Prospective Students
What is the Graduate Traineeship?
The principal goal of the Montana - Ecology of Infectious Disease (M-EID) program is to train graduate students in interdisciplinary research, develop strong communication skills, and to work collaboratively in groups. To achieve this goal, we will focus on three major components:
- Interdisciplinary training in mathematics, computation, and biology
- Training in establishing productive collaborations, team building, and effective communication
- Professional development and career enhancement
What is the M-EID’s research focus?
Patterns and distribution of pathogens in the environment.
The focus of RA-1 is on patterns of disease (chaotic, wave, cyclic, etc.) and the influence of environmental factors (e.g. climate, pollution, physicochemical parameters) on these patterns. Trainees working in this area will have interests in spatial and temporal patterns of disease spread at landscape scales. Relevant research includes changing pathogen patterns in response to changing environments, and spread of newly introduced pathogens in an environment. Investigations in this area will require extensive use of mathematical modeling, analysis of spatial data, and visualization methods, in addition to field and laboratory experimentation.
Host-pathogen adaptations and interactions.
The focus of research in RA-2 will be on how infection affects various aspects of host biology (e.g., behavior, demographics, genetics, social systems- GP-3), and how an infected host can impact pathogen fitness (e.g., evolution, genetics, molecular biology, behavior- GP-4). Trainees working in this research area will have an interest in individual attributes and responses of microbe and host. Relevant research includes strategies and outcomes of co-adaptation of pathogen and host, and host factors that affect transmission of a pathogen. Investigation of these questions will require extensive use of experimental statistics, bioinformatics, and molecular evolutionary algorithms in addition to field and laboratory experimentation.
As a Graduate Trainee, what do I have to do?
Curriculum
Curriculum is structured to require meaningful interaction between students and mentors from different scientific disciplines to enhance understanding of complex problems related to EID.
Internship
After the second year, the Trainee will participate in a 3-6 month internship in an educational, governmental, medical, academic, or commercial organization in the United States or abroad.
