Clinical Translational Sciences PhD Program
Program Description
The PhD in Clinical Translational Sciences program at the University of Arizona welcomes applications from students who have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in a biological or health science discipline (post-baccalaureate students) and from postgraduate students holding a terminal health sciences degree (e.g., MD, PharmD, MBBS, DrPH, DNP, etc.).
The program is intended to provide the foundation for a research career in the clinical translational sciences. A CTS PhD student can expect to acquire:
- an adequate base knowledge of biostatistics and CTS coursework that is specific to the student’s health-related discipline or clinical interest;
- mentored training and experience in research, culminating in a major research project for the dissertation; and,
- professional development including in presentation and publication of research findings, preparation of grant applications and ethics in clinical research.
PhD students also select a minor in a discipline that is relevant to their long-term scholarly and career goals. Students complete coursework (9 or more units, depending on the selected minor) in the minor program in addition to their major coursework.
The mission of the PhD program is to train students to be skilled researchers who can independently develop and conduct translational research with implications for clinical or population health. The program provides an avenue for students to gain experience in and exposure to the diverse areas of the clinical translational sciences. Students also customize their elective coursework to obtain in-depth knowledge in a specific area of health sciences research such as immunology, neuroscience, cardiology, cellular and molecular medicine, bioinformatics, pharmacology or oncology among others. In addition to courses satisfying the specific CTS curricular requirements, elective courses for the CTS major may be selected from any of U of A Health Sciences college: College of Medicine – Tucson, College of Medicine – Phoenix, R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and College of Nursing.
To achieve these goals, each student selects a faculty mentor, receiving specialized research training and contributing to the research done by the mentor’s lab or research team. The mentor advises the student on appropriate coursework and choice of advisory committee members and guides the student's development of the research project for their dissertation. The faculty mentor provides the resources needed for the student to complete the dissertation project and should financially support the student while they work toward completing the PhD.
Tuition and Fees
In most cases a CTS PhD student is supported by their faculty mentor as a Graduate Research Assistant, offering both a modest salary and full coverage of Fall and Spring tuition, as well as payment for the student health insurance plan. CTS PhD students commonly seek independent funding via fellowships or scholarships once they have developed their dissertation research project; this funding may take the place of funding from the mentor. Note that alternatively, a student employed by UA in a benefits-eligible position may also take advantage of the University’s Qualified Tuition Reduction program.
Degree Requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 36 units of coursework toward the CTS major and at least 9 units toward the declared minor (or more for some minors), in addition to 18 units of dissertation research. All courses must be completed at the graduate level, and at least 50% of the required coursework units must receive regular letter grades (i.e., A, B, C). A limited number of courses may be transferred from another institution with the approval of the CTS program and the faculty mentor, presuming the courses earned graduate or medical credit at the home institution with a grade of B or better. Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better to remain in good academic standing and be awarded a PhD degree.
Required Courses
The courses required for the PhD degree may be different for post-baccalaureate and postgraduate students. The current curricular requirements are available here:
Note: Substitutions for normally required courses may be approved by the CTS Director of Graduate Affairs and the faculty mentor. The remainder of the required units will be accounted for by graduate courses selected by the student and their mentor that are relevant to the student’s research interests.
Courses for Minor
When the student selects a minor, he or she identifies a faculty member from the minor program as the minor advisor. The student will complete a minimum of 9 units of coursework for the minor; some minors require a higher number of units. The minor advisor must approve the courses the student counts for the minor consistent with the minor requirements set by the offering program.
Comprehensive Examination
A CTS student must complete the written and oral portions of the comprehensive examination to advance to doctoral candidacy and complete the dissertation. The written exam for CTS consists of completion of a research proposal similar to an NIH NRSA fellowship application, requiring approval from the student's comprehensive examination committee. The minor program may also administer a written comprehensive exam, and at least one faculty member from the minor (typically the minor advisor) serves on the comprehensive examination committee. The oral comprehensive exam is chiefly a presentation and defense of the research proposal, though the committee members may also ask additional questions to ensure the student has broad knowledge of the major and minor fields.
Dissertation
Every CTS PhD student completes an original and significant research project, which is reported in the final dissertation. The student's faculty mentor and the other members of the dissertation committee guide the student's progress in forming the research question and plan, carrying out the research, and presenting it in the dissertation. The dissertation committee must approve the dissertation before the student submits it to the Graduate College for archiving to complete the degree.
More Information
For more information, please contact the CTS program at CTSsupport@arizona.edu.