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Ph.D. Program at the INSTITUTE OF LIFE SCIENCES (Associate Institute of the

University of Hyderabad)

The Ph.D. program at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) will provide students with

opportunities for original research in modern biology and chemistry. The uniquely designed

coursework is designed to provide cross-disciplinary education in specific areas of chemistry and

biology, to develop capability in true interdisciplinary research. The long-term vision of the ILS

Ph.D. program is to nurture future generations of scientists in India with the ability to innovate at

the interface of chemistry and biology.

Ph.D. admission to ILS is contingent on students qualifying in the NET examination for JRF

conducted by CSIR, DBT or ICMR. Qualified candidates will be required to appear for two

rounds of interview. The final selection will be based on an overall assessment of the candidates.

Ph.D. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Biochemistry or Biotechnology will be offered. Studentsadmitted to the Ph.D. program have to undertake courses of 12 credits in one year and must pass

all of them with an aggregate score of 60%. The teaching philosophy at ILS is to create a

student-centric and flexible course curriculum, taught by interactive and discussion-based

sessions.

The courses are as follows:

1. Introductory Chemistry or Biology (Cross-disciplinary) (3 credits): A basic cross-disciplinary course in which biology students will be expected to learn basic chemistry,

and chemistry students will be expected to learn basic biology.2. Advanced Chemistry or Biology (3 credits): An advanced course in which students will

be expected to understand concepts in detail within their own disciplines (chemistry and

biology).

3. Introductory Seminar Series (1.5 credits): A common seminar course in which allstudents will be expected to acquire the fundamentals of critically reading, analyzing and

presenting research articles.

4. Chemical Biology (3 credits): An advanced course in which all students will be expectedto gain an appreciation of the interfacial field of chemical biology, utilizing specific

examples from published literature.

5. Advanced Seminar Series (1.5 credits): A common advanced seminar course in which allstudents will be expected to critically analyze and present a review of contemporary

journal articles.

[One credit is defined as one 50-minute learning session per week for 15 weeks]

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Students are expected to provide a priority list of three faculty members as potential mentors for

their Ph.D. dissertation work. The final assignment of students to specific labs will be based on

the decision of the faculty members. Students will be required to write and orally defend their

major research proposal within one year after the course work ends. Students carry out their

work under the supervision of their mentor and the advice of a four-member doctoral committee.Participation in research seminars and submission of yearly progress reports of research work is

required. The scholar presents the research work in a comprehensive seminar before the

submission of the thesis. Award of Ph.D. by the University of Hyderabad will be based on the

recommendation of the doctoral committee.

Course Framework

Credits Courses

3

3

1.5

ntroductory Chemistry/Biology

dvanced Chemistry/Biology

ntroductory Seminar

Cross-Discipline

Same Discipline

Common

3

1.5

Chemical Biology

dvanced Seminar

Common

Common

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Coursework Topics

Subject Topics Hours

Introductory Biology Principles of Evolution, Genetics, Biochemistry, Molecular

Biology, Cell Biology, Immunology, Microbiology,

Structural Biology, Pharmacology and Drug Discovery.

40

Advanced Chemistry Reagents for Organic Synthesis, Reaction Mechanisms,

Synthesis of Natural Products, Asymmetric Synthesis,

High-Throughput Organic Synthesis, Organometallics in

Synthesis, Spectroscopy, Medicinal Chemistry, Crystal

Engineering, Cycloadditions/Electrocyclic Reactions.

40

Introductory Chemistry Types of Reactions, Reaction Mechanisms,

Stereochemistry, Chemical Kinetics and Thermodynamics,

Enzyme Kinetics and Catalysis, Spectroscopy, Natural

Products, Bio-Organic Chemistry, CombiChem/DOS,

Introductory QM/MM/QC/QSAR.

40

Advanced Biology Developmental Biology, Receptors and Ion Channels,

Signal Transduction, Cancer Signalling, Metabolic

Disorders, Transcription & Translation, Epigenetic

regulation, Protein function and regulation, Bacterial Cell-

Cell communication, Microbiology of neglected diseases.

40

Introductory Seminar Student presentations of faculty-selected research articles,

aimed at introducing experimental design, analysis and

reporting in chemistry and biology.

30

Chemical Biology Case-studies from published literature exploring the

chemical biology of Metabolic disorders, G-protein coupled

receptors, tyrosine phosphorylation, histone acetylation, and

protein-protein interactions in signalling.

40

Advanced Seminar Student presentations of student-selected research articles

with critical appraisal & analysis, and aimed at a common

audience of chemists and biologists.

30