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This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Biochemistry

Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

For More Information

Campus address: Robert A. Welch Hall (WEL) 2.204, phone (512) 471-3890, fax (512) 475-8839; campus mail code: A5300

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Program in Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 105 East 24th Street A5300, Austin TX 78712-0165

E-mail: bhamblen@cm.utexas.edu

URL: http://www.cm.utexas.edu/

Facilities for Graduate Work

Research in biochemistry is carried out in the Biochemical Institute and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Mallet Chemistry Library is the largest academic chemistry library in the country. In addition to extensive print-based collections in all areas of chemistry and chemical engineering, the library provides access to major database resources such as SciFinder (Chemical Abstracts), Reaxys, Web of Science, Science of Synthesis, and Design Institute for Physical Properties, as well as hundreds of electronic scholarly journals and thousands of e-books. These resources are available through the University Libraries Web site, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ .

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry maintains suitably-equipped and well-staffed shops for glassblowing, machine work, and electronics maintenance and design. There are service laboratories equipped for organic analysis and for work in spectrophotometry; spectropolarimetry; photoelectron, nuclear magnetic, and electron spin resonance; X-ray diffraction; and mass spectrometry. Other specialized equipment is available in various laboratories. The facilities of Information Technology Services are used in numerous research programs.

Areas of Study

Graduate study in biochemistry is offered in a wide range of areas including drug metabolism; nutritive aspects of human disease; metabolic regulation; structure and function of enzymes, toxins, and contractile proteins; mechanism and regulation of protein biosynthesis; cloning, sequencing, and site-directed mutagenesis of enzyme-coding genes; enzymology of DNA repair and replication; and biochemical taxonomy. Details are available from the graduate adviser.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2013.

Hal S Alper
Eric V Anslyn
Dean R Appling
Allen J Bard
Jeffrey E Barrick
Christopher W Bielawski
Jennifer S Brodbelt
Karen S Browning
Alan Campion
James R Chelikowsky
Lydia Maria Contreras
Alan H Cowley
Richard M Crooks
Kevin N Dalby
Ananth Dodabalapur
Guangbin Dong
Ron Elber
Andrew Ellington
Walter L Fast
Ilya J Finkelstein
Richard H Finnell
George Georgiou
John B Goodenough
Marvin L Hackert
Graeme A Henkelman
David W Hoffman
James A Holcombe
Bradley J Holliday
Jon M Huibregtse
Simon M Humphrey
Brent L Iverson
Kenneth Johnson
Richard A Jones
Adrian T Keatinge-Clay
Sean M Kerwin
Michael J Krische
Robert M Krug
Alan Lambowitz
David A Laude
Seongmin Lee
Hung-Wen Liu
Philip D Magnus
Dmitrii E Makarov
Edward M Marcotte
Stephen F Martin
Andreas T Matouschek
Mikhail V Matz
Jennifer A Maynard
Edward M Mills
Charles B Mullins
Tanya T Paull
Pengyu Ren
Austen F Riggs II
Jon D Robertus
Michael Rose
Peter J Rossky
Krishnendu Roy
Rick Russell
Christine E Schmidt
Jonathan L Sessler
Jason B Shear
Dionicio R Siegel
Greg O Sitz
John F Stanton
Scott W Stevens
Keith J Stevenson
Christopher S Sullivan
David A Vandenbout
Lauren J Webb
Marvin Whiteley
Christian P Whitman
Claus O Wilke
Katherine A Willets
Carlton G Willson
Yan Zhang

Admission Requirements

Students seeking a graduate degree in biochemistry must have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in a cognate area, such as chemistry, biology, physics, or microbiology with the following preparation: mathematics through one year of calculus; chemistry, including organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry; general physics; and biology, including cell biology. Deficiencies in undergraduate courses, if not too extensive, may be corrected during the student’s first two semesters in the graduate program. These courses are usually not counted toward graduate degrees.


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