Doctoral Studies
Although the various CUNY senior colleges do not grant doctoral degrees, PhD students who enroll at the CUNY Graduate Center can conduct their dissertation research under the advisement of QC Biology faculty members.
Most PhD students in QC Biology labs are enrolled in one of four PhD Biology subprograms: Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (EEB); Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCD); Neuroscience; and Plant Sciences. However, some enrol in other PhD Programs, notably Psychology (Subprograms in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience; and Cognition and Comparative Psychology), Biochemistry, or Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Please refer to the Bulletin of the Graduate Center for information on applying, financial aid, and courses.
The QC Biology Department has excellent research facilities, including the Core Facility for Imaging, Cellular and Molecular Biology, well-equipped research labs, a greenhouse, animal facilities, cold-room and environmental control units, marine and fresh-water aquaria, scanning and transmission electron microscopes, and computer access. Our doctoral faculty do research across a wide range of topics and in a wide variety of systems around the world, as exemplified by the work of Dr Sebastian Alvarado (see photo and caption at right).
Matthew Peroš, at left, is doing his PhD with Dr Alvarado, studying Africa’s endemic cichlids. Here, he and his local field assistant, Thomas (at right) are photographing Astatotilapia burtoni in Zambia’s Lake Tanganyika to investigate how cichlids’ colors change with seasons.
Opportunities are enhanced by affiliation with other New York City (NYC) institutions and cooperative efforts with other CUNY divisions and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). PhD-level courses can be taken at the Graduate Center, QC or any other CUNY college affiliated with the Graduate Center (Brooklyn College, City College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Lehman College). Four other institutions in the NYC area are associated with the CUNY PhD program in Biology, including the AMNH, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, and The New York Botanical Garden. Our faculty and doctoral students collaborate and interact with researchers at academic and other research institutions in NYC, elsewhere in the United States and abroad. Queens College is near many habitats in urban, forest, freshwater, brackish, coastal and marine ecosystems.
All CUNY PhD students receive guaranteed financial support (stipend and full tuition) for five years. This financial support is covered by the CUNY Graduate Center in year 1 (when PhD students mainly take classes) and by the faculty mentor and campus in subsequent years. Consult other relevant PhD programs for their policies.
Below are links to CUNY PhD subprograms that QC Biology faculty are affiliated with.
Ecology/Evolution/Behavior
Sebastian Alvarado
Mitchell Baker
Joanna Coleman
John Dennehy
David Lahti
John Waldman
Molecular/Cell/Developmental Biology
Sebastian Alvarado
John Dennehy
Tim Dubuc
Alicia Meléndez
Cathy Savage-Dunn
Maral Tajerian
Daniel Weinstein
Neuroscience Subprogram
Sebastian Alvarado
Maral Tajerian
Biochemistry PhD Program
Karl Fath
Alicia Meléndez
Daniel Weinstein
Psychology PhD Program
David Lahti