Offered through the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics  graduate program.  

Entrance requirements

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, appropriate and adequate course work, and an average of B or better in the junior and senior years or an excellent postgraduate record at another institution. Provisional admission may occur when there are limited deficiencies in undergraduate course work that can be removed by course work taken at Kansas State University or when there is uncertainty in evaluation of transcripts, as may occur in the case of international students. In the latter case, removal of the provisional status occurs upon the accumulation of 9 hours of course work with a B or better average.

Undergraduate and postgraduate credits should include analytical, organic, and physical chemistry, calculus, physics, and a semester of biology including a laboratory. Physical chemistry may be completed as part of an M.S. or Ph.D. program, but all other deficiencies must be completed without graduate credit. No foreign language is required.

All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Exam and submit their scores with the application.

International students

A minimal score of 550 on the written Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL (IBT) is required for admission to the Graduate School for any student whose native language is not English. Because beginning graduate students in biochemistry are appointed as combined teaching/research assistants, a Test of Spoken English (TSE) score of 50 of 60 is required by the Kansas Board of Regents. The test may be taken in the U.S. or abroad.

Degree Requirements

The Graduate School requires at least three years of two semesters each of graduate study (equivalent to 90 semester hours) beyond the bachelor’s degree and a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Approximately 30 to 40 hours of course work are required for the Ph.D. in addition to research for a satisfactory dissertation. Students already holding an applicable master’s degree upon admission can count 30 credits toward the 90 credits required for the doctorate.

In addition to the required biochemistry courses, 10 credit hours of biology courses are required, and advanced chemistry or physics courses are encouraged. Two credits must be obtained in the Graduate Biochemistry Seminar (BIOCH 806 ). 

Admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. requires satisfactory performance in the two core biochemistry courses, and defense of a research proposal on a topic selected by the student in consultation with their supervisory committee. This defense serves as the preliminary examination for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D.