of this program, specializing in water resources and North Shore streams. During his work, he collects fish specimens from streams and then, if he has questions about fish physiology in an area of study he is not as experienced in, he can turn to another classmate.
“I like this program a lot,” said Black. “I get to work with a lot of people covering many different fields of biology.” However, the IBS program is not limited only to UMD students. It is an all-University program, and faculty members come from both UMD and the U of M. Currently, one student from the U of M attends the program through an interactive television set. He participates in labs through the Medical school, learning surgical procedures.
This eliminates any distance barrier and opens the program up for more students. The IBS program is broken down into two main categories: Cell, Molecular and Physiological Biology (CMP) and Ecology, Organismal and Population Biology (EOP). These two areas of study will cooperate with the UMD Swenson College of Science and Engineering, Medical school, College of Pharmacy and multiple research and laboratory facilities. Colleges from the U of M include the Medical School, the Institute of Technology and the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences, according to a press release sent by UMD on Dec. 14, 2007.
“This is the way Biological Sciences will need to be delivered at the graduate level in the future,” said Andrews. “The graduate students that come here learn about disciplines other than their own narrow part of biological sciences.” Currently, only three other schools offer a Ph.D program in Integrated Biosciences: the University of Akron, the University of California, Berkeley and Penn State. This makes UMD a pioneer in the IBS field. Andrews explained that, over time, more faculty members will be hired, providing the ability to attract and train more students in the future.
“As UMD grows, the IBS program will grow along with it,” said Andrews. Doreen Wallace is the administrative assistant in the IBS program. After five years of tedious work, she is glad to see this program come to UMD. She believes most students will be in the M.S. program, but looks forward to the start of the Ph.D program in September. “It’s taken awhile to get this far, and we are real, real excited,” said Wallace. “This program is really on the cutting edge."
