MS/PhD in Plant Sciences at Wake Forest

[taguebw at wfu.edu]

The Plant Sciences Faculty of the Department of Biology  at Wake 
Forest University welcomes applications from qualified students 
interested in the Plant Sciences for positions in our Graduate Program 
in Biology leading to the Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy 
degrees.
http://www.wfu.edu/Academic-departments/Biology/

Graduate Studies in Biology at Wake Forest University

	Our Graduate Program in Biology offers programs of study leading to 
either the M.S. degree or the Ph.D. degree, with approximately equal 
numbers of students pursuing each degree.  The program is kept small; 
currently 25 students are pursuing their degrees with one of the 
twenty biology faculty. Entering students are given either Teaching 
Assistantships or Research Assistantships, as well as scholarships 
that cover the full cost of tuition.  
	For MasterÕs students, the two year program of study is based on the 
interests and experiences of the student and is designed in close 
consultation with a faculty committee. Our program is intended to 
broaden the students expertise in a broad range of subjects and 
techniques related to the plant sciences and to biology as a whole. In 
addition to the successful completion of coursework, MasterÕs 
candidates are required to carry out a research program in 
collaboration with his or her faculty advisor and to write a thesis 
describing the results. Our graduates have been successful in 
continuing teaching or research careers, and many go on to pursue 
advanced degrees.
	For Ph.D. students, the 4 year program of study is similar but with a 
greater emphasis on designing and carrying out independent research. 
Ph.D. candidates are required to teach for one year; many of our 
graduates have found this to be an invaluable experience. Ph.D 
students and some Masters students also participate in our Graduate 
Tutorial. Each year, three international leaders in biology come to 
the campus, usually for a week, for intensive interaction with our 
students. Our recent Ph.D. graduates have had success in finding 
academic positions at four-year colleges and universities and in 
securing positions in industry. 
	Master and Graduate students typically take lecture and laboratory 
courses in their area of specialization, both on this campus and at 
the Hawthorne Campus of the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. An 
important component of the coursework is the seminar courses offered 
by each of the four Focus Groups. These seminar courses usually 
revolve around current research in a specific area and require student 
presentations on research results.  The courses are team taught to 
provide the perspectives of several faculty and to develop 
student-faculty interactions. Recent topics from the Plant Sciences 
group have included Plant Molecular and Classical Genetics, 
Photosynthesis, and Co-evolution of Plants and Insects. Students also 
participate in a weekly department seminar series which brings 
prominent biologist to our campus and a graduate student forum in 
which students present their work or a recent published paper to an 
audience of their peers. 

The Plant Sciences Group

The members of the Plant Sciences Group at Wake Forest cover the 
entire range of plant biology. The group utilizes a wide variety of 
techniques and perspectives to understand the special adaptations and 
life strategies of green plants. Interests range from the molecular 
biology of development, to the biochemistry and physiology of plant 
growth and environmental responses, to the analysis of taxonomy and 
evolution using molecular tools..

Dr. Mark Jaffe: 	The physiology of plant responses to light, gravity, 
wind and touch
Dr. Kathleen Kron:	Morphological and molecular approaches to phylogeny 
of the blueberry family
Dr. Gloria Muday: 	The role of auxin in gravitropism, light response 
and plant development
Dr. Brian Tague: 	Molecular genetic analysis of photomorphogenesis in 
Arabidopsis thaliana


The Department of Biology

The approximately 20 member of the Biology faculty are highly diverse 
in their research interests and this diversity is one of the great 
strengths of the Department. Faculty and students who have related 
interests have formed Focus Groups in the areas of (1) Ecology, 
Evolution and Systematics, (2) Physiology and Behavior, (3) Cellular 
and Molecular Biology, and (4) Plant Sciences. These Focus Groups not 
only act as vehicles to enhance research projects and collaborations 
but also as forums for weekly meetings of faculty and students to 
discuss recent advances in their respective fields. The department has 
the necessary facitlites to carry out modern biological research 
including several green houses; a microscopy facility which includes a 
scanning electron microscope, light, fluorescent, and inverted 
microscopes with computer-aided image analysis; an animal care 
facility; an oligonucleotide synthesis facility; equipment for animal 
and cell culture; and laboratories equipped for experimentation 
ranging from molecular biology to organismal physiology

The University.

Wake Forest University is  committed to both excellence in teaching 
and in scholarship. Undergraduate classes are small, with an average 
faculty:student ratio of 1:18. A new initiative, ÒThe Plan for the 
Class of 2000Ó, will further improve this ratio with the hiring of 40 
additional faculty throughout the university. This initiative will 
also result in an extensively networked computer system, putting Wake 
Forest on the cutting edge of computer-assisted learning.

The Community

Wake Forest University is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a 
city of approximately
150,000 and remarkable for its history and diverse cultural 
activities. The Blue Ridge Mountains are two hours west and one hour 
north of Winston-Salem and beaches of North Carolina and South 
Carolina can be reached in four or five hours by car. The city 
supports its own symphony, an active Arts Council, Little Theatre, and 
is the site for numerous other theatrical, cultural and sporting 
activities.

If you have any question about the Graduate Program in Biology, you 
are most welcome to
call the Department of Biology at (910) 759-5323 to speak with the 
Chairperson of the Graduate
Committee or to contact any individual faculty member for additional 
information. You are invited to visit the Biology Department Homepage 
which contains additional information about Wake Forest, the 
Department and the research interests of each faculty member:

http://www.wfu.edu/Academic-departments/Biology/