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The MCDB Graduate Program

The Graduate Programs in the Department Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) provide rigorous, individualized graduate training that emphasizes innovative research, leading to the award of both Masters and Doctoral degrees. The philosophy of the MCDB doctoral program is to provide students with a solid foundation of current knowledge, but allow flexibility so that students may choose their own path of inquiry, focusing on individual research. Thus, required coursework is kept to a reasonable minimum, and is usually completed during the first year of study. A full schedule of weekly seminars by invited speakers and an annual research retreat/meeting form the framework for scientific interactions, with a variety of interdisciplinary research efforts. A full-range of state-of-the-art facilities on campus is available to MCDB researchers which include digital imaging and microscopy instrumentation as well as DNA sequencing and computer analysis laboratories. In addition a wide range of biochemical and biophysical instrumentation including mass spectrometry, CD, and X-Ray crystallography facilities are available on the University of California Santa Barbara campus.

MCDB graduate students have access to UC's only Technology Management Program (TMP) focused on helping technical students gain a head start in their business careers. The Tech Management Program at UC Santa Barbara offers students the opportunity to gain significant insight into technology entrepreneurship, new product development, and business practices while pursing their advanced research degrees. Lifesciences-specific (biotech, pharmaceutical, biomedical device) courses, a business plan competition, and mentorship activities are designed to give students in the program the knowledge and connections they need to gain insight and preferred job opportunities in the healthcare and related industries.

The approximately 25 research groups in the MCDB department focus on a wide range of current biological problems in the areas of molecular and cellular biology. Areas of particular focus include molecular microbiology, molecular neurobiology, developmental and cellular genetics, plant molecular biology, and marine molecular biology.

The faculty in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology have earned numerous distinctions and awards including the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator award, National Institutes of Health Merit Fellowship, American Cancer Society (ACS) Junior Faculty Fellow, and Searle and Beckman Scholar awards. UCSB was recently elected into the prestigious Association of American Universities, and was also recently ranked second in the nation among public universities for research productivity.

Graduate programs are a top priority in MCDB, as reflected by the recent Mentorship Award given to the department by the UCSB Graduate Division. Graduate students play an active role in MCDB decision making, with participation in recruitment, seminars, and curricular planning. Students run their own research seminar series, and are represented by the Graduate Union of Molecular Biology Investigators (GUMBI), an organization that provides services and advocacy for students.