Detailed Information
Program of Study
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology offers a program of graduate study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The training is designed for relevance in the twenty-first century. The requirements for the M.S. degree in biochemistry are 24 semester hours of course work, 6 semester hours of research, an acceptable research thesis, and defense of the thesis in a final oral examination. A nonthesis M.S. degree program requiring 32 semester hours of course work is also an option. The requirements for the Ph.D. degree include approximately 30 to 35 semester hours of course work, determined by the student’s advisory committee, and 55 to 60 semester hours of thesis research. Additional requirements are participation in the Department’s seminar program, satisfactory performance on cumulative and qualifying examinations, one year of a foreign language at the undergraduate level, presentation of an acceptable thesis, and successful defense of the thesis in a final oral examination. Candidates for the Ph.D. degree are not required to obtain the M.S. degree.
Research Facilities
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is located in the Jess L. and Miriam B. Stevens wing of the Noble Research Center. It has approximately 41,000 square feet of teaching and research space. The Department is well equipped for modern biochemical and biophysical research and cooperates closely with the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Botany, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Plant and Soil Science. The University Library, located one building from the Noble Research Center, has excellent holdings in chemistry, biochemistry, and related areas. The library has open stacks and is accessible 360 days a year, and many journals are available online. A computer network links the Department to other campus departments, the University’s mainframe, national computer networks and databases, and the Internet. Many computers are available to students. A state-of-the-art research facility is equipped with special instruments, including VG Instruments Model ZAB-2SE high-resolution, high-resolution NMR spectrometers with pulse FT capabilities (Unity Innova 400 and 600), and a CMX300 solid-state NMR.
The Department houses a recombinant DNA/protein resource facility that provides access to the latest technologies in molecular biology. The facility contains a variety of specialized instrumentation, including a state-of-the-art ABI 3730 automated DNA sequencer, an ABI 491 (Procise) automated protein/peptide sequencing system, an ABI DE Pro MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry proteomics workstation, a Beckman-Coulter Biomek solution-handling robot, an ABI 7500 RT-PCR for quantitating gene expression, a GE Typhoon Trio+ fluorescent gel imager and DIGE workstation for analysis of differential protein expression, and a variety of small instruments, such as thermocyclers. State-of-the-art computer facilities for DNA and protein sequence analysis and database searching and digital imaging analysis are also available. A new Thermo Fisher Orbitrap XL equipped with an ion trap and an ultrahigh-accuracy orbitrap detector, a nanospray ion source, and an Eksigent NanoLC-2D is now online and generating wonderful data.
The Microarray Core Facility has state-of-the-art instrumentation for creating microarrays, performing hybridizations, and analyzing the results of microarrays. Available instruments include a GeneMachines OmniGrid 1000 contact printer, Perkin Elmer ScanArray high-resolution laser confocal scanners, incubators, ovens, and hybridization hardware. A Nanodrop-II noncontact nanoliter dispensing instrument provides additional arraying capabilities including the production of protein arrays, cell arrays, bead dispensing, and arraying into individual wells of 96-well plates. Additional customized robotic systems are available for arraying samples. Two NanoDrop ND-1000 one-microliter spectrophotometers are available, and a NanoDrop 3300 one-microliter fluorospectrophotometer provides full-spectrum excitation and emission analyses using fluorescent samples. A SensiQ surface plasmon resonance spectrophotometer is now available in the core for studying protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid and protein-ligand interactions in real time.
The Bioinformatics Core Facility (BIOinfOSU) employs dedicated personnel, hardware, and software for analyzing large protein or nucleic acid datasets. A suite of more than twenty powerful bioinformatics tools are located on a UNIX computer cluster. A new 8-node Apple X-serve computer cluster dedicated bioinformatics and utilizing the BIOTeam iNquiryXTE interface has been implemented. This ever-expanding set of curated tools facilitates the quantification and functional annotation of array results. More than forty DNA sequence libraries or genomes are hosted using in-house databases.
Financial Aid
Financial support is available in the form of predoctoral traineeships, fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships. In 2008–09, stipends ranged from $17,325 to $24,000 per year for half-time, according to the student’s qualifications and experience. This stipend includes a health insurance plan. Students appointed to graduate traineeships, fellowships, and assistantships are exempt from out-of-state fees, and 6 credit hours of tuition are waived for each of the fall and spring semesters and 3 credit hours are waived for the summer semester. In addition, there are employment opportunities for students’ spouses in the University and the Stillwater community.
Cost of Study
Tuition and fees in 2008–09 were $154.85 per credit hour and $73.85 per credit hour, respectively. An average course load is 6 to 9 credit hours in the fall and spring semesters and 3 credit hours for the summer semester. Out-of-state tuition is $554.75 per credit hour.
Living and Housing Costs
Living costs in Stillwater are modest to average. Furnished and air-conditioned University apartments for family and graduate student housing rented for $573 to $1235 per month in 2008–09. The cost of rooms in dormitories ranges from $1566 to $3006 per semester.
Student Group
On-campus enrollment at Oklahoma State University numbers 17,986, with 4,463 students in the Graduate College. Of about 1,600 students who are not residents of Oklahoma, 774 are international students from ninety other countries. The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology enrolls 70 to 80 undergraduate majors and 30 to 40 graduate students.
Student Outcomes
The majority of Ph.D. graduates become engaged in postdoctoral research and then obtain positions in universities, research foundations, government, or industry. Recent graduates have gone to the NIH, Harvard, UCLA, Stanford, MIT, and Duke. Two graduates have been presidents of Sigma Chemical Company. M.S. graduates usually obtain laboratory positions in universities, government, or industry.
Location
Stillwater is located in north-central Oklahoma, approximately 75 miles west of Tulsa and 60 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The present population is about 42,000. Payne County has a population of 62,000. The cultural and recreational facilities of Stillwater make possible a variety of athletic activities, concerts, art and drama presentations, and public lectures throughout the year.
The University
Oklahoma State University was founded in 1890 by Act of the First Territorial Legislature as Oklahoma’s land-grant university. The main campus of 840 acres has more than 200 permanent buildings, including a $3.5-million physical education building and a $3-million performing arts center. The faculty consists of 1,185 members. In addition, 10 to 15 research associates and visiting professors are on the biochemistry staff each year.
Applying
Application for admission should be made through the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Early application and a background in chemical and biological sciences are desirable. Application forms can be submitted online at http://gradcollege.okstate.edu/apply/default.htm. The deadline for applying is January 31 for admission for the fall semester of that year.
The Faculty and Their Research
- Patricia Ayoubi, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Oklahoma State, 1997. Microarrays; bioinformatics; functional genomics; differential gene expression analysis.
- Junpeng Deng, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State, 2001. X-ray crystallographic studies on biomacromolecules.
- Steven D. Hartson, Assistant Research Scientist; Ph.D., Oklahoma State, 1991. Hsp 90 chaperone machinery; proteomics.
- Peter R. Hoyt, Research Associate Professor; Ph.D., Texas Medical Branch, 1988. Control of gene expression in relation to cellular systems biology in carcinogenesis, development, and response to environmental stimuli.
- Ramamurthy Mahalingam, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Clemson, 1998. Oxidative stress signal transduction in plants; functional genomics.
- Michael A. Massiah, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Maryland, 1996. NMR studies of protein structure and function, specifically of the Midline-1 protein.
- Robert L. Matts, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin–Madison, 1980. Posttranscriptional control of protein synthesis; regulatory mechanisms involving protein phosphorylation and guanine nucleotide exchange; roles of molecular chaperones in regulation, protein folding, and signal transduction.
- Rita Miller, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Northwestern, 1993. The cytoskeleton and positioning of the mitotic spindle.
- Ulrich K. Melcher, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1970. Role of virus-virus interaction through recombination, complementation, and synergy in plant-virus evolution; tobamoviruses; caulimoviruses; virus detection and identification.
- Andrew J. Mort, Regents Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1978. Structure of plant cell wall polysaccharides; enzyme digestion of cell walls for bioenergy; NMR and mass spectroscopy of carbohydrates.
- Patricia Rayas-Duarte, Professor; Ph.D., Nebraska, 1988. Cereal chemistry.
- José L. Soulages, Associate Professor; Ph.D., La Plata (Argentina), 1989. Structure-function relationships of insect lipoproteins.
- Ramanjulu Sunkar, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Sri Krishnadevaraya (India), 1996. miRNA-guided posttranscriptional gene regulation; plant abiotic stress tolerance.
- Chang-An Yu, Regents Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1969. Bioenergetics; membrane structure-function relationships.
- Linda Yu, Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1970. Coenzyme Q; protein interactions; membrane bioenergetics; structure-function of photosynthetic cytochrome bc1 complex.
Correspondence and Information
Oklahoma State University
Dr. Robert L. Matts
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
246 NRC
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078-3035
Telephone:
405-744-6200
Fax:
405-744-7799
Email:
graduate-info@biochem.okstate.edu
