Home › PhD books › Microbiology

PhD · Microbiology

Microbiology — PhD reading list.

The advanced references a doctoral scholar in Microbiology works from, and what each one is for.

All 22 subjects
8Titles listed
5Worked right through
3–6 yrsProgramme length
12Coursework credits
The subject

Microbiology as a research subject

ScopeBacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology, antimicrobial resistance, hospital infection control, molecular diagnostics, vaccine and host-pathogen interaction research.
Who can registerMD Microbiology, MSc Medical Microbiology, MSc Microbiology or Life Sciences, MBBS, MVSc.
How you get inEither the fellowship route — CSIR-UGC NET, ICMR, DBT-BET, DST-INSPIRE — straight to interview, or the institute entrance test, half research methodology and half microbiology.
CourseworkOne semester, at least 12 credits: research methodology and biostatistics, plus Research and Publication Ethics, before the research phase proper begins.
How this list is used

Reading for Microbiology

A microbiology scholar's reading runs on two tracks: Jawetz and Ananthanarayan for the taught syllabus and the pre-PhD comprehensive, and Mandell for the disease-by-disease depth that a thesis introduction needs. The bench track is where the real PhD reading happens, and it is the ASM manuals that settle it: the Manual of Clinical Microbiology decides identification and susceptibility methodology, and the Procedures Handbook supplies the step-by-step wording and the quality-control statements that go into the methods chapter. Bailey & Scott's and Koneman's stay at the bench for isolation, staining and biochemical identification while the study's isolates are being worked up. Fields is the department copy pulled out whenever the thesis has a virology component, and it usually stays with whoever is doing molecular work that year.

Titles are tagged core reading — the ones scholars work right through — or reference, the ones they look things up in. Editions are given where the current edition is what you want to buy.

  1. Jawetz, Melnick & Adelberg's Medical Microbiologycore readingStefan Riedel, Jeffery A. Hobden and others · McGraw HillThe taught-syllabus text used for course work and for the teaching load carried alongside the PhD.
  2. Ananthanarayan and Paniker's Textbook of Microbiologycore readingReba Kanungo (ed.) · Universities PressThe Indian standard revised for the comprehensive, kept for its India-specific epidemiology and case framing.
  3. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseasescore readingJohn E. Bennett, Raphael Dolin and Martin J. Blaser (eds.) · Elsevier · 9th edition (2019)The two-volume reference read for pathogenesis and clinical context when building the thesis introduction.
  4. Bailey & Scott's Diagnostic Microbiologycore readingPatricia M. Tille · Elsevier · 15th edition (2021)Kept at the bench for isolation, staining and identification while the study's isolates are processed.
  5. Koneman's Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiologycore readingGary W. Procop and others · Jones & Bartlett LearningThe colour atlas used to confirm colony and microscopic morphology before an isolate is called.
  6. Manual of Clinical MicrobiologyreferenceAmerican Society for Microbiology · ASM PressThe methods authority for identification and susceptibility testing; the version the methods chapter names.
  7. Clinical Microbiology Procedures HandbookreferenceAmerican Society for Microbiology · ASM PressSupplies the step-by-step procedure and quality-control wording a protocol is written from.
  8. Fields VirologyreferencePeter M. Howley and David M. Knipe (eds.) · Wolters Kluwer · 7th edition (2023)The multi-volume virology reference used whenever the thesis has a viral pathogenesis or molecular component.

We print files you send us. We do not host, sell or supply book PDFs — send us a file you are entitled to print and we print, bind and deliver it.

Alongside the subject list

The two lists every scholar also needs

Whatever the subject, the coursework semester is examined on research methodology, biostatistics and publication ethics, and the bench work runs on a handful of protocol volumes. Both lists are kept separately so you are not buying them twice.

Research methodology & biostatistics Laboratory methods & instrumentation Entrance routes Where it is offered
Other PhD subjects

Also on the site

All 22 subjectsAnatomyPhysiologyBiochemistryPharmacologyPathologyCommunity Medicine and Public HealthBiotechnologyMolecular MedicineBiophysicsMedical Physics
Related on the site

Microbiology at postgraduate level

DNB Microbiology booksMD Microbiology books

Printing your Microbiology reading?

Send the PDF on WhatsApp — colour Rs 1/page, B&W 50p/page, binding Rs 40. Printed, bound and delivered anywhere in India.

Frequently asked

PhD Microbiology — questions

Which books does a PhD scholar in Microbiology read?

The 8 titles on this page, of which 5 are worked right through and the rest are kept as references. Most scholars own two or three and use the department copy for the others.

Who can register for a PhD in Microbiology?

MD Microbiology, MSc Medical Microbiology, MSc Microbiology or Life Sciences, MBBS, MVSc.

What does a PhD in Microbiology cover?

Bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology, antimicrobial resistance, hospital infection control, molecular diagnostics, vaccine and host-pathogen interaction research.

Is the coursework examined?

Yes. One semester of at least 12 credits, assessed before the research phase begins, covering research methodology, biostatistics and Research and Publication Ethics.

Can you print this reading for me?

We print from the PDF you send us. Send the file on WhatsApp with your page count and whether you want colour, black and white or mixed, and we print, bind and deliver anywhere in India. We do not supply copyrighted book files.