Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program (IGEP) in Infectious Disease

Leadership | Co-directors

Steering Committee

Affiliated Faculty

At the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens is an interdisciplinary and growing network of more than 100 Virginia Tech faculty from seven of Virginia Tech’s Colleges:

• College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
• College of Engineering
• College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
• College of Natural Resources & Environment
• College of Science
• Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
  
• Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Complete the graduate school application for the ID IGEP program and indicate your top choices for faculty mentors: CeZAP Faculty List

To apply click here.
The link above will take you to the Virginia Tech Graduate School application, which you will need to fill out. When you come to the place where you are asked to indicate “Program of Study”, please select “Infectious Disease IGEP” from the drop-down list.

Graduate School IGEP Booklet

Information about ID IGEP program-specific requirements:

• A holistic approach will be used to review applicants
• 3.0 GPA or higher required
• GRE not required, but TOEFL required for non-native English-speaking applicants
• Letters of recommendation required (those from academic or research mentors are particularly helpful)
• Applicants should indicate in their personal statement their top choice(s) of research mentors and the college affiliation of those individuals
• Applicants are encouraged to reach out directly to potential faculty mentors via Email or phone

This is not a degree-granting program. Degrees are awarded through the department of the research mentor.

Application review will begin December 1, annually.

Students will be guaranteed funding through their first academic year from their home college. Funding thereafter may come from external grants to their advisor, teaching assistantships, student-initiated grant proposals, or other funding sources, but the home college and advisor will have committed to providing continuing funding beyond the first academic year, contingent on satisfactory student progress.

Students may enter the program in two ways:

1. Complete three rotations during their first semester on campus in three different laboratories; all three laboratories must be within the single college that is funding the student. Students should indicate the college of greatest interest, based on the student’s top laboratory interest(s).

2. Select a primary laboratory to join directly, but with the opportunity to complete two complementary interdisciplinary training periods in two other laboratories within CEZAP as determined through discussions with the major advisor during the first semester.

Enrollment in a first-semester infectious disease overview course, “Topics in Infectious Disease” will be required.

Enrollment and full participation in the CeZAP Distinguished Speakers Seminar Series will be required.

Once students join a research group under a specific PI, they become affiliated with the department and college of the PI. The student will therefore take additional courses required by their home college/department/lab and will have all of the same rights and responsibilities as other students in their home department.

Research Symposium

Course (details forthcoming)

Click here for ID IGEP CeZAP News

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