Joining the DEB 

First and second year doctoral students who are members of affiliated graduate programs and who have not yet taken their qualifying exam are eligible to join. To get the process started, follow these steps:

1. Fill out an enrollment form online.  If you are still rotating and do not have a major professor yet, just put "rotating" on the enrollment form.  It is straightforward to add new DEB faculty members if the lab you join is not already a part of the DEB, though you should discuss your interest in the DEB with any potential major professors. To check if the major professors you are considering are already members of the DEB faculty, see our current faculty list. 
2. Once your online enrollment form has been submitted to our office, expect to be contacted by the DEB director within a few days in order to set up an enrollment meeting.  Presently, these meetings are being conducted via individual phone calls or group Zoom meetings during DEB Office Hours (Tuesday afternoons between 2-3pm).  Meeting times outside of DEB Office Hours may be available - please check with the DEB director to find a time that works.
3. After the enrollment meeting, if you decide to join, your enrollment form will be sent to the DEB Executive Committee for review. Once this faculty review has been completed, you will receive an official welcome letter within a couple of weeks.  The letter will detail how to finalize DEB enrollment with the Office of Graduate Studies. All official campus paperwork is currently being processed via digital signature collection and email submittal. All official forms related to DEB degree progress (enrollment, selection of a QE committee member, advancement to candidacy and final course verification) will need to be signed by the DEB Chair.

Membership Benefits, Expectations and Instructions

Before deciding to join the DEB Program and taking advantage of the unique opportunity to prepare yourself for a career in biotechnology, we'd like you to review the expectations and membership process below, as well as some additional benefits provided by the program.

Membership Benefits

Over and above the benefits of receiving a Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology on your diploma, the DEB program provides further advantages to it's members:

• DEB students may request to interact with DEB/ECH 294 Friday Seminar industry speakers by attending the networking lunch that follows the seminar. This is an excellent opportunity for students to network, especially if they are interested in an internship with the speaker's company.
• Science communication training and opportunities, including Chalk Talks, Biotech Retreat STEMTalks, outreach events and more.
• Professional development in technical and transferrable skills via workshops in science policy, science communication, finding funding opportunities and grant writing, team science, R programming and more.

Membership Expectations

In effort to adequately prepare students for a successful career in biotechnology and insure the health of our program, each member is expected to do the following:

• Complete all required coursework (DEB263; DEB/ECH294; MIC292; Bioethics; DEB282 Internship) and start planning for an internship about a year in advance of the experience.
• File all required Graduate Studies forms in a timely manner (enrollment, QE, Advancement to Candidacy, completion).  All of these will be electronically signed by the DEB faculty chair with the assistance of Administrative Team, but will need to be filed as hard copy documents delivered to the Office of Graduate Studies.
• Turn in a yearly DEB Student Progress Report to the Administrative Team, as well as the short, post-internship survey and DEB exit form when the time comes. 
• Take part in a professional development workshop, program event (e.g. annual Biotech Retreat) and/or public outreach event approximately once per quarter on an on-going basis.