If you are interested in contacting a student or students, please contact Joyce Conners:

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Box 100266, Health Center, Gainesville, FL 32610

• (352)-392-3314  
• conners@mgm.ufl.edu

During the first year of graduate study, before selection of a mentor and supervisory committee, the Director of Master's Programs serves as the primary advisor for all students, and will aid the student in selection of a mentor. After selection of a mentor, the mentor becomes the student's primary advisor.

After selection of a mentor and identification of a research problem, the student must identify a supervisory committee. This selection usually takes place before the end of the first academic year of study, and the committee should meet at least once during the student's first year. The supervisory committee must have three members of the graduate faculty, including a committee chairman (the student's thesis advisor), and at least two other faculty selected from the Graduate Faculty, one of whom is the Master's Program Director or a member of the M.S. Advisory Board. Advisory Board members are appended to this document (pg. 7). The roles and responsibilities of the supervisory committee are described in detail in the Graduate Council Policy Manual for Coordinators. Briefly, the supervisory committee oversees the student's graduate curriculum, ensures that degree requirements are met satisfactorily, provides an annual evaluation of the student's progress, and reads and approves the student's thesis. Each student must meet with his/her supervisory committee at least once a year to formally evaluate his/her progress toward a degree.

During their graduate training, students are encouraged to take full advantage of all of the advisors described above, especially if problems arise. Problems that concern an individual student's standing or curriculum, which cannot be handled by the Graduate Coordinator, the mentor, or the student's Supervisory Committee, may be referred to the Graduate Curriculum Committee, and then, if necessary, to the faculty at large. If problems arise that cannot be adequately addressed through these channels, students may refer to the College of Medicine's Student Advocacy Committee.

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Thesis Information

Upon completion of laboratory research, students write and defend a thesis describing the research.  The oral defense of the dissertation is open to all members of the College and to anyone outside the College wishing to attend.  The formal open defense of thesis is followed by a closed meeting between the student and the Supervisory Committee to formalize completion of the degree.

The written thesis must conform to University Guidelines. A dissertation/thesis guidelines packet which explains the entire process is available from the graduate school. The first submission of a defended master's thesis is due to the graduate school approximately one month prior to that term's graduation date. Final submission is due approximately one week before graduation. At the beginning of each semester, a flier of graduate school deadlines is published which specifies the exact dates that items are due. The graduate school requires two copies of the signed completed dissertation on 100% cotton rag bond paper. The Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology requires three copies of the dissertation, which must be received by the Graduate Office (R2-293) no later than one week prior to graduation. These copies will be bound and are for the student, the mentor, and for the Departmental library. These copies must have signature pages, but need not be on bond paper or contain original photos. The mentor will pay for the binding of the student's thesis.

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Student Financial Support

Very little institutional support is available to MS students.  Thus, students are accepted into the program with no expectation of financial aid.  However, students may 1) procure extramural funding in the form of loans or grants; 2) be paid a wage for work in their mentor's laboratory.  This work may or may not be related to the student's thesis.  Compensation paid to students in this manner should not exceed the total compensation available to students with stipends and tuition remission;  3) in rare instances, receive tuition remission and a stipend from their mentor's laboratory.  This stipend shall not exceed the currently available Ph.D. student stipend.  It is expected that only exceptional MS students will be paid in this way.  Most students, however, have been able to find financial assistance within the University.

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