Welcome!

The Department of Cell and Systems Biology (CSB) is strongly committed to providing excellent graduate programs that train and mentor students in the fields of Cell, Molecular and Systems Biology. The department fulfills this commitment by maintaining and enhancing a world-class research, learning and training environment to ensure successful, rigorous, and internationally-recognised graduate education and research. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the fields in the CSB graduate programs, exposure to a breadth of research areas and approaches are a key component of the graduate programs. Graduate students in CSB use state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge approaches throughout their graduate program. This includes participating in the best of functional genomics, genetics, metabolomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, computational biology, cell biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, and physiology research.

The Department of Cell and Systems Biology offers a master’s program leading to the degree of Master of Science (MSc) and a doctoral program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

The MSc in CSB provides ideal training for career paths in education, business and policy where science-based decision-making and the interpretation and transmission of scientific information is becoming increasingly important, particularly in many of the “knowledge-based” economies that are emerging the world over. The MSc program trains scientists that are well suited to fill this demand. The objective of the MSc program is to provide students with skills in the generation, critical evaluation, assessment and communication of data so that they are equipped to proceed with further post-graduate degrees, or other career opportunities where such skills are desired.

The CSB PhD program trains scientists who will form part of the next generation of independent researchers in cell, molecular and systems biology. Graduates of the CSB PhD program will be the future high-level teachers, frontier-expanders, and decision-makers in these fields of inquiry. In keeping with this, PhD graduates are expected to emerge from the program as independent and autonomous scientists, producing a written thesis that describes original research that stands as a testimony to their ability to generate publishable, stand-alone contributions to the peer-reviewed scientific literature. As part of their training, PhD students acquire skills in the communication of scientific research (including teaching skills), and acquire broad-based knowledge of the theory and practice underpinning their chosen field.