Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics is the science of creating new and improved plant varieties that are higher yielding, more disease resistant, more nutritious, or simply of greater ornamental value. The Institute faculty actively engage in training of graduate students, the development of new crop varieties, and basic research on the genetics and understanding of crop traits important to agriculture and human kind. The Institute has a strong philosophy that modern plant breeding should be integrated with modern genomics and biotechnology to achieve maximum efficiency.
The Institute for Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics has been approved at the University of Georgia as an interdepartmental organization to coordinate and enhance the various plant improvement research efforts on campus. The Institute will offer MS and PhD in Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics. The curricula for these degrees have been specifically designed to train students in plant breeding or in supporting areas of plant genetics and genomics, taking advantage of all the latest technological developments in the field.
Director of Graduate Studies: Esther van der Knaap esthervanderknaap@uga.edu 706-542-4682 Administrative Manager: Stacey Gay pbgg@uga.edu 703-542-5607
PHD (MS already earned): 30 credit hours PHD (no prior MS): 36 credit hours
Meeting the admission criteria Preferably have a GPA of at least 3.5 for the Doctoral degree. Foreign applicants have to take the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language); minimum scores for this test are 80 for the internet-based test (with minimum of 20 on the speaking and 20 on the writing portion), 213 for the computer-based test and 530 for the paper-based test The availability of a faculty member able to serve as Major Professor The availability of assistantship funds
| PBGG(CRSS) 6000 | Plant Breeding Practicum | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8140 | Advanced Plant Breeding | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8860 | Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics Communication Seminar | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8861 | Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics Research Seminar | 1 |
| PBGG 9000 (min. 6 hours) | Doctoral Research | 1-18 |
| PBGG 9300 | Doctoral Dissertation | 1-9 |
Choose 1 course(s) from the following:
| PBGG(CRSS) 8890 | Plant Cytogenetics: Behavior and Evolution of the Plant Genome | 3 |
| PBIO 8100 | Plant Genetics | 4 |
Choose 1 course(s) from the following:
| CRSS(PBGG) 8010 | Research Methods and Design for Crop Science | 3 |
| PBIO(PATH) 8250 | Experimental Design and Analysis in Field Plant Biology | 3 |
| STAT 8200 | Design of Experiments for Research Workers | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 4140/6140 | Plant Breeding | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS) 6000 | Plant Breeding Practicum | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8140 | Advanced Plant Breeding | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8860 | Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics Communication Seminar | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8861 | Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics Research Seminar | 1 |
| PBGG 9000 (min. 6 hours) | Doctoral Research | 1-18 |
| PBGG 9300 | Doctoral Dissertation | 1-9 |
Choose 1 course(s) from the following:
| PBGG(CRSS) 8890 | Plant Cytogenetics: Behavior and Evolution of the Plant Genome | 3 |
| PBIO 8100 | Plant Genetics | 4 |
Choose 1 course(s) from the following:
| FANR 6750-6750D | Experimental Methods in Forestry and Natural Resources Research | 4 |
| STAT 6315 | Statistical Methods for Researchers | 4 |
Choose 1 course(s) from the following:
| CRSS(PBGG) 8010 | Research Methods and Design for Crop Science | 3 |
| PBIO(PATH) 8250 | Experimental Design and Analysis in Field Plant Biology | 3 |
| STAT 8200 | Design of Experiments for Research Workers | 3 |
| PBGG(HORT) 8102 | Ornamental Genomics | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8870 | Translational Genomics | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT)(PBIO) 8871 | Genome Analysis and Comparative Genomics | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT)(PBIO) 8872 | QTL Mapping and Discovery | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8873 | Biotech Breeding | 2 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8874 | Genomic Selection | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT)(PBIO) 8875 | Genome-wide Association in Plants | 1 |
| PBGG(CRSS) 8880 | Plant Quantitative Genetics and Molecular Breeding | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS)(HORT) 8900 | Emerging Topics in Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics | 1-3 |
| PBGG 9980 | Graduate Internship in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics | 1-3 |
| FANR(BINF)(GENE) 8140 | Functional Genomics | 3 |
| HORT(ECOL)(PBGG) 8390 | Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources | 3 |
| PBGG(CRSS) 8890 | Plant Cytogenetics: Behavior and Evolution of the Plant Genome | 3 |
| PBIO 8100 | Plant Genetics | 4 |
| PBIO(GENE)(PATH)(BCMB)(MIBO) 8960 | Genetics of Yeast and Filamentous Fungi | 3 |
| HORT 8104 | Advanced Plant Physiology | 4 |
| HORT 8150 | Plant Growth and Development | 3 |
| PATH 6280-6280L | Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases | 4 |
| PATH 8240-8240L | Plant Nematology | 4 |
| PATH 8400 | Host-Pathogen Interactions | 3 |
| PATH(PBGG) 8910 | Genetics of Host Plant Resistance to Disease | 3 |
| BCMB(BINF) 8210 | Computational Methods in Bioinformatics | 3 |
| BINF(BCMB) 4005/6005 | Essential Computing Skills for Biologists | 2 |
| BINF(PBIO) 4550/6550 | Concepts in Bioinformatics and Omics | 3 |
| BINF 6003 | Introduction to Computer Programming for Biologists | 1 |
| BINF(MIBO)(BCMB) 8211E | Advanced Methods for Biological Data Analyses | 3 |
| BINF 8441E | Statistical Inference for the Life Sciences | 3 |
| BINF 8950 | Systems Biology | 3 |
| CRSS(PBGG) 8010 | Research Methods and Design for Crop Science | 3 |
| PBIO(PATH) 8250 | Experimental Design and Analysis in Field Plant Biology | 3 |
| STAT 4360/6360 | Statistical Software Programming | 3 |
| STAT 8090 | Statistical Analysis of Genetic Data | 3 |
| STAT 8200 | Design of Experiments for Research Workers | 3 |
| BCMB 8010 | Advanced Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | 4 |
| GENE 8920 | Nucleic Acids | 3 |
| GENE 8930 | Advanced Molecular Genetics | 3 |
| GENE(BINF) 8940 | Applied Genome Analysis | 3 |
| ALDR 7500E | Leading Team and Organizational Development | 3 |
| CRSS 7990 | Supervised Teaching Practicum in Crop and Soil Sciences | 1-3 |
| EDHI 9010 | Academic Programs in Higher Education | 3 |
| GENE 8650 | Responsible Science | 1 |
| GRSC 7770 | Graduate Teaching Seminar | 1-3 |
| GRSC 7800 | College Teaching and Student Learning | 3 |
| GRSC 7900 | Designing Courses for Significant Learning | 3 |
| GRSC 7950 | Developing an Academic Teaching Portfolio | 1 |
| GRSC 8510 | Professional Development for Integrated Plant Sciences (IPS) Students | 1 |
| GRSC 8550 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 1 |
| PBGG 9980 | Graduate Internship in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics | 1-3 |
| PBGG 9990 | Supervised Teaching Practicum in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics | 1-3 |
| PBIO 8200 | Grant Writing with a Focus on Plants and Microbes | 2 |
| PBIO 8820 | Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology Seminar | 1-2 |
| PBIO 8930 | Science Writing for General Audiences | 3 |
| GRSC 7001 | GradFIRST: First-year Research and Scholarship Training Seminar | 1 |
Select additional courses, as needed, in consultation with an advisor to meet the minimum number of required credit hours for this program.
Ph.D. students can only transfer 9 graduate course credits from another institution after beginning at UGA.
PBGG Travel Awards Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship Award Roger and Cindy Boerma Plant Breeding Excellence Scholarship Award Peggy Ozias-Akins Leadership in Science Award E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research NAPB Borlaug Scholars Program FFAR Fellowship
John Ingle Innovation in Plant Breeding Awards
PBGG Graduate Student Association leadership Planning committees for yearly PBGG Retreat and Boerma Lecture Series Plant Center Symposium Student recruitment activities and organization through PBGG and IPS Soft skills workshops
PBGG Graduate Student Association
MS, Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics PHD, Plant Breeding Genetics and Genomics