QCB provides students with their first year of graduate training in biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt University.
The first year of QCB is designed to matriculate students with a background in quantitative physical science or engineering, and prepare them to complete a Ph.D. degree in one of the participating departments or programs. QCB is designed to emphasize learning through research rotations. Students enter research rotations immediately in the first week of the program. If you enjoy reading primary research articles and spending time in the wet or dry lab doing research, the QCB curriculum is perfect for you!
At the end of the first year, students choose a mentor and then become students in the affiliated graduate program.
Research Rotations
The most important element of the QCB curriculum is research, reflected in the emphasis on QCB rotations:
- Students rotate with four mentors, with each rotation lasting ~2 months over their entire first year. The first rotation is 9 weeks and starts immediately after orientation.
- Rotation Reports are mini-manuscripts that you will write up after each if your four rotations. These reports represent the bulk of how you will be evaluated in the first semester of QCB.
- A large part of your time and effort should be devoted to reading primary literature associated with your research rotation.
- You will communicate with several faculty over the summer to decide on your first rotation. After your four 2-month rotations, you will select your PhD thesis advisor from these four mentors, late in the Spring of your first year.
- The list of faculty accepting students changes year to year, but you can explore their research using our Training Faculty database.
- While some faculty pages may be incomplete, you can use this list to see what types of research our faculty are doing and their affiliated departments.
First Semester Curriculum
In their first semester, QCB students take
- Introduction to Chemical, Physical, & Systems Biology, weekly one hour lecture and a separate 2 hour journal club
- Discourse & Disquisitions: 2 hour weekly journal club, only for QCB students
- Applied Biostatistics in R, 1 hour weekly, only for QCB students
- Data Analysis, 1 hour weekly, only for QCB students
- Information Science, 1 hour, only for QCB students
- Becoming a Scientist, 2 hours weekly on Responsible Conduct of Research, wellness & professional development, with the IGP students.
Second Semester Curriculum
In the second semester students take
- specialized electives of their choosing
- Being a Scientist, a continuation of the first semester course, with the IGP students
Choosing a Lab and Research Program
At the end of the QCB year, students select a laboratory mentor and training program in one of the participating departments or programs, and the student enters one of the departmental or program Ph.D. programs.
One of the greatest benefits of the QCB year is the flexibility it offers. New graduate students have nine months to solidify their core knowledge and to explore their interests in multiple areas before selecting a thesis advisor. The comprehensive nature of the QCB often leads students to explore departments they hadn’t considered previously. Moreover, research faculty commonly have appointments in more than one department, and the flexibility of the first QCB year allows students to determine which specific department most suits their individual interests and career goals.