UCSF Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate program eligibility and selection criteria for Discretionary Activities or Programs (DAPs):
UCSF does not use race, gender, sex, or other protected categories or proxies for protected categories in the selection process. All faculty members of the BMS program involved in decision making relevant to DAPs are required to complete the required Anti-Discrimination training and are reminded of these principles when participating in all such decision making.
DAPs:
A.1 Faculty Membership in the BMS program
Eligibility: All members of the UCSF Academic Senate
Selection Criteria:
- Research relevant to the emphasis of BMS on the cellular, molecular, and biochemical basis of vertebrate development, physiology, and disease.
- Confidence that the individual would be a suitable mentor for a graduate student. This may include such considerations as time devoted to research if the candidate will have clinical responsibilities, publication record, training record, etc.
- Sufficient funding resources to support graduate students
- Sufficient laboratory space.
A.2 BMS program director and co-director(s) (as applicable).
All BMS faculty members are eligible to be the BMS program director or one of its co-directors. Selection criteria are 1) more senior status; and 2) significant involvement in the BMS program for several years, including committee work, teaching, and student mentorship; and 3) suitability to be PI of the BMS T32.
B. Committees
1. Executive committee
The executive committee consists of the program director (and co-director, if applicable) plus at least six BMS faculty members. All BMS faculty are eligible to serve on the committee. Selection criteria are the maintenance of equal representation across the eight scientific research areas encompassed by the BMS program, and equal representation across UCSF’s multiple campuses and research institutes.
2. Admissions committee
The admissions committee consists of at least 15 faculty and a pipeline of 3-4 co-chairs. All BMS faculty members are eligible to serve on the committee, and all volunteers are accepted. Admission committee co-chairs are selected according to the criteria of 1) a history of being an admission committee member in the past; and/or 2) significant involvement in the program in recent years, including having trained BMS students.
3. Curriculum committee
The curriculum committee consists of the program director, the faculty directors of the core curriculum courses, and 2 students. Accordingly, there is no eligibility criteria or selection process per se for the faculty members of the committee. All students who are in at least their second year at the time they would begin service are eligible for the committee; selection occurs through the evaluation of a 1-paragraph description of why they wish to serve.
4. Community and wellbeing committee
This committee consists of at least 2 faculty members and at least 2 student members, who serve 2 year terms. Membership is on a volunteer basis. All BMS faculty are eligible to serve. To date desire for membership has not exceed capacity; in the event we reach such a point, new faculty members will be selected according to their previously demonstrated commitment to and interest in community building within the BMS program. All students are eligible to be on the committee and all volunteers are accepted.
5. Seminar committee
This faculty-only committee organizes the weekly BMS seminar given by researchers invited from other institutions. Membership is on a volunteer basis, and all BMS faculty are eligible to serve. To date, desire for membership has not exceed capacity; in the event we reach such a point, new faculty members will be selected according to their previously demonstrated commitment to and interest in fostering the scientific mission of the BMS program.
6. Fellowship committee
This faculty-only committee evaluates and determines the BMS students who will be nominated for UCSF internal and external fellowships. It consists of at least three faculty members. Membership is on a volunteer basis, and all BMS faculty are eligible to serve. To date, desire for membership has not exceed capacity; in the event we reach such a point, new faculty members will be selected according to their previously demonstrated commitment to and interest in fostering the educational mission of the BMS program.
C. Student fellowships
1. Appointment to the BMS T32 training grant
Please note: As per NIH rules, only US citizens and permanent residents can be appointment to the BMS T32 training grant. All BMS students are otherwise eligible.
a. First year appointments. Interested students are selected according to their undergraduate grades, prior research experience, letters of recommendation and interview evaluations obtained during the course of their application to graduate school, and a balance in terms of research interests across the many the scientific areas encompassed by the BMS program (i.e., to avoid students working disproportionately on limited subset of research topics).
b. Second year appointments. Students appointed to the BMS T32 training grant in their first year are appointed automatically in their second year unless they have received another fellowship or source of funding. In cases of such vacancies, new applicants are selected according to their first year grades and rotation evaluations, a statement of their proposed research project that needs to align with the scientific training goals of the T32 training program, completion of the required “Introduction to Human Biology and Medicine” minicourse, publications and conference presentations, and the maintenance of balance in terms of research interests. In the event of virtual ties, we consider past program participation and professional development activities.
2. Internal and external fellowship nominations. For fellowships in which multiple graduate programs compete for the selection of students to be nominated by UCSF for internal or external fellowships, all BMS students are eligible so long as they meet the specific criteria of the fellowship in question. Nominees are selected according to the criteria of the specific fellowship in question and any associated nominating materials such as letters of recommendation and research descriptions. In cases where one student has already successfully competed for a fellowship, we deprioritize their application for other fellowships in favor of students who have not yet received one.
3. Recruitment fellowships and Curci fellowship nominations. The recruitment fellowships are for admitted students and are used as recruitment tools. They are offered by several research entities at UCSF (e.g. Benioff Microbiome Center, Diabetes Center, ImmunoX etc.). All incoming BMS students are eligible. Nominees are selected based upon the student’s stated research interest, grades, letters of recommendation, and the overall impression of the student when evaluated by the admission committee during the admissions process. For the Curci fellowship, BMS nominees are selected according to the stated requirements for the fellowship (international student, stated interest in wet lab research).
D. Teaching
1. Course instructors. The BMS program teaches several courses that require faculty involvement. Course directors are selected based upon their area of scientific expertise and (likely) prior involvement in the course in question. Lecturers and faculty discussion leaders are in turn selected by the course director(s) for each course based upon their area of expertise. All BMS faculty members are eligible to be the faculty discussion leaders for the NIH-mandated Responsible Conduct of Research courses, and all volunteers are accepted until the slots are filled.
2. Graduate teaching assistants. For courses with graduate student teaching assistants (TAs), assignments are made based upon each student’s course preference rankings, faculty requests, and the student’s grades in relevant courses. Every second year student is required to TA for one course, so there is no eligibility requirement per se.
3. Faculty director (and co-director, if applicable) of the BMS Translational Mentor Program. The BMS Translational Mentor Program, which is for BMS students with appointments to the BMS T32 training grant, has a director and potentially a co-director. All BMS faculty members are eligible to serve in either capacity. The positions are purely instructional. Selection criteria for the positions are: having an M.D. degree, having an active clinical practice, performing translational research in their own labs, having a good appreciation of the breadth of the clinical training forums at UCSF, demonstrating a strong interest in mentoring BMS students.
E. Involvement in other BMS activities
1. BMS retreat – faculty organizers
The two faculty who serve as organizers for the yearly BMS retreat serve for two year terms in staggered fashion. The are chosen by the BMS program director in consultation with the junior member of the two-person team. All BMS faculty are eligible to serve and are selected by virtue of their junior rank (we give these roles to assistant professor who have been at UCSF for ~3-4 years) and active involvement in the program.
2. BMS retreat – student and faculty presenters
All BMS faculty are eligible to speak at the BMS Retreat. Speakers are selected with the goal of ensuring that the topics covered mirror the breadth of the research interests of the entire BMS faculty and the program’s eight thematic areas. Selection criteria also include: preference given to newer faculty in the program, to give them exposure to new students; deprioritization of faculty who have given talks in the prior 5 years; preference given to faculty who have made consistent contributions to the BMS program over the last two years. BMS student and postdoctoral trainees who wish to give longer talks (>10 minutes) are selected based upon mentor nomination. The nomination materials are a letter from the mentor and an abstract of the work. All trainees are eligible to be nominated. Preference is given to senior BMS students.
3. BMS symposium – faculty presenters
The symposium is for first year students, and all BMS faculty are eligible to give talks or present posters. A few faculty give longer “career” talks, and these are selected based upon their advanced rank (full professors) and strong involvement in the BMS program over the years. Other faculty may give short talks, in which case they are selected with preference given to junior faculty who have contributed to the program in recent years and those who might not have had the opportunity to present at the BMS retreat. In years where the symposium has a poster session, all faculty who volunteer to present are accepted.