UM campus and Missoula seen from the top of the M on the M trail

UM Immunology

Information for Prospective Students

Welcome to the University of Montana Immunology Track Prospective Student home page.  Immunology training at The University of Montana, Missoula is an interdepartmental program involving the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (BMED) housed within the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences,  the Cellular Molecular and Microbial Biology (CMMB) Graduate program in the Division of Biological Sciences in the College of Humanities and Sciences, and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in the Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences.  The Immunology Graduate Program is a degree emphasis within the existing CMMB and BMED graduate programs.

Prospective students must apply for graduate student admission directly through the BMED or CMMB programs.  Upon admission, students must fulfill the requirements of the admitting graduate program.  Currently, Ph.D. students at The University of Montana are required to complete 60 semester credits in residence.  Students in the Immunology emphasis must complete at least 10 semester credits from the Immunology core curriculum.  They must also pass a written and oral comprehensive qualifying exam to advance to Ph.D. candidacy and defend a Ph.D. thesis. 

Students are expected to complete at least 2 laboratory rotations during their first year before choosing a thesis laboratory.  Students are free to rotate in any of the immunology labs and are allowed to carry out their thesis research in a lab in either department provided the mentor laboratory is able to provide at least 2 years funding for stipend and tuition. 

Successful applicants are guaranteed a minimum of 4 years of financial support from the respective programs in the form of teaching assistantships - currently at a level of $21,000/year in CMMB and $22,500/year in BMED.  After the first year of graduate training, students customarily transition to research assistantships, but the remainder of the guaranteed 4 years of TA support is available in the event of a funding shortfall in mentor labs. 

Further Information