In order to encourage and equip students to explore and develop new ways of framing and testing evolutionary hypotheses about humans and related taxa, HEBDP will combine training and research in disciplines traditionally taught in different departments. Such cross disciplinarity is necessary because fossils, artifacts and genomes are complex, and mostly indirect, sources of data for testing evolutionary hypotheses. Yet these data present a prime opportunity for developing new, interdisciplinary approaches to studying evolution. By bringing together researchers from diverse departments at The George Washington University, Howard University, the University of Maryland, the Smithsonian Institution, and the NIH, graduate students have access to facilities and receive core research training in relevant aspects of many disciplines that do not currently form the core of any existing anthropology Ph.D. programs. These universities and facilities are linked by the Metro subway, and belong to the Washington Consortium which shares academic and educational resources, including cross-registration. Students will receive stipend support which is highly competitive with other graduate programs as well as travel and research funds. In addition, HEBDP is the graduate education and training effort of the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology (CASHP) whose mission is to promote interdisciplinary research on human evolution. HEBDP training embraces comparative developmental anatomy and molecular biology, genetics, paleolithic archaeology, evolutionary theory, experimental and comparative functional morphology, biomechanics and engineering, geometric morphometrics, experimental histology, geochemistry, paleoclimatology, geochronology and ecology.

HEBDP uses problem-based learning methods within thematic research efforts to encourage students to develop new approaches for testing hypotheses using the fossil, genetic, and archeological records. Experimental models are specifically stressed. Finally, because of the public profile of human evolutionary studies, HEBDP trains students with skills for conveying information about the processes and discoveries of evolutionary science to the public. HEBDP graduates will acquire a wide range of skills and competencies that will allow them to pursue successful teaching and research careers in anthropology, biology, geology, and anatomy departments, and in museums and other institutions involved in the advancement and dissemination of knowledge about our species' evolutionary history.

Overview of educational structure
HEBDP combines 1) a rigorous core training in molecular biology, evolutionary anatomy, hominid paleontology, and archaeology, and in a variety of fields not traditionally studied by graduate students in anthropology programs, 2) an emphasis on problem-based learning (PBL), and 3) training and internships in how science is communicated to the public (e.g., TV, news, museums, the internet).

The HEBDP is designed to be a five year doctoral program. The first two years primarily consist of coursework and a problem-based learning tutorial that integrates original research and coursework from the earliest stages of graduate training. General examinations in three research fields chosen by the student with the advisor's guidance will be administered at the end of the second and third semesters. Following the second year, students begin directed research on their doctoral dissertations (including writing grant proposals) while participating in a capstone seminar, rotations, and a part-time internship to broaden their research experiences, provide them with skills needed for their dissertations, and give them skills in the communication of science to the public. HEBDP provides summer support for experimental laboratory research and/or fieldwork. Students are encouraged to submit their dissertation in a ready-to-publish format (described below) by the end of the fifth year.

1) Core courses
During the first few years, students are required to take the prescribed credit hours worth of 'core' graduate courses; the dissertation component of the Ph.D. comprises an additional 24 hours worth of credits. In the first three semesters, all HEBDP students are required to take four or five of the following Primary Core courses (one exemption is allowed, depending on prior education):

• All students also participate in a Problem-Based Learning Tutorial (PBL, described below) for 6 credit hours and which meets in 12 four-week units. The PBL tutorial will meet variously at any of the participating institutions in the HEBDP.
  
  
• Depending on their intended field of specialization and background, students also take courses or substitute courses from a wide variety of electives (to be determined by the student and his/her advisors) to fulfill the remaining 30 credit hours:

Howard, GW and UMD students can cross-register and receive full credit in courses at any of the three institutions as a part of the Washington Consortium of Universities.

2) Capstone Seminar
Beginning in the fifth semester, students participate in a weekly, capstone seminar to help stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty and students. All students are expected to give at least one seminar per year.

3) Rotations (4-6 credit hours)
During their second and third years, students will also participate in laboratory "rotations" which consist of semester-long involvement in any two of the major interdisciplinary research efforts.Students will register for 2 or 3 credit hours for each rotation. To complete a rotation, the student should devote a total of 96 working hours, or equivalent, for a 3-credit rotation, and 64 working hours, or equivalent, for a 2-credit rotation. The student's work schedule is negotiated directly with the rotation supervisor.

Rotations will be available at the following laboratories, under the direction of the following researchers:

4) Public Understanding of Science Internships (3 hours)
HEBDP believes that the responsibilities of scientists who study our species' evolutionary history must also extend to the public at large. Therefore, an important component of the HEBDP is an internship in the "Public Understanding of Science." Before the end of the fifth year students undertake a part-time, semester-long or summer internship with an organization that presents science to the public. The opportunities include attachments to the exhibits or education departments, or the public outreach, public relations, or congressional affairs offices of the Smithsonian Institution (e.g. The National Zoological Park, The National Museum of Natural History), or to other appropriate organizations based in Washington, DC (e.g., The National Geographic Society, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, Science Magazine, The National Academy of Sciences).

All IGERT students are required to take Molecular Biology (either as a lab rotation or as a course) ; one lab rotation outside their main speciality; and atleast one course at an institution other than their own.