Top 20 Doctoral Programs in Molecular Sciences 2019/2020

As Europe’s only intergovernmental research organization in the life sciences and as a leading laboratory in molecular biology, EMBL is dedicated to promoting excellence in the molecular life sciences throughout Europe. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is by inspiring and fostering talented young scientists to turn them into skilled and creative future leaders.

The EMBL International Ph.D. Programme is Europe’s ‘best in class’ Ph.D. programme for the life sciences. 240 students from over 40 countries are carrying out Ph.D. research at EMBL at any time. Every year we admit an average of 60 new students, who belong to the top science graduates in their countries. They are carefully selected from a large multi-national pool of applicants that reached over 1700 applications in 2012.... [-]

The Molecular Biosciences Program offers an interdisciplinary program towards a Doctorate in Philosophy in the Life Sciences. Students in the MBSP program are able to pursue research across department boundaries, before selecting a specific area of study at the end of the first year.

This program allows graduate students to rotate in three different laboratories during their first year, within their chosen area of research. By the end of the first year, they must select a research advisor and be formally admitted to a department to conduct a research project leading to the completion of a Doctorate of Philosophy.

Research Areas:

The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), the International Center for Genetic Engineering Biotechnology (ICGEB), the University of Trieste and the University of Udine offer a new Joint Ph.D. Program in Molecular Biology (JuMBO).

The main mission of JuMBO is to train enthusiastic young scientists from developed and developing countries to use advanced molecular tools with a deeper understanding of their scientific and technical opportunities and limitations. Students who complete this Ph.D. program will have a solid background in the various aspects of Molecular Biology and related methodology, including bioinformatics and structural biology, to efficiently exploit new functionalities for scientific and technical research purposes. Students will benefit from receiving their training in Molecular Biology in the active and exciting research environment of the four prestigious institutions.... [-]

The PhD curriculum in Theory and Simulation of Condensed Matter is suited to highly motivated students interested in learning how the microscopic constituents of matters self- assemble to bring about the whole complexity of the states of matter, from molecules to complex solids, and in learning how to model fascinating macroscopic phenomena, from friction to superconductivity and superfluidity, emerging from the collective behaviour of those microscopic agents.

During the first year of their PhD course, students acquire the most advanced tools for modelling and studying states of matter, from ab-initio simulation of real materials and molecules to quantum simulation of lattice models, from the classical statistical theory of many-body systems to its quantum counterpart, and acquaint themselves with the broad research activity carried out at SISSA through more focused and topical courses. This preliminary stage provides students with a common background and all the information they need to decide on the research topic they intend to pursue in their PhD thesis.... [-]

The Programme PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology Is an official university degree that addresses training in fundamental molecular and cellular biological research. It has the collaboration of the Institute of Biomedical Research of A Coruña (INIBIC).

Its objective is to train in methodological and instrumental skills to be able to develop research projects in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Microbiology, Plant Physiology and Biomedicine.

The program offers quality teaching, personalized and integrated in consolidated research groups. It has also recognized national and international prestige.

The program is based on an interdisciplinary education at the interface of physics, chemistry, and biology from the physical point of view and focused on physical experimental and theoretical approaches. The program prepares experts for independent scientific work in solving tasks of basic and applied research in the interdisciplinary fields between physics, chemistry and, according to the theme of dissertation work, biology.

The program does not contain specializations.

Admission for studies

Admission for studies will be granted to the applicants, who:

The subjects applied specific molecular approaches in the detailed exploration of the heredity and variability of organisms the uncovering of the structural and functional relations between information macromolecules (nucleic acids and proteins) as the basis of the existence and manifestation/expression of living matter at all levels of complexity of its organization. It is concerned with the structure and function of genes, the biosynthesis of proteins as gene products – gene expression and its regulation. Classical and molecular biological approaches are applied to all biological objects in normal and pathological states with the aim of discovering, understanding and purposefully modifying the mechanisms of all their manifestations, including the viral level and gene therapy.... [-]

A specialist in the area of life's origins and evolution. The student will receive a broad theoretical and methodical training oriented towards epistemology and theory in Biosciences. This erudition is supplemented by student's special training in some particular area(s) of biology - thereby qualifying her/him for the work in a broad spectrum of research, e.g. theoretical biology, mathematical biology and modeling, history of science, and last but not least, standard experimental biology.

The entrance exam is a one-round in the form of an interview. Based on a written request submitted electronically together with the application but no later than by 19 May 2019, the Dean may permit the entrance examination to take place via information and communication technology, but only for serious and documented reasons such as health or study abroad.... [-]

Organic chemistry deals with isolation, synthesis, and determination of the structure of organic compounds and with the study of the relationship between the structure and properties of organic substances by the help of physical and chemical methods.

The entrance exam is a one-round in the form of an interview. Based on a written request submitted electronically together with the application but no later than by 19 May 2019, the Dean may permit the entrance examination to take place via information and communication technology, but only for serious and documented reasons such as health or study abroad.

During the entrance examination, the candidate must demonstrate the technical and linguistic skills to study the given program, along with attributes necessary for scientific work. The examination is graded with a maximum of 100 points.... [-]

The Graduate Study is organized by the Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry in cooperation with the Prague Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. The Study Program has been prepared by experts from the Faculty of Science, Academy of Sciences and the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology. It covers all fields of Macromolecular Chemistry (including Biopolymer Chemistry and Physical Chemistry of Polymers) and some disciplines of Polymer Physics.

The up-to-date topics that may be studied experimentally at the Department include, e.g., (a) synthesis of polymers and studies in polymerization kinetics (e.g., synthesis of semiconducting substituted polyacetylenes), (b) association processes in polymer systems (e.g., micellization of block polyelectrolytes in aqueous solutions), (c) mechanical degradation and biodegradation processes in polymer systems, and (d) properties of semiconducting polymer materials.... [-]

The subjects applied specific molecular approaches in the detailed exploration of the heredity and variability of organisms the uncovering of the structural and functional relations between information macromolecules (nucleic acids and proteins) as the basis of the existence and manifestation/expression of living matter at all levels of complexity of its organization. It is concerned with the structure and function of genes, the biosynthesis of proteins as gene products – gene expression and its regulation.

Classical and molecular biological approaches are applied to all biological objects in normal and pathological states with the aim of discovering, understanding and purposefully modifying the mechanisms of all their manifestations, including the viral level and gene therapy. Their subject of study and methods mean that these disciplines have an impact on practically all the scientific and research fields of biology and biomedicine and have an influence on the applied spheres of medicine (congenital and infectious diseases, vaccines, new drugs), agriculture (transgenic organisms and the improvement plants and animals), ecology (the relationship between organisms and the environment, control of pollution of the environment and non-traditional processing of wastes) and biotechnologies based primarily on the procedures of genetic engineering and genetic manipulation.... [-]

The Ph.D. in Biomolecular Science is delivered by the Faculty of Arts and Science. Students in this program are normally supervised by Faculty members in the following contributing departments/areas: Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Physics and Astronomy.

Biomolecular science is a multidisciplinary program that combines elements of traditional biochemistry, biophysics, biotechnology, molecular biology, and molecular genetics. Research in this program is aimed at studying biological processes, organisms, and systems at the molecular level, and applying this research to problems in agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. Potential individual research programs include the structure and function of proteins at atomic resolution by NMR and X-ray crystallography, the activity of biologically significant enzymes, the regulation of metabolic, stress-related and developmental pathways, and the mechanisms of pathogenicity.... [-]

The Ph.D. program in Molecular Biomedicine aims to provide higher education to young University graduates in biomedical – and scientific in general – disciplines, to prepare them for a career in basic, clinical or translational research in the field of molecular medicine, with specific reference to the areas of molecular oncology, pathophysiology, molecular genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, regenerative medicine, and pharmacology. Key to the program is research activity in the laboratory, where students develop a critical approach to scientific observation and carry out a specific project. The Program also organizes intensive courses on core biomolecular disciplines and seminars given by national and international experts.... [-]

Working at the cutting edge of the field with top international scientists, our postgraduate programmes seek to ensure that each student:

The Department emphasizes both academic excellence and industrial relevance and, wherever possible, programmes are set in the context of local industry needs and explore the potential of creating demand for new technologies.... [-]

Working at the cutting edge of the field with top international scientists, our postgraduate programmes seek to ensure that each student:

The Department emphasizes both academic excellence and industrial relevance and, wherever possible, programmes are set in the context of local industry needs and explore the potential of creating demand for new technologies.... [-]