The purpose of the Doctoral Program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences (EITS) is to provide students with excellent training in a basic science discipline and training and credentials in environmental and integrative toxicological sciences. Students accepted into one of several partnering disciplinary Doctor of Philosophy degree programs (e.g., biochemistry and molecular biology, genetics) may apply subsequently for admission to the environmental and integrative toxicological sciences program. Students who complete this multidisciplinary course of study earn the Ph.D. degree in a basic science discipline with a dual major in environmental toxicology.
The disciplinary programs that cooperate with the environmental and integrative toxicological sciences program are listed below. Each is represented by training faculty affiliated with Michigan State University’s Institute for Integrative Toxicology, through which the Doctoral Program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences is administered. The program allows students substantial flexibility in choosing areas of study. Each student’s course of study is planned with that individual’s particular interests, capabilities, and professional goals in mind. For each multidisciplinary doctoral program, the student must meet the requirements for the partnering disciplinary program and the requirements for the environmental toxicology dual major.
In partial fulfillment of the environmental toxicology major, the student must complete either the environmental toxicology track, the food toxicology and ingredient safety track, or the biomedical toxicology track. Course requirements for the biomedical toxicology track are designed for doctoral students in biomedical disciplines. The food toxicology and ingredient safety track requires courses in toxicology and risk assessment and regulation of food-borne ingredients. Course requirements for the environmental toxicology track are designed for doctoral students in engineering, chemistry and other fields who may have less background in mammalian biology. When all requirements for the degree have been met, both the chairperson of the department or program that administers the student’s disciplinary major and the director of the Doctoral Program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences program will recommend the student for the degree.
Where course requirements for a disciplinary major and for the environmental toxicology major overlap, a given course may be counted toward both requirements.
In addition to meeting the requirements of the university and of the department and college in which the student is enrolled, the student must meet the requirements specified below.
Admission
A student must be accepted for graduate study in one of the departments or programs listed below before applying for admission to the Doctoral Program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences. Admission requires the approval of the environmental and integrative toxicological sciences graduate committee and the program director. A student seeking admission must have earned at least a bachelor’s degree; have completed, with a minimum grade–point average of 3.0, sufficient credits in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences to indicate probable success in the program; and have a thesis project related to toxicology, and guidance committee members affiliated with the Institute for Integrative Toxicology. In special cases, an applicant with deficiencies in background courses may be admitted on a provisional basis. Students admitted on a provisional basis will not be considered for an advanced degree until they have fulfilled the provisional requirements.
Guidance Committee
At least two members of the student’s guidance committee must be faculty affiliated with the Institute for Integrative Toxicology. At least one member of the committee must be from a department or disciplinary program other than the one that administers the student’s disciplinary major.
Requirements for the Environmental Toxicology Component of the Doctoral Program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences
- The topic of the Ph.D. dissertation research must be in the broad area of environmental and integrative toxicological sciences and be acceptable to the environmental and integrative toxicological sciences faculty.
- The student must complete the requirements for one of the three tracks with a grade–point average of at least 3.0.
- The student must attend and participate in seminars in toxicological sciences.
The multidepartmental doctoral programs in environmental toxicology are listed below by the units that administer them:
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Department of Animal Science
Animal Science–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
Crop and Soil Sciences–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Fisheries and Wildlife–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Food Science–Environmental Toxicology
Human Nutrition-Environmental Toxicology
Department of Forestry
Forestry–Environmental Toxicology
College of Natural Science
Cell and Molecular Biology–Environmental Toxicology
Genetics and Genome Sciences–Environmental Toxicology
Neuroscience-Environmental Toxicology
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Chemistry
Chemistry–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Environmental Geosciences–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Integrative Biology
Integrative Biology–Environmental Toxicology
Department of Physiology
Physiology–Environmental Toxicology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology–Environmental Toxicology
Microbiology–Environmental Toxicology
Pathobiology–Environmental Toxicology
Pharmacology and Toxicology–Environmental Toxicology