Grad Studies FAQ

There are several distinct styles of graduate program available at the UC Medical Center. We are neither the largest nor the smallest - however, within our medium-sized program (approximately 30 faculty) you will find an incredible degree of diversity (the largest in the Medical Center), ranging from physical chemistry to biochemistry, from microbiology to structural biology, from bacterial genetics to human genetics. We see this as an important bonus since you will be exposed to a very wide range of topics from the incredibly diverse field of current biomedical science research. And with interdisciplinary research a very hot topic these days you will be really well placed to make the connections. Furthermore, virtually all our researchers are situated in adjoining space in the Medical Sciences Building and Cardiovascular Center, so that students in our program have a distinct sense of "home" and community within the Department and the Medical Center, an important element in building personal relationships at the social and professional level.

Graduates take a variety of career paths after leaving our program - many go into postdoctoral positions in university, research institute or federal labs (like the NIH or CDC) where they pursue additional high-level research training prior to taking up opportunities in industry, academia or government. Others, however, have moved straight into the workplace, taking positions in industry (pharmaceutical, biotech), in teaching (college, junior college, high school), and occasionally in other professions where they can apply their biomedical expertise after additional training (publishing, law, business). Check out what some of our recent graduates are doing and what they say about the training they received in our program. Biomedical Ph.D.'s have been, and continue to be, among the most employable of all graduates. You will definitely have a rewarding career, and it won't be outsourced!

All of our doctoral program students receive a monthly stipend, currently amounting to $23,000 per annum, and this is reviewed on an annual basis. In addition, all quarterly tuition fees are covered by a scholarship, so there are no recurring fees to be paid to the University. Though not enormous, our stipend turns out to be pretty reasonable given Cincinnati's cost-of-living - see the next FAQ!

Cincinnati has an exceptionally favorable cost-of-living, especially in comparison to East and West coast cities. However, even within the Mid-West, it is considered very reasonable. It is entirely possible to rent very nice accommodation, eat real food, and even maintain a decent car! Click here to go to a cost-of-living index where you will be able to compare various cities.

Yes, the program pays all premiums associated with single person student health coverage. If you are married and/or have children, the additional cost of the available family coverage is borne by the student.

No, there is no teaching obligation at all. We do not have teaching assistantships. The program pays a monthly stipend to enable you to devote full-time to your classes and laboratory research. However, for an increasing number of our students, the opportunity to learn some of the theory and practice of teaching as well as an insight into faculty duties is a desirable personal goal, since they may envision using such skills in their future career as educators and researchers. The University of Cincinnati offers an excellent program called Preparing Future Faculty designed to pass on some of these skills, and we encourage interested students to look into participation in this in their later years in the MolGen program. Several of our students have participated in this program - it is particularly helpful for biomedical science students since there is a specialist course available that addresses teaching in the life sciences.

Yes, we ask that your formal application reaches us by February 1st.

Yes, if our graduate committee likes your application we certainly want you to visit us, though we try not to conduct student visits here as a formal interview - it's primarily a chance for us to get to know each other a little, do some "show and tell" about our program and, especially important, give you a chance to meet a lot of our current students - after all, they are the ones who know the real scoop on what it's like to live and work here! We figure that if we are going to invite you to check us out, then we are already pretty strongly motivated to offer you a place in the program.

Absolutely. Most of our students live in rented accommodation - apartments, houses - within 2-3 miles of the medical campus. There are many very pleasant and safe neighborhoods in this general locale; moreover, you can get a lot of living space for your money as compared to many cities. The campus itself is located in the "Uptown" or "Pill Hill" area of the city, which is about 4 miles north of downtown and is currently undergoing some major building/rebuilding that is lending a more contemporary feel to this part of town. It comes as a surprise to many to find out that Cincinnati is built on several hills that rise on the north side of the Ohio River, so there is pleasant ambience to the geography and surroundings. Cincinnati is an easy city to get around in by car, and traffic is not usually an issue unless you plan to live in the northern suburbs beyond the beltway - very few students choose to do that.

There is a very good University fitness facility on the Medical campus in the new Center for Academic and Research Education, directly adjacent to the Medical Sciences building in which the department is housed. There are also with state-of-the-art facilities facilities on the main campus of the University, which is less than a 10 minute shuttle ride away - Campus Recreational Center . All this is very accessible since the shuttles run every 15 minutes.

Campus life has really picked up with the completion of the new UC Main Street project on the UC campus that encompasses a cinema, restaurants and coffee shops, game room and sports lounge, bookstore, and lots of other facilities. In addition, UC joined the "Big East" conference in the Fall of 2005, and campus athletics facilities are now state-of-the-art for watching top-level UC Division I athletics, including the nationally-ranked "Bearcats" basketball program. Life off-campus has all the perks of being in a big city, but combined with the small town friendliness for which Cincinnati is known - major league baseball and football, minor league hockey and soccer, world class symphony and opera, internationally recognized museums of contemporary and traditional arts, the brand new Underground Railroad museum on the riverfront, King's Island theme park, and theater and concert venues of all sizes from arenas to myriads of small performance spaces and clubs. Downtown has its own Main Street, a vibrant area of urban renewal full of clubs, pubs, restaurants, art galleries and eclectic shops. Just nearby is historic Findlay Market, a great place to shop for fresh food and produce and experience the variety of cultures that call Cincinnati home. In addition, the whole riverfront along the south shore of the Ohio River in Northern Kentucky has been transformed into a location for leisure and entertainment, including the Newport Aquarium, the Newport-on-the-Levee shopping/entertainment complex, as well as the first authentic Hofbrauhaus beer garden and brewery outside of Munich, Germany. In truth, there's an abundance of things to see and do when you decide to take a break from your studies or the lab.

The following links will help you explore more of Cincinnati from finding restaurants to finding where to live, and lots more:

Cincinnati.com
CityBeat.com
Cincinnati Weekly
CincyUSA.com
Cincinnati Yellow Pages and Guide
Northern Kentucky

Please don't hesitate to ask us anything that occurs to you about graduate school, the Molecular Genetics program, or Cincinnati in general - just click on the following link (winwoohl [at] ucmail [dot] uc [dot] edu) and ask away. If you prefer a human voice at the other end give Holly Winwood, our Graduate Coordinator, a call at (513) 558-5510 - she loves to talk with people!