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Graduate Programs in Microbiology at Miami University (M.S., and Ph.D.)

A small but outstanding program that offers many opportunities for research and teaching experiences. Our graduates all go on to great positions or postdoctoral fellowships at the finest research institutions. Research areas of particular emphasis include immunology, microbial ecology, microbial physiology, molecular genetics, microbial pathogenesis, bioinformatics, and virology.

About the Microbiology Graduate Programs

The faculty offers high-quality, M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Microbiology. Supported by funding from numerous federal agencies, private foundations and corporations, the Department's fifteen faculty members conduct highly regarded research that addresses important health, economic and other societal needs. Working within a well-defined curriculum and employing state-of-the-art research facilities, the faculty prepares a small, select group of approximately 25 graduate students for successful careers as researchers in government and private organizations or as university faculty.

The Microbiology graduate programs benefit substantially from its interdisciplinary interactions and collaborations with Miami's other two graduate programs in the biological sciences: Botany and Zoology. These close and active interchanges include collaborative research projects by our faculty, and they also provide the opportunity for our students to take courses in the other programs that enrich their graduate education in Microbiology. In addition, the three programs are engaged in two interdisciplinary offerings at the doctoral level: Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology, and Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology. New graduate-level courses in Bacterial Cell Biology (MBI 595) and Principles of Bioinformatics (MBI 585) complement the already strong set of courses available to our graduate students.

Our doctoral graduates have been appointed to prestigious post-doctoral fellowships in some of the most outstanding research institutions in the U.S. This reflects both the talents and capabilities of our students and the perception of the quality of our doctoral program by those institutions. Our students benefit from the intimacy of our program, the interactions with multiple faculty in related areas of research interest, and close research mentoring by the faculty.