Graduate Programs in Biosciences (GPB)

The Graduate Programs in Biosciences is a re-envisioning of training in the biological and life sciences. Building on the strengths of the ACCESS program (one of the nation’s first unified admissions and first year training programs for graduate students in the biosciences), GPB provides an organized network of programs that offers students breadth and flexibility to best pursue their interests across the wide range of bioscience graduate programs. At the same time, GPB introduces the benefits of individually tailored education in smaller training communities, defined by research themes, not traditional departments. The UCLA GPB is a consortium of 11 home areas and their affiliated graduate programs, organized to provide the best possible research training and professional development for graduate students pursuing advanced studies in the life and biomedical sciences. 

The home areas are biochemistry, biophysics & structural biology; bioinformatics; cell & developmental biology; gene regulation, epigenomics & transcriptomics; genetics & genomics; immunity, microbes & molecular pathogenesis; medical informatics; molecular pharmacology; molecular, cellular & integrative physiology; neuroscience; and physics & biology in medicine. 

Each home area has designed a specific course of study to prepare students for careers in bioscience research in their chosen area of specialization. While the specifics are customized at the home area level, there is a general training progression, with the first year involving research rotations in different laboratories to gain research experience and identify a faculty member to serve as the advisor for research; and coursework to ensure that students have a strong concept foundation and develop advanced skills needed to critically evaluate the literature, recognize important questions in the field, design effective approaches, critically analyze data, and communicate clearly through oral and written forms of expression. Subsequent years focus on formal research and development of professional skills by writing a dissertation proposal and through dissertation project studies. 

For more information, please visit the GPB site.

Last updated
December 5, 2023