The Graduate Group in Microbiology seeks to ensure that its graduate students gain instructional experience by serving as Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs). Each graduate student must serve two semesters as a teaching assistant. In addition, students must take PMB 300 (Workshop on Teaching), a class designed to foster superior teaching by Plant and Microbial Biology graduate students, or the equivalent from another department. The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology has several courses with GSI opportunities in microbial biology. Students may use teaching in other departments, such as MCB, ESPM and IB, to fulfill the teaching requirement. The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and a student's Research Advisors' home departments (if not PMB) also offer opportunities to teach introductory biology courses.