Upon successful completion of the program, students are expected to have gained competency in the following areas:
- Gain a broad understanding of the primary disciplines in the biological sciences, including molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and physiology
- Critically evaluate scientific data and scientific literature
- Identify important, novel questions and critically design and execute experiments to address these questions
- Apply expertise in one or more research area within the biological sciences, gained through original bench research toward completion of a dissertation
- Apply quantitative sciences, such as biostatistics or epidemiology, to the generation of hypotheses and the analysis of data in biomedical research
- Communicate effectively about science, both orally and in writing, to diverse audiences
- Describe ethical issues and follow best practices of integrity and reproducibility in scientific research
- Participate in scientific discourse and exchange of ideas in a collaborative manner
- Describe the place for basic biomedical research in the broader public health sciences
