Program Overview
When you join Stanford Biosciences, you join a collaborative network tackling some of the world’s toughest questions. The Stanford Biosciences Home Programs comprise nine departments and five interdisciplinary programs, which span the School of Medicine and the School of Humanities and Sciences. These Home Programs are the foundation of our collaborative culture, offering students the opportunity to tailor their graduate education by working within an entire network of faculty, labs, and approaches to pursue their research.
Each student is admitted to a particular Home Program and initiates training with a core group of faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows who share scientific interests. Many Home Programs host annual retreats—facilitating the exchange of ideas between Stanford colleagues and fostering team-building—as well as seminar series that invite outside speakers.
In addition to that intimate setting, all Biosciences students have access to faculty in every Home Program for laboratory rotations and potential thesis work. One of Stanford Biosciences’ biggest strengths is the physical proximity of programs and labs, encouraging face-to-face collaboration and feeding an environment of interdisciplinary innovation. Indeed, the Biosciences PhD Programs combine the supportive atmosphere of a small program with the many opportunities afforded by a large umbrella program—the best of both worlds.
A closer look
The 14 Home Programs in Stanford Biosciences’ collaborative network:
Biochemistry
The mission of the Biochemistry Graduate Program is to provide research training that spawns leaders in academia, biotech, and beyond. Our faculty seek to understand fundamental biological questions at the level of how molecules act and interact so that we can discover the mechanisms behind their highly complex, intra- and intercellular processes. Two noteworthy features: We share all space and equipment, and students and postdocs are intermixed to enhance collaboration. All faculty—including seven members of the National Academy of Sciences and one Nobel laureate—are engaged in the department’s mission and espouse philosophies of community spirit.
Biology
The Department of Biology trains students for careers in basic research, offering intensive instruction in laboratories, seminars, and teaching. Our program coincides with the demands of modern biological research by applying an interdisciplinary approach that addresses the most important problems within the different fields of biology. The departmentís diverse range of interests and expertise creates a challenging intellectual environment that encourages students to take innovative approaches to the study of fundamental questions in biology.
Biomedical Data Science
The Biomedical Data Science (BDS) Graduate Home Program trains research leaders who design, implement, and evaluate novel quantitative and computational methods that solve challenging problems across the entire spectrum of biomedical science and clinical medicine. As an interdisciplinary graduate training program, BDS has diverse faculty who attract students with training in biology, research and clinical medicine, computer science, statistics, engineering, and related disciplines, all united in their passion to transform biomedical science and clinical practice through informatics.
Biophysics
The mission of the Stanford Biophysics Graduate Home Program is to train students in quantitative approaches to biological problems while also developing their perspective in choosing important biological problems. As an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental program, research involves two overlapping branches of biophysics: the application of physical and chemical principles and methods to solving biological problems, and the development of new methods. Our program also offers a balanced academic curriculum tailored to the diverse backgrounds of our students.
Cancer Biology
The mission of the Stanford Cancer Biology Graduate Home Program is to provide our students with education and training that will enable them to make significant contributions to this remarkable field. Our thriving, interdisciplinary program includes significant exposure to cancer biology as a formal discipline. Graduate students perform their research in many of the clinical and basic science departments in the School of Medicine, with main concentrations in the Departments of Pathology, Radiation Oncology, and Medicine.
Chemical and Systems Biology
The mission of the Chemical and Systems Biology Graduate Home Program is to explore the mechanisms that underlie cellular function and contribute to human disease. Our department emphasizes interdisciplinary research that spans the biological and physical sciences. Faculty research areas currently include signal transduction, cell cycle regulation, cell differentiation, chromatin remodeling, protein homeostasis, and genome stability, and we seek to understand these complex biological processes at the molecular and systems levels.
Developmental Biology
The Stanford Developmental Biology Graduate Home Program trains scientific leaders in using cutting-edge approaches to advance the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that generate diverse cell types in contexts ranging from the embryo to evolution. This work has connections to many areas of human health and disease, including stem cell biology, aging, cancer, diabetes, immunity and infectious disease, and neurological disorders. The Department of Developmental Biology is situated in one of the world’s best environments for research, with many alumni now leaders in biomedical research, teaching, and medicine.
Genetics
An underlying theme in the Stanford Genetics Graduate Home Program is that genetics is not merely a set of tools but a coherent and fruitful way of thinking about biology and medicine. To this end, we emphasize a spectrum of approaches based on molecules, organisms, populations, and genomes. The mission of the Department of Genetics includes education and teaching as well as research, and graduates from our Home Program pursue careers in many different venues, including research in academic or industrial settings, health care, health policy, and education.
Immunology
The Graduate Home Program in Immunology is a premier training program that is collaborative and multidisciplinary. We offer two tracks: Molecular, Cellular, and Translational Immunology (MCTI) and Computational and Systems Immunology (CSI). Our Ph.D. curriculum includes lab and foundation courses, immunology and computational biomedical sciences core courses, a journal club, seminar series, and an annual retreat. We have 76 MCTI and 24 CSI faculty who are leaders in basic and translational immunology at the School of Medicine, Department of Biology, and the Palo Alto Veterans Administration.
Microbiology and Immunology
The mission of the Stanford Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Home Program is to conduct the best possible research and provide the most rigorous and inspiring training in areas of microbiology, immunology, host-pathogen interaction, and related biomedical fields. Our holistic approach considers the entirety of the system we study, from pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases to pathogen-produced virulence proteins that reprogram infected cells. We offer a large number of formal courses, practical training and mentoring in the lab and clinic for passionate learners at all levels from diverse backgrounds.
Molecular and Cellular Physiology
The Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology (MCP) is defined by a modern vision of Physiology, where cutting-edge approaches uncover the molecular logic of signaling processes from the atomic to the organismal level. Our research areas encompass structural biology, biophysics, cell biology and neuroscience in a highly collaborative environment to provide students with exceptional interdisciplinary opportunities. A unifying question for MCP is how signals and molecules cross membranes, spanning the molecular basis of synaptic transmission to signaling receptor activation to the biology of channels and transporters. Our faculty —including three Nobel laureates and five National Academy members— fosters a culture of excellence in graduate training and aims to produce the next generation of leading scientific investigators.
Neurosciences
The mission of the Stanford Neurosciences Graduate Home Program is to train graduate students to become leaders in neuroscience research, education, and outreach. As an interdepartmental training program, we provide a flexible and rich research environment in which our researchers attempt to solve the major biological questions of our time. Every student is trained in the fundamentals of neuroscience and allied fields of biological sciences. Our faculty are highly distinguished scientists who have made fundamental discoveries in all areas of neuroscience research.
Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
The Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine program offers training at the intersection of basic science and clinical application and is one of the 1st to offer doctoral degrees in translational science. Our program expands career opportunities for our graduates by providing them with the skills to encompass the continuum of basic, translational and clinical sciences. Students receive specialized training in the development and clinical application of discoveries in basic science to achieve regenerative therapies and will be uniquely positioned to develop translational careers and improve the human condition.
Structural Biology
The Stanford Structural Biology Graduate Home Program emphasizes research training, with coursework covering quantitative approaches to biology. Department research tackles biological problems at the atomic level, using structural and biophysical methodologies to explain both function and disease. The department is consistently ranked first among the nation’s Structural Biology graduate programs. Our faculty includes one Nobel laureate, three members of the National Academy of Sciences, and three members of the Royal Society. We maintain strong links with Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL).Related programs
Bioengineering
Study for the PhD in Bioengineering combines rigorous coursework with novel research mentored by Stanford faculty, enabling students to develop as independent intellectual leaders working at the interfaces between biology, medicine, engineering, and the physical sciences. Our mission is to train students at the intersection of biomedicine and engineering in both academia and the burgeoning biomedical and biotechnology industries. Applicants should have a commitment to learning and a passion for research.Biomedical Physics
The objective of the PhD in BMP is to train students in research focused on technology translatable to clinical medicine, including radiation therapy, image-guided therapy, diagnostic, interventional, and molecular imaging, and other forms of disease detection and characterization with molecular diagnostics. Given the evolution of modern medicine towards technologically sophisticated treatments and diagnostics, there is a need for well-trained leaders with this educational background and the skills to conduct meaningful and significant research in this field. Stanford University has a rich tradition of innovation and education within these disciplines, with advances ranging from the development and application of the medical linear accelerator towards radiation treatment of cancer to the engineering of non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging having been pioneered here.
Health Policy
Stanford Health Policy offers a PhD program that promises to educate students who will be scholarly leaders in the field of health policy, and will be highly knowledgeable about the theoretical and empirical approaches that can be applied in the development of improvements in health policy and the health care system. These students will be well prepared for positions in academic institutions, government institutions, and private sector organizations with a demand for high-level analysis of health policy issues.
The PhD program in epidemiology and clinical research will provide methodologic and interdisciplinary training that will equip students to carry out cutting-edge epidemiologic research. The program trains students in the tools of modern epidemiology, with heavy emphases on statistics, computer science, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds.