Harvard Systems Biology Graduate Program

 描述（由申请人提供）：该提案要求扩大对系统生物学博士前培训计划的支持。哈佛博士系统生物学课程吸引了异常冒险和分析自信的研究生，并表现出跨学科的决心。我们的中心目标是帮助这些学生识别生物学问题，跨学科的方法可以提供独特的令人满意的答案，并准备他们在未来的职业生涯中独立识别和解决这些问题。该计划利用整个哈佛科学界的智力和实践资源，帮助学生开发一种广泛，严谨和创造性的方法来解决生物学和医学中具有挑战性的问题。一个两部分的初步资格考试是我们的方法的核心。第一部分要求学生提出一个定量的，计算的，或理论的方法来解决生物学问题。这测试了学生的能力，构思，表达和行使定量和理论的想法和方法，适用于生物学问题。考试的这一部分要求创造力和对理论和计算所能提供的内容的深思熟虑的分析，以及对生物学的一般知识。第2部分评估学生的论文研究计划和实验逻辑和方法的理解。我们的学生以各种各样的背景进入该计划。学生可以选择哈佛或麻省理工学院提供的任何一门科学课程（通过交叉注册）。第一年的学生教师顾问与进入学生单独工作，以帮助他们确定哪些课程将最好地补充他们现有的培训，并帮助他们确定潜在的轮换实验室。关于系统生物学不同方面的五门课程由计划教师提供。此外，所有学生都必须参加一门关于交流的课程，最终撰写奖学金提案，以及一门关于生物医学研究伦理的课程。我们的计划旨在教育学生在系统生物学的最新状态，并鼓励他们达到更高，扩大系统生物学方法在生物学和医学中的使用。我们的学生发表了许多高质量的论文，涉及从细菌病原体到人类的系统。从该计划毕业的平均学生将发表3.5篇论文，其中2篇是第一作者论文。我们相信，我们吸引的学生和我们给予他们的指导都是优秀的，我们有能力招募更多令人兴奋的学生进入该计划，他们可以从中受益匪浅。 我们能为他们提供的机会。因此，我们要求在本供资周期将培训名额从6个增加到8个。学生将在研究生学习的第一年和第二年获得资助。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests expanded support for a pioneering predoctoral training program in systems biology. The Harvard Ph.D. Program in Systems Biology attracts unusually adventurous and analytically confident graduate students, with a demonstrated determination to cross disciplines. Our central goal is to help these students identify biological questions to which an interdisciplinary approach can provide uniquely satisfying answers, and to prepare them to identify and address such questions independently in their future careers. The Program draws on the intellectual and practical resources of the entire Harvard scientific community to help students develop a broad, rigorous and creative approach to solving challenging problems in biology and medicine. A two-part Preliminary Qualifying Exam is central to our approach. Part 1 requires the student to propose a quantitative, computational, or theoretical approach to solving a biological problem. This tests the student's ability to conceive, articulate, and exercise quantitative and theoretical ideas and methods as applied to questions in biology. This section of the exam demands creativity and thoughtful analysis of what theory and computation can offer, as well as general knowledge about biology. Part 2 evaluates the student's plan for dissertation research and understanding of experimental logic and methods. Our students enter the Program with a wide variety of backgrounds. Students may take any of a range of science courses offered by Harvard or MIT (through cross-registration). The first year student faculty advisors work with entering students individually to help them determine which courses will best complement their existing training, and to help them to identify potential rotation labs. Five courses on different aspects of systems biology are offered by Program faculty. In addition all students are required to take a course on communication that culminates in writing a fellowship proposal, and a course on biomedical research ethics. Our program aims to educate students in the current state of the art in systems biology, and to encourage them to reach higher, expanding the use of systems biology approaches in biology and medicine. Our students have published many high-quality papers on systems ranging from bacterial pathogens to humans. An average student graduating from the program will have published 3.5 papers, of which 2 are first-author papers. We believe that the students we attract and the mentoring that we give them are both outstanding, and that we have the ability to recruit additional exciting students into the Program who could benefit greatly from the opportunities we can offer them. We are therefore requesting an increase from 6 training slots to 8 for this funding cycle. Students will be funded in their first and second year of graduae studies.