Designated Emphases

Designated Emphases

A Designated Emphasis (DE) is an area of specialization, such as a new method of inquiry, important field of application or focus that maps near the edges, or overlaps with, the traditional disciplinary boundaries that define existing Ph.D. programs. You can also think of a DE as the graduate equivalent of a minor. 

The curriculum of a DE thus tends to focus on emerging fields or technologies that are interdisciplinary in nature and, by definition, are relevant to more than one doctoral program.

The following Designated Emphases are affiliated with the College of Biological Sciences: 

• Biophotonics and Bioimaging
• This program offers specific training in fundamental principles of the interaction of light with biological organisms, tissues, cells and molecules and develops new technology for basic science and applications based on these principles in biology and medicine.
  
  Visit the program website here. 
• Biotechnology
• This program provides a very effective multidisciplinary biotechnology concentration, which includes exposure to bioethics, business and legal aspects of biotechnology as well as a 3-6 month internship in a biotechnology company or research laboratory in another college or national laboratory.
  
  Visit the program website here. 
• Reproductive Biology
• This program offers research opportunities ranging from molecular to organismal, and from basic research to applied studies in agricultural and health-related sciences. The astonishing breadth and depth of the campuses research programs in this field have created a dynamic research environment that promotes collaborative investigations and provides outstanding opportunities for graduate education.
  
  Visit the program website here. 
• Translational Research
• This program allows Ph.D. students to receive and be credited for training in the area of translational research. This training is a key component of a larger UC Davis strategy to create a multidisciplinary approach to changes how we train our basic scientist students to discover answers to medical challenges. The program provides an innovative model for training a new cadre of Ph.D. biologists for careers in clinically-relevant basic research.
  
  Visit the program website here.