Does WashU's Department of Molecular Microbiology Offer Graduate or Training Programs?

Updated

Yes — the Department of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis trains graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, primarily through laboratory research and affiliated academic programs. The department's own pages show graduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and research technicians working in faculty labs, and they reference at least one formal graduate program: the Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program (PMB). For admission requirements, deadlines, and degree tracks, the authoritative source is WashU's graduate school rather than the department page alone.

What the department's pages show about training

The site's own captions and faculty listings name people at several career stages working inside departmental labs:

  • Graduate students — for example, a Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program (PMB) graduate student working in the Stallings lab, and PhD students in the Wang and Lopez labs.
  • Postdoctoral research associates — named in the Stallings lab and in the Sibley lab.
  • Research technicians and research associates — also listed among lab members.
  • Visiting researchers and instructors — shown collaborating on projects such as cellular assays.

This mix indicates the department functions as a research training environment, not just a faculty directory.

How training is structured

Training at this department happens mainly in two overlapping ways:

  1. Lab-based research. Students and postdocs join individual faculty labs and work on that lab's projects — for example, virology, parasitology (such as Leishmania and Cryptosporidium), and gut microbiome research. The page evidence shows labs studying viruses, parasites, and host–microbe relationships.
  2. Formal academic programs. The clearest program reference on the page is the Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program (PMB), which places graduate students into departmental labs. This suggests microbiology training is embedded in broader bioscience graduate programs rather than existing only as a standalone department degree.

What to check before applying

The department page describes people and research, not admissions logistics. To get decision-ready information, go to the university's graduate school and the specific program:

  • Program requirements and deadlines — confirm through the graduate school or the PMB program page, not the department homepage.
  • Degree tracks — verify whether you'd apply through a umbrella biosciences program (common at WashU) or a department-specific route.
  • Faculty availability — lab training depends on a specific faculty member accepting students, so identify labs whose research matches your interests before applying.
  • Funding and stipend details — these are set by the graduate program, and the department page does not state them.

A practical next step

If your goal is to join as a graduate student or postdoc, treat the department page as a research-and-people directory: identify faculty whose work fits you (virology, parasitology, microbiome, etc.), then confirm the formal application path through WashU's graduate school or the relevant program. That two-step approach avoids relying on the department page for details it doesn't provide.