Courses at the Genetics Program are designed to provide training to become independent, creative scientists who are able to conduct research activity around the globe. The courses are organized to cover all the essential components of the degree criteria.
To fulfil the degree requirements, students must take courses in a systematic balanced manner. The three courses, “Dissertation Work in Advanced Studies I-V”, “Genetics Progress I-V” and “Genetics Reading Seminar I-V” are essential components in education at the Genetics Program, so that students are required to take these courses in each and every semester. The subjects that all students at the Genetics Program should cover are provided by the recommended courses “Molecular and Cellular Biology 1,2”, “Evolutionary Genomics”, “Genetics” and “Developmental Biology 1,2”. The 5-year program students are recommended to take all these courses in the first two years of the program.
To obtain a doctoral degree, the 5-year program students must have obtained 42 credits or more, including 20 credits of “Dissertation Work in Advanced Studies IA-VB”, and the 3-year program students must have obtained 16 credits or more, including 12 credits of “Dissertation Work in Advanced Studies IIIA-VB”. Upon taking courses, students must read syllabi carefully and understand learning objectives and methods beforehand.
At each course level, grades (A, B, C, D) are determined based on various viewpoints specified on the syllabus. In “Genetics Progress I-V”, in which research abilities of individual students are directly and objectively assessed, the Progress Committee writes a report about each student’s research performances and suggestions by the committee, and submits it to the student and his/her supervisor, in addition to the regular (A, B, C, D) grading. The report is shared by all the faculty at the Genetics Program.
In the 5-year program, students go through a qualifying exam for advancement from D2 to D3. This qualifying exam is conducted as a part of “Genetics Progress IIB”, in which the student’s knowledge in the field of life sciences and potential to become an independent researcher are assessed by four Progress Committee faculty members excluding the student’s supervisor, based on the research report submitted by the student, and his/her performances in the open research presentation and question-answer session. If one fails in the qualifying exam, one must retake “Genetics Progress IIB”.