Program Overview

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Department of Microbiology and Immunology

The University of Texas Medical Branch offers a comprehensive program in Microbiology and Immunology, providing students with a robust foundation in the field.

Program Overview

The program is designed to train highly skilled biomedical researchers who possess a cohesive and mechanistic understanding of the molecular aspects of virology, transmission, and pathogenesis of viruses, as well as diagnostics and countermeasures.

Graduate Program

The graduate program in Microbiology and Immunology offers a range of courses, including:

• Graduate Program Home
• Graduate Program Handbook
• Graduate Program Faculty
• Students
• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Research Scientists
• Academic Information
  • Coursework
  • Qualifying Exam Information
  • Academic Committees

Visitors and Prospective Students

Information for visitors and prospective students includes:

• Application Information
• Required and Offered Courses
• Graduate School Home page

Fellowships and Awards

The program offers various fellowships and awards, including:

• In-house Training Grants
• Mardelle Susman Microbiology & Immunology Graduate Program Endowment
• Awards
• McLaughlin Endowment

NIAID T35

The NIAID T35 program provides training and research opportunities in virology and immunology, including:

• NIAID T35 Overview
• Investigator
• Faculty
• Publications
• Awards
• Abstracts
• Application and Information
• Past NIAID T35 Trainees

Course Information

MICR 6403 General Virology Fall

Course Description

This sixteen-week course is the foundational and discipline-specific course of the Microbiology & Immunology graduate program curriculum. The course is aimed at students who want to gain an advanced knowledge in virology and viral immunology and want to strengthen their critical thinking skills.

Prerequisites

All students who declared Microbiology & Immunology as their graduate program must take this course. Students taking the course should have a robust knowledge in cell biology, immunology, and pathophysiology.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should have an understanding of the fundamental tenets of virology as a scientific discipline while also becoming aware of the opportunities and challenges for virology research.

Objectives and Teaching Style

• Instructional sessions will be based on review of textbook chapters and faculty-designed lectures.
• Students will explore and apply concepts in virology through a range of learning modalities.
• Students will learn to articulate and critique state-of-the-art topics in virology.

Workload

• Four hours per week in class time
• Two hours per class of pre-class reading and studying of learning material
• A significant amount of time needs to be committed to preparing the final project

Course Grade

The course grade will be determined as follows:

• Course Participation - 10%
• Exam I - 20%
• Exam II - 20%
• Exam III - 20%
• Final Project - 30%

Grading Scale

Letter Grade	Percentage
A	90%-100%
B	80%-89%
C	70%-79%
F	69% or below

Attendance and Class Participation

Students are expected to attend class and be on time. Two unexcused absences will result in a 5% decrease in the final grade score.

Missed Exams/Assignments, Late Policies

Contact the course directors in advance if you are going to be late or miss an assignment.

Standards for Academic Honesty

Violations of the Honor Code are cause for disciplinary actions imposed by the appropriate honor council.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

All work submitted in this course is to be done entirely by students. Using generative AI tools or having other people or entities do any portion of a graded assignment is a violation of academic honesty.