Graduate Advising

The graduate office

The Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Office is here for you! You can find us in Welch 2.218, or phone 471-3890. You can expect to receive the following assistance from us:

  • information about degree requirements and academic policies and procedures
  • advice about course selection
  • assessment of your academic progress
  • assistance with registration problems

Please feel free to drop by any time to discuss any aspect of your graduate degree experience.

Graduate Office
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station A5300
Austin, TX 78712-0165
Phone: 512-471-3890
Toll-Free phone: 866-471-3890
Fax: 512-475-8839

What to register for? Tips and suggestions

Register for all your UT courses online using your UT EID.

Useful links:

**NOTE: As always, please feel free to drop by the chemistry and biochemistry graduate office to discuss your registration plans and problems.**

First Year Chemistry Graduate Students

  • You will begin taking your six graded courses for your degree requirement. These six graded courses must be from three different areas of science, including the five areas of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, physical), physics, pharmacy, molecular biology, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, math, etc. Typically, you would register for one or two graded courses per semester, but you may also load up with three graded courses per semester. Remember, you will also have a T.A. assignment imposing some constraints on your time.
  • Unless you do not pass the language test, you would usually be expected to take CH398T: Supervised Teaching in Chemistry in the fall semester.
  • Fill out your 9 graduate hours (requirement for full-time graduate student) with choices from:
  • CH 397S (group meetings, if you have chosen a Supervising Professor).  When registering for Group Meetings, be sure to choose the unique number for your division.
  • CH197C, 297C, 397C, 597C or 697C (research hours) if CH397S does not meet your hourly requirement or you have not joined a group yet.
  • Once you have joined a research group, consult your supervising professor for course advising.

Continuing Graduate Students NOT in Candidacy:

If you have completed your graded courses but have not yet fulfilled your division’s requirements for the Qualifying Exams and have not applied for doctoral candidacy:

  • Register for CH 397S, your Supervising Professor's Group Meeting (make sure you use the unique number corresponding to your division), and
  • Problems in Chemistry (CH 197C, 297C, 397C, 597C or 697C); i.e., research hours.

These 2 courses should total 9 hours.  If you are taking another science course to further your education or at your Supervising Professor’s request, then just adjust the above hours accordingly.

Graduate Students in Candidacy:

  • Register for CH 399, 699 or 999 (r or w)**.  Choose the applicable hours that work for you, considering whether you are taking any other class(es).

**The rule for r or w is that you must register for the (r) section of dissertation for your first semester in Candidacy.  Then, continue registering for the (w) section until you complete your dissertation, defend, and graduate.

Biochemistry Graduate Students

  • Fall of 1st Year:
    • CH 395G (Biochemistry), 3 hours
    • CH 387D (Physical Methods Biochemistry), 3 hours
    • CH 398T (Supervised Teaching), 3 hours
  • Spring of 1st Year:
    • CH 395J (Molecular Biology), 3 hours
    • CH 394 (Enzyme Kinetics), 3 hours
    • CH 192G (Student Seminar) 1 hour
    • CH 297P (Problems in Chemistry) 2 hours credit for research

Biochemistry students may later elect to take Genetics (CH 395F), Cell biology (CH 395H), Bioinformatics (CH 391L, taught by Marcotte, fall of even years), Genomes: Metabolites to ecosystems (CH 391L, taught by Graham, fall of odd years), Biomolecular structure: NMR & X-ray crystallography (by Tesmer, Hoffman, Yin, spring of even years), Structural biology journal club (meets every Wed. at noon, both semesters) or other elective courses as appropriate to their interests and research. Students normally take two electives during the course of their degree program. CH 192G (Student Seminar) should be taken each fall and Spring Semester through the end of the third year of study.

Biochemistry graduate students should consult with the Biochemistry Graduate Adviser at some point during their second semester.

Zero fee bill

  • If you are a teaching assistant for the semester, the zero fee bill does not affect you.
  • If you are appointed as a GRA for the semester, and your Supervising Professor is paying your tuition, YOU MUST "Confirm Attendance" after receiving your zero tuition and fee bill.  If you do not, your registration WILL BE DROPPED, forcing you to re-register and pay a late fee.  If you do not understand this, come see us in the Graduate Office.

In-state tuition waiver

  • Before you complete your registration, make sure to claim your in-state tuition waiver.
  • The in-state tuition waiver entitles you to pay tuition at the in-state rate because you are employed as a TA or GRA.
  • The in-state tuition waiver must be claimed every semester you are employed as a TA or GRA.
  • The only exception to this requirement is if you are on a total support fellowship, or are funded in some way other than being employed by UT; in other words, you are not appointed as a GRA or TA for the semester.
  • Please make sure you select the correct semester for the tuition waiver (the semester for which you are registering).

Tuition schedule

Content coming soon...

Tuition remission and reimbursement

Content coming soon...

Graduation checklist

Content coming soon...

Important websites

  • Student Accounts Receivable.
    • My Tuition Bill
    • Official Fee Receipts
    • What I Owe
    • Where’s My Check
    • FAQ regarding UT finances
  • Official UT Calendar.
    • lists registration deadlines, UT holidays, etc
  • Tuition Bill Waivers.
    • You must complete a waiver at this website every semester that you are employed as a TA or GRA.
    • This waiver entitles you to pay tuition at the in-state rate because you are employed.
    • Please make sure you select the correct semester for the tuition waiver (the semester for which you are registering).
  • Office of the Registrar.
    • Official transcripts
    • Forms completed for waiving school loan payments while in graduate school
  • Office of Graduate Studies.
    • Graduate student resources
    • Deadlines and forms for Graduate School
    • Rules and regulations
    • Student employment
    • Scheduled final oral exams
    • Ceremonies and awards