Oral and Craniofacial Biomedicine

Preferred Application Deadline: December 12

Latest Application Deadline: March 21

Applicants with a doctoral or biomedical professional degree, including DDS, DMD, MD or equivalent, who wish to apply for the PhD degree in the Oral and Craniofacial Biomedicine program should apply directly through the UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate School. Candidates should apply for the fall term.

General questions may be directed to:

UNC-CH Graduate School
200A Bynum Hall
Campus Box #4010
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-4010
Phone: (919) 966-2611

The application fee must be paid in U.S. funds or through an international money order. Application fee waivers are limited to specific categories of applicants. Applications that arrive without the required fee will remain unprocessed, pending receipt of the fee. The Graduate School will send a notification of receipt of the application only after the fee has been paid and the application has been processed.

Click here for the application to the OCBM program and a list of the required materials to be submitted. 

Application Deadline: December 3

Individuals (domestic or international) without an advanced professional biomedical degree who wish to apply for the PhD degree in the curriculum in oral and craniofacial biomedicine must apply through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program.

International applicants have additional application material requirements. When requested to do so by the UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate School, international applicants must submit official academic records bearing the signature of the registrar or another academic official and either a raised or ink stamp or seal of the issuing institution. Records must be issued in the original language and be accompanied by certified English translations. International applicants must also submit verification that the degree has been awarded or a certificate of the degree award.

The cost of attending graduate school includes tuition, fees, and health insurance which must be paid during all years of study and training. Tuition and fees for the PhD program in the Adams School of Dentistry are available through the University Cashier.  Estimates for living expenses are available through the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid.

Stipends, graduate student health insurance, tuition remission, and in-state awards may be available contingent on funding.

Out-of-state students and international students with permanent resident status (“green card”) are required to establish legal residence in North Carolina and to apply for classification as a state resident for tuition purposes as soon as eligible. Failure to gain NC residency for tuition when eligible will result in the loss of tuition remission and in-state award. Guidelines and application forms for establishing residency are available from the UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate School.

Didactic Component

Since communication is important for all scientists, the program requires that students participate in discussions of research rotations and dissertation work.

These opportunities include laboratory meetings, journal clubs, weekly student seminar courses, scientific writing courses and public presentations of their research work.

Research Component

Students start laboratory rotations in their first semester to allow maximum time for research involvement.  OCBM students frequently rotate in labs outside the Adams School of Dentistry and are allowed to choose a mentor outside of the school.  This is supervised and coordinated by the program director, who will serve as advisor to all PhD candidates prior to choosing their research advisor and a research topic.

Students must select a mentor and begin selection of a dissertation topic by the end of their first year. At the end of their second year, students undergo a candidacy exam, which includes a written research proposal and an oral examination.

Students are required to publish their work in peer-reviewed journals and to present at national and/or international meetings.

Dissertation

Candidates for the PhD are required to submit a written dissertation describing original research and demonstrating the development of independent scholarship. Dissertation research is conducted under the supervision and guidance of the research advisor, a member of the faculty.