Graduate Programs

Ph.D. in Plant Physiology - Legacy program as of Spring 2012

Program Overview: The Plant Physiology Ph.D. Program at the University of Kentucky is an interdisciplinary program involving faculty from four departments in the College of Agriculture. This program is nationally ranked as a top ten life science program in the the FSP Index rankings.

Application and Assistantships: Click here for application information.

Requirements: Click here to see the requirements for the Ph.D. Program in Plant Physiology.

Graduate Student Handbook: PDF last revised July 2011.

Degree Program Description: Click on the following links: Admission Requirements, Curriculum, and application information and financial support.

Alumni: Click on our Alumni Page to learn about graduates of ours like Tim Devarenne who is now on the Faculty at Texas A&M in the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Research Programs: Click here to see a list of research projects.

Contacts: You can contact our Director of Graduate Studies or click on a researcher's name below to learn about their specific program.

Plant Physiology Faculty

Douglas D. Archbold - Postharvest physiology of fruit crops
Michael Barrett - Herbicide selectivity, resistance, and metabolism
Lowell Bush - Alkaloid metabolism
Joseph Chappell - Phytoalexins and sesquiterpenes 
A. Bruce Downie - Seed biology
Robert Geneve - Production and physiology of woody perennials
David Hildebrand - Application of biotechnology to crop improvement with emphasis on food, lipid and oil quality
Robert L. Houtz - Mechanism and significance of post-translational modifications 
Arthur Hunt - Messenger RNA 3' end formation and post-transcriptional events
Luke Moe - Environmental Genomics and Biochemistry 
Sharyn E. Perry - Embryogenesis and MADS domain proteins
Christopher L. Schardl - Molecular biology and evolution of plant symbionts
Jan Smalle - Functions of the ubiquitin (Ub)/26S proteasome proteolytic pathway 
David B. Wagner - population and evolutionary biology in forest trees 
George Wagner - Pollutant metal accumulation, biochemistry and metabolism of trichomes 
Ling Yuan - Rational design of enzymes and transcription factors