PHD, Plant Biology

Degree Program Summary:

UGA’s Plant Biology Department is a multidisciplinary program with 25 full-time faculty working on a wide range of research problems in the plant and fungal sciences. We are one of the top ranked plant biology departments in the United States. While the Plant Biology Department is named on the basis of the predominant organisms studied, it has always defined its overall mission broadly to include many disciplinary areas. We are particularly strong in the overlapping areas of molecular genetics, biochemistry and physiology, biology education, cellular and developmental biology, genomics and bioinformatics, systematics, and ecology. A focus on evolutionary principles unites the diverse disciplines within the department. Visit the Research Areas pages to learn more about the breadth of our interests, then visit a faculty member’s individual homepage to learn about his or her specific focal areas.

Degree Awarded: PhD

Degree Code: PHD_PBIO

The Department of Plant Biology offers a graduate program leading to the PhD degree. Program strengths include a very flexible curriculum to meet the needs of individual students, guaranteed stipend funding, professional development opportunities (teaching, grant writing, mentoring, outreach), and a very active Plant Biology Graduate Student Association (PBGSA).

Prospective students should address inquiries to the Graduate Coordinator, Department of Plant Biology. Our Web address is plantbio.uga.edu. Graduate students are eligible for a number of university fellowships and research and teaching assistantships. Interested applicants should apply through the Integrated Plant Sciences program. The deadline for applications is December 1. Students are normally only admitted at the beginning of the fall semester.

Facilities for graduate training in plant biology include greenhouses, growth chambers, field plots, the herbarium, electron microscope laboratory, molecular cytology facility, genomics and bioinformatics facilities, computing facilities, and modern research laboratories. Cooperative arrangements for joint research exist with such off-campus facilities as the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, State Botanical Garden, UGA Marine Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and other regional research centers.