Graduate Program Overview & How to Apply

The Department of Human Genetics offers graduate education in modern molecular genetics.  Ph.D. candidates enter the Department through one of the campus-wide programs: the Molecular Biology Program, the Biological Chemistry Program or the Neurosciences Graduate Program.  Each of these programs involves an initial year of core classes and the opportunity to perform short research projects in departments throughout the University of Utah, including Human Genetics, before joining a laboratory to initiate a thesis research project.  For information about admission, please contact each program directly.

Research opportunities within Human Genetics include a wide range of labs pursuing genetic studies in humans as well as in model organisms, including zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila, and mice.  Human Genetics faculty and students collaborate actively with medical faculty in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics, and the Divisions of Medical Genetics, Hematology, and Oncology..

Ph.D. candidates pursue 4-5 years of independent research and also must fulfill additional course and teaching requirements.  Course options include a human genetics survey, bioinformatics, medical genetics, advanced population genetics, developmental biology, modern methods in genetic analysis, and independent study programs. Our students participate in Department-wide Journal Club and Research-in-Progress meetings, which provide community forums for discussing the latest published research in areas of interest as well as current projects underway in Department labs.