The Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology program was the first interdepartmental degree program at the University of Florida. Established in 1991, the PMCB Program was conceived by two faculty members who were based in different departments, but their work shared common elements.

Dr. Indra Vasil in the Fruit Crops department and Dr. William Gurley in the Microbiology department were both interested in the cutting edge technologies being developed and used on plants. They invited several faculty members to start a new degree program that would allow graduate students to share resources from seven different departments including Agronomy, Botany, Environmental Horticulture, Forestry, Horticultural Sciences, Microbiology and Plant Pathology.

PMCB faculty members do not get additional salary and still have a regular department to answer to. Joining the PMCB program means additional faculty meetings and additional responsibility, but the opportunity to work with fellow genetic based researchers is the reward. Many PMCB faculty members apply for grants as a group, and work on joint projects.

Graduate students admitted to the program are able to choose advisors and committees from the PMCB faculty. The PMCB program offers new students something that few other departments or programs can. Incoming PMCB graduate students get to rotate through at least 3 different labs during their first year. This gives them a chance to learn more about a potential advisor’s work and to get hands-on experience in the lab. In most programs, you go directly into a faculty member’s lab without having the chance to explore any options. Finding the right advisor can impact a student for the rest of their lives. The PhD program takes 5 years on average, so it’s best to spend it with someone the student matches up with both professionally and on a personal level.

The curriculum was set up with few core courses and a wide variety of electives from the seven departments. Students can then tailor their degree and program of study. Students can also specialize within or between different disciplines, making PMCB one of the most flexible and comprehensive degree options available. Today there are 32 faculty members and 31 graduate students that comprise the PMCB program, according to the PMCB 2002-2003 annual report. While the PMCB program is based at UF in Gainesville, Florida, they also take an interest in global issues and bring in international speakers to keep abreast of what is current in biotechnology. The PMCB program also has 13 international students from 11 different countries.

• Individually tailored program of study
• Excellent research facilities
• Funding available for every student
• Stuff that I end up doing for my students such as-
• Advising their Graduate Club
• Keeping a candy bowl filled year round.
• Taking lonely first year students to my mom's house for Thanksgiving
• Spending hours on the phone helping them get football tickets