Chemical Biology, PhD

Admission Requirements

Students interested in pursuing multidisciplinary research to gain a broad perspective in chemistry and biology are encouraged to apply to the Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) PhD program. The CBI Program spans departments in Johns Hopkins University’s schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Health.

Selected applicants will be asked to visit Johns Hopkins University for an interview. The CBI Program will arrange for meetings with faculty and students, and conduct tours of the facilities and community. Additional admissions information can be found here.

Application Instructions

To apply to the CBI Program, applicants will need to submit:

• An online application for the Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) PhD
• An unofficial undergraduate transcript
• Statement of purpose
• Three (3) letters of recommendation

In addition, the general GRE along with one of the following subject tests are optional but may be submitted:

• Biochemistry
• Cell and Molecular Biology
• Biology
• Chemistry

International Applicants

A training grant from the National Institutes of Health provides support for our students during their first year in the graduate program at the Chemistry-Biology Interface. However, the NIH limits this to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. International students who are interested in applying to this program must secure an outside grant or fellowship.

Vivien Thomas PhD Scholars

The Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative (VTSI) is an endowed fellowship program at Johns Hopkins for STEM PhD students. It provides full tuition, stipend, benefits, targeted mentoring, and professional development. Students who have attended a historically black college and university or other minority serving institution for undergraduate study are eligible. Click here to view more information about VTSI.

There is no additional application. To be considered for the VTSI, all components of the PhD application - including supplemental components, special VTSI questions, and letters of recommendation - must be completed according to the VTSI guidelines even if the CBI program's application deadline is later.

Relocation Funds for Incoming Graduate Students

We recognize that it can be financially burdensome to relocate to a new city to attend a PhD program. Students who are accepted to PhD programs at JHU can apply to receive a $1,500 need-based grant to offset the costs of relocating to JHU.

These grants provide funding to a portion of incoming students who, without this money, may otherwise not be able to afford to relocate to JHU for their PhD program.

This is not a merit-based grant. Applications will be evaluated solely based on financial need.

Click here for more information.

Program Requirements

In addition to completing an original research thesis, all Johns Hopkins University PhD candidates are required to pass the Graduate Board oral exam. CBI students are required to meet the following additional requirements:

• Present and defend an original research proposal in the CBI Forum during the fall semester of the second year in residence
• Complete 3 research rotations in the first year in residence
• Complete 6 graduate-level courses 

CBI Forum (AS.030.613/AS.030.614)

CBI students and faculty meet monthly in a forum. The forum hosts:

• CBI preceptor presentations (fall semester)
• First-year student rotation presentations (throughout the year)
• Third-year research proposal Seminars (fall semester)
• Advanced-year student research updates (spring semester)
• Seminars presented by distinguished visitors (throughout the year)

Third-Year Research Proposal Seminar

Third-year CBI students will prepare and present a research proposal in an area that is unrelated to their dissertation research. The research proposal will help students develop the critical reading, grant proposal writing, and presentation skills that will enhance their success as a research scientist.

Courses

CBI graduate students are required to complete six graduate-level courses. Typically, these are completed during the first year at Johns Hopkins. 

Required Courses

CBI students are required to take AS.030.619 Chemical Biology I and AS.030.620 Chemical Biology II during their first year at Johns Hopkins.

All CBI students are required to register for CBI Forum - AS.030.613 Chemistry-Biology Interface Program Forum I and AS.030.614 Chemical-Biology Program Interface Forum II - every semester during their graduate career. Students are also required to complete AS.360.625 Responsible Conduct of Research. Additionally, an introduction to data analysis and experimental rigor is required and can be satisfied by either AS.250.622 Statistics, Data Analysis, and Reproducibility or PH.140.615 Statistics for Laboratory Scientists I and a course entitled “Reading, Writing, Proposing Science” (AS.030.624) is required in the 3rd semester. CBI Forum, RCR, Data Analysis, & Reading, Writing, & Proposing Science do not count toward the eight required courses. 

Selecting Courses

With the help of a faculty advisory committee, students select the remaining six courses based on their personal academic interests. At least two of these courses must be offered by departments other than the Department of Chemistry, and two must be chosen from the list of Foundation Courses.

Foundation Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
AS.030.449	Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds	3
AS.030.453	Intermediate Quantum Chemistry	3
AS.030.601	Statistical Mechanics	3
AS.030.625	Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry I	3
AS.030.626	Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry II	3
AS.030.677	Advanced Organic Synthesis I	3
AS.030.678	Advanced Organic Synthesis II	3
AS.250.685	Proteins & Nucleic Acids	3
AS.250.689	Physical Chemistry of Biological Macromolecules	3

Representative Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Biology
AS.020.312	Introduction to the Human Brain	3
or AS.020.612	Introduction to the Human Brain
AS.020.630	Human Genetics	3
AS.020.686	Advanced Cell Biology	3
Biophysics
AS.250.622	Statistics, Data Analysis, and Reproducibility	1
AS.250.649	Introduction to Computing in Biology	2
Chemistry
AS.030.405	Introduction to Computational Chemistry	3
AS.030.441	Spectroscopic Methods of Organic Structure Determination	3
AS.030.442	Organometallic Chemistry	3
AS.030.623	Molecular Synthetic Biology	3
AS.030.648	Biocatalysis: Fundamentals, Recent Advances, and Industrial Applications	3
AS.030.681	Nucleic Acids: Fundamental Chemistry and Applications	1.5
Engineering/ChemBE
EN.510.436	Biomaterials for Cell Engineering	3
or EN.510.636	Biomaterials for Cell Engineering
EN.510.621	Misfolding diseases and the thermodynamics of protein folding	3
EN.540.405	Modern Data Analysis and Machine Learning for ChemBEs	3
or EN.540.605	Modern Data Analysis and Machine Learning for ChemBEs
EN.540.614	Computational Protein Structure Prediction and Design	3
EN.540.622	Introduction to Polymeric Materials	3
EN.540.628	Supramolecular Materials and Nanomedicine	3
EN.540.635	Software Carpentry	3
EN.540.637	Application of Molecular Evolution to Biotechnology	3
School of Medicine
ME.100.716	Analysis of Macromolecules	2
ME.110.728	Cell Structure and Dynamics	1.5
ME.200.707	Drug Discovery Case Studies	1.5
ME.260.709	Molecular Biology and Genomics	1.5
ME.260.812	Great Experiments in Biology	1
ME.330.707	Graduate Pharmacology I	2
ME.330.709	Organic Mechanisms in Biology	2
ME.330.712		1
ME.330.715	Graduate Pharmacology II	2
ME.330.804	Role of Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry in Biomedical Research	1
ME.340.711	Bacterial Cell Biology and Development	1
ME.340.712	Bacterial Signaling and Communities	1
ME.360.728	Pathways and Regulation	2
PH.120.600	Biochemistry I: Protein Structure and Enzyme Catalysis	3
School of Public Health
PH.120.601	Biochemistry II: Major Metabolic Pathways	5
PH.120.602	Concepts of Molecular Biology	4
PH.120.603	Molecular Biology of Pandemic Influenza	3
PH.120.608	Gene Editing, Therapy and Manipulation	3
PH.120.613	Nucleic Acid Chemistry	3
PH.120.620	Fundamentals of Reproductive Biology	3
PH.120.622	Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Reproduction	4
PH.120.624	Cancer Biology	3
PH.120.626	Principles of Cell Biology	3
PH.120.627	Stem Cells and the Biology of Aging and Disease	3
PH.140.615	Statistics for Laboratory Scientists I	4
PH.140.636	Scalable Computational Bioinformatics	4
PH.140.651	Methods in Biostatistics I	4
PH.187.610	Public Health Toxicology	4
PH.187.632	Molecular Toxicology	4
PH.222.651	Nutrients in Biological Systems	2
PH.260.611	Principles of Immunology I	4
PH.260.612	Principles of Immunology II	3
PH.260.623	Fundamental Virology	4
PH.260.627	Pathogenesis of Bacterial Infections	4
PH.260.633	Autoimmune Diseases of the Endocrine Glands	4