Biomedical Sciences - PhD

College of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences

About This Degree

The Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences offers a graduate program that confers the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biomedical Sciences. Students will primarily engage in research which deals with the understanding of animal diseases, and the improvement of animal and human health.

Guided by mentors, students in the program work on basic, translational, and clinical research projects that include laboratory, clinical and field studies, and learn skills that prepare them for careers as biomedical scientists. Graduates in Biomedical Sciences have a wide variety of employment options in industry, government and academia.

NOTE: Students who are seeking a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) should click here for more information.

Admission Requirements

Prior to applying for a PhD in the Biomedical Sciences Program, a student must identify a graduate faculty member within the Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences to be willing to serve as their major professor. However, identifying a mentor does not guarantee acceptance into the Biomedical Sciences Program.

Prospective graduate students should send faculty members they are interested in working with an email including:

A cover letter detailing your research interests and why your career goals align with their work.

A current CV/Resume

Unofficial university transcripts (Official transcripts from all credit-granting institutions indicating a bachelor’s, master’s or health professional doctorate degree that is or will be completed before matriculating from an accredited U.S. college or university or a similarly recognized international university will be required later.)

Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences Admissions Policies

Prerequisite Courses Required or their equivalents (No grades of C- or lower)

Overall GPA 3.0
- Calculated with primary consideration on the last 60 semester credits of the most recent degree program.
Three letters of recommendation
Statement of personal and career goals
International students – proof of English proficiency (TOEFL or IELTS)
- Admissions Policies | Grad School | USU See School of Graduate Studies website for required scores and requirements based on country
Students must also meet all School of Graduate Studies requirements for admission. View the School of Graduate Studies Catalog and the School of Graduate Studies webpage to learn more about their requirements and how to apply.

Applications are taken on a rolling basis. However, to be guaranteed consideration for any department assistantship opportunities or the college’s Presidential Research Fellowship position, you must be accepted into the program by February 1 for the following fall semester.

Please note: Graduate student stipends are dependent on the continued availability of funding.

Program Requirements

Please refer to the School of Graduate Studies Catalog for general PhD program requirements and policies.

Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences PhD Program Policies

Must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Grades of C- or lower do not count toward the program of study.
All graduate students must submit School of Graduate Studies forms and fulfill requirements for their chosen plan.
A PhD degree must be completed within 8 years of entering the degree program. Additional time may be requested by the student’s committee and submitted to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for review.
Coursework over 8 years old at the time of degree completion may not be used for a graduate degree unless it is revalidated.
Credits in the following areas are not acceptable: foreign languages, continuing graduate advisement, individual home study, military science, and courses numbered below 5000. No more than 12 credits of 5000-level courses will be accepted as part of the program of study.
At least 30 semester credits must be from Utah State University.
Non-residents of Utah who are eligible to apply for Utah residency must apply for Utah residency upon completion of their first year of the program in order to qualify for in-state tuition. All forms must be submitted prior to the beginning of the semester (August 1 for Fall Semester and December 1 for Spring Semester). Failure to apply for residency will result in the student being financially responsible for paying the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition (more than $6,000 per semester).

Course Requirements

Please refer to the School of Graduate Studies Catalog for general PhD program requirements and policies.

Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences PhD Policies

Required Credits – Plan A Dissertation with a BS Degree

Minimum Total Credits: 70
Minimum Course Credits: 30
Minimum Research Credits: 18

Required Credits – Plan A Dissertation with an MS/DVM/Other Health Professional Doctorate Degree

Minimum Total Credits: 42
Minimum Course Credits: 15
Minimum Research Credits: 12

Additional Department Requirements

Submission of a dissertation proposal
Completion of a comprehensive qualifying examination
A formal dissertation defense

Submission of the dissertation to the library. The dissertation must meet the School of Graduate Studies and VCLS Department requirements

Academic Forms for a PhD Degree that Require Approval by the School of Graduate Studies:

Supervisory Committee (due by the end of the student’s third semester).
Program of Study (due before the end of the student’s third semester).
Dissertation/Project Approval.
- A proposal and formal dissertation defense are required. The dissertation must meet the School of Graduate Studies and VCLS Department requirements.
Application for Candidacy (due at least 3 months before the final defense).
- Required Completion Tasks before submitting Application for Candidacy:
  - Completion of all or most courses.
  - Successful comprehensive examinations.
  - Approval of a proposal for dissertation research
- Submitting Application for Candidacy
  - Submit an Application for Candidacy to the School of Graduate Studies.
  - Submission must occur at least 3 months before the final defense.
  - Candidacy form must be approved by the following people:
    - All committee members
    - The department head
    - The School of Graduate Studies
    - The Office of Research

Submission of the candidacy form is a significant point in the student’s program because the committee and department head thereby attest the student is ready to conduct independent dissertation research. However, successful program completion is not guaranteed.

Appointment for Examination (Defense).
- The defense must be scheduled and advertised at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the defense. See graduate program coordinator for assistance.
Record of Examination.
Authorship and Copyright
Format and Style
Title Page
School of Graduate Studies and library review and approval.
- After approval from the School of Graduate Studies (via email), the student will submit their final dissertation to the graduate program coordinator to submit for review.
- Once approved, the dissertation will either be uploaded to DigitalCommons or physically submitted to the library if the student wishes to embargo their work (acceptance will be notified via email).
Graduation Check
Graduation Registration

Required Core Courses

These courses are repeatable. VCLS 6100 is offered each fall semester. VCLS 6800 is offered each spring semester.

VCLS 6100 - Biomedical and Life Sciences Seminar Series 1 credit(s)
VCLS 6800 - Biomedical and Life Sciences Graduate Seminar 1 credit(s)

Plan A Dissertation Recommended Courses

This is a list of courses historically taken by students in the program and is not a comprehensive list of courses available to graduate students. If a graduate student is interested in taking a course in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, please contact the graduate program coordinator in the Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences Department for more information. A graduate student should consult with their major professor and supervisory committee to identify appropriate courses directly related to their doctoral degree. All coursework must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee via their program of study.

ADVS 6160 - Methods in Biotechnology: Cell Culture 3 credit(s)
ADVS 6210 - Molecular Reproduction and Development 3 credit(s)
ADVS 6260 - Methods in Biotechnology: Molecular Cloning 3 credit(s)
ADVS 6630 - Endocrinology 3 credit(s)
ADVS 6650 - Science Communication 3 credit(s)
BENG 6890 - Tissue Engineering 3 credit(s)
BIOL 5240 - Virology 3 credit(s)
BIOL 6020 - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience 3 credit(s)
BIOL 6600 - Comparative Animal Physiology 3 credit(s)
BIOL 7110 - Cognitive Neuroscience 3 credit(s)
BIOL 7140 - Methods in Neuroscience 3 credit(s)
CHEM 5700 - General Biochemistry I 3 credit(s)
CHEM 6720 - Principles of Enzymology I 1 credit(s)
PSC 6150 - Bioinformatics and Big Data Mining 3 credit(s)
STAT 6200 - Analysis of Designed Experiments 3 credit(s)
STAT 6500 - Biostatistics Methods 3 credit(s)
VCLS 6900 - Special Topics in Biomedical Sciences 1-3 credit(s)
VCLS 7101 - Cell Biology and Metabolism 3 credit(s)
VCLS 7132 - General Pathology 3 credit(s)
VCLS 7142 - Agents of Infection and Immunity 3 credit(s)
VCLS 7162 - Fundamentals of Pharmacology 1 credit(s)
VCLS 7522 - Fundamentals of Pharmacology 3 credit(s)
VCLS 7535 - Veterinary Virology 3 credit(s)
VCLS 7536 - Veterinary Bacteriology 4 credit(s)
VCLS 7680 - Seminar in Veterinary Pathology and Histopathology 3 credit(s)

Dissertation Research Credits

Minimum of 12 or 18 Credits Required (depending on prior degrees)

The semesters during which a student registers for dissertation credit should correspond as closely as possible to the semesters in which the dissertation work is done, and faculty supervision is provided.

VCLS 7970 - Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences Dissertation Research 1-12 credit(s)