News and Publications

Year In Review - 2000

Graduate Studies Program

Jeffery Kelly, Ph.D., Acting Dean

his year marks the 11th anniversary of the creation of the Graduate Studies Program at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). Although lofty goals were delineated at the inception of the program to measure its value and success, they have been exceeded by every measure, and the program has been integrated into the very fabric of the Institute. For the second year in a row, TSRI's graduate programs were ranked by U.S. News and World Report as among the most outstanding in the United States. The ranking was based on the results of a survey sent to department heads and directors of graduate studies at universities throughout the country.

The program ranked 8th in the top 10 Ph.D. programs in chemistry, a tie with Columbia University, and with The Rockefeller University tied for 10th place in the top 10 Ph.D. programs in biological sciences. When the programs were further categorized by specialties within a scientific discipline, TSRI ranked first in bioorganic and biophysical chemistry, a tie with the California Institute of Technology, and was judged to be 7th best in organic chemistry.

Further, The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) completed its reaccreditation process last year and conferred a 10-year accreditation on the program, subject to a mid-term review. This is the maximum term granted to any institution and a significant acknowledgment of the program's evolution and adherence to the highest standards.

Over the years, the Graduate Program has enhanced its competitive edge by recruiting highly qualified students from various disciplines and with varied scientific interests. In addition, time has brought a movement to a central position -- the chemistry program has incorporated facets of the Macromolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry (MCSC) program into its curriculum and the MCSC program has taken appropriate elements from chemistry. The result has been a maturation of both programs. In addition, optional, short, independent courses have been incorporated into the MCSC program, providing special topics and methods training, such as in x-ray diffraction, statistical mechanics, special NMR techniques, immunology and virology. These courses provide for deeper forays into these topics for interested students and serve as supplemental studies to the core course work.

While research is the major component of Ph.D. programs in other institutions, the emphasis on research at TSRI is unusually strong, underscoring the synergy between the missions of both TSRI and the Graduate Program. Students in the MCSC program finish the program as well-equipped problem solvers, with nearly 70 percent entering academia upon graduation and 30 percent being recruited to work in industry. Students in the chemistry track leave with the skills to become bioorganic or synthetic chemists in academia, where approximately 40 percent of the program's graduates obtain positions, or in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, where 60 percent of the students are offered career opportunities.

This year, TSRI celebrated the conferral of doctoral degrees on 15 students. At commencement ceremonies held in May, Christopher W. Boyce, Robert M. Garbaccio, Yun He, Nicolas Winssinger, Jay P. Chiang, David S. Nirschl, A. Erik Rubin and Michael D. Burkart received a degree in Chemistry, and Andria Lee, Yuwen Wang, Melanie R. Nelson, Rachel L. Winston, Thomas K. Darlington, Amy B. Muhlberg, and Sudip S. Parikh received a degree in Macromolecular and Cellular Structure and Chemistry. Albert J. Eschenmoser, Ph.D., received the honorary doctor of science degree.

As in years past, an increasing number of students obtained financial support from a broad range of prestigious sources in government, corporations and private foundations, including: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Science Foundation, La Jolla Interfaces in Science, Medical Research Council of Canada, American Heart Association, American Chemical Society, Heiwa Nakajima Fellowship, United Negro College Fund, National Institutes of Health, National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Award, Roche Award, Hewitt Award, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Le Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche.

The Distinguished Lecturer Series hosts several prominent researchers at the forefront of the biological and chemical sciences at the Institute each year. In addition to attending formal presentations, students met with the scientists on an informal basis in a small group setting. Speakers who participated in the series this year included Kathlyn A. Parker, Brown University; William R. Roush, University of Michigan; John A. Katzenellenbogen, University of Illinois; Ken A. Dill, University of California, San Francisco; Gregory A. Petsko, Brandeis University, Alan Fersht, Cambridge University and Judith Klinman, University of California, Berkeley.

In an effort to make a contribution to the San Diego community, a group of 15 highly motivated graduate students has developed a curriculum for high school students, as well as a teacher training program under the auspices of TSRI's Science Partnership Scholars Program. Each program combines aspects of presentation, demonstration and experimentation. In addition, the graduate students serve as mentors to high school students, typically under-represented in the sciences, as they guide them through the college application process and provide counseling on careers in bioscience.

The Graduate Program held its annual retreat in September at the San Diego Paradise Point Resort on Mission Bay. Program components included two poster sessions and a series of 15-minute presentations by students. To further the interdisciplinary nature of the Graduate Program, presentations from both the MCSC and chemistry students were combined. The all day event was attended by approximately 175 students and faculty members.

TSRI's faculty maintains a strong commitment to the Graduate Program, with more than 100 professors providing instruction to 74 students in the chemistry program and 70 students in the MCSC program. They provide the leadership and expertise necessary to maintain and enhance this program that serves as a reflection of the Institute's standard for scientific excellence.