Department of Biology > BA/MS Program > Requirements

Coursework

  • Four advanced or specialized courses beyond the requirements of the bachelor’s degree. At least two of these courses must be at the 600 level or above. The eligible courses are listed in the requirements.
  • Master’s Seminar: Molecular & Cellular Biology I & II (020.603 and 020.604; 3 credits each). All master’s students will participate in this weekly seminar during their year in the program. The seminar involves student presentations of research and discussion of topics of current interest in the field.

Research

Mentored Research (020.551, 020.552, and 020.553)

Mentored Research provides master’s students with intensive research experience for a full academic year. Students in the program work under the direction of a research mentor on an original research project approved by the program committee, produce a written report in the form of a thesis, and make a presentation of the work to the biology department. Monitoring the progress of the students during the research year is the responsibility of the research mentors. Students register for 020.551 in the fall, 020.552 in the intersession, and 020.553 in the spring. Students receive 9 credit hours per semester for research during the fall and spring semesters of the research year and 3 credit hours for the intersession. This aspect of the program will require a waiver of the usual limit of 6 research credits per year. This assignment of credits is quite conservative for the expected full-time research work. The usual formula for assigning credits for independent research is 3 hours of work per week per credit hour. According to this formula, 9 credit hours would correspond to 27 hours per week of research, somewhat less than will be expected of the MS students during the research year. The evaluation of the mentor takes into account the progress of the student on the research project.

Thesis

  • Written Thesis: During the spring semester each student will prepare and submit a written thesis (at least 20 pages in length) describing their research.
  • Oral Presentation: Each student will give an oral presentation on their thesis research at the end of the spring semester. The final oral presentation will be 20 minutes in length, with 10 minutes set aside afterward for questions from the audience.

The written thesis and oral presentation are evaluated by the Thesis Committee. Passing performance, as judged by the committee, is required for the MS degree.

A student who does not receive a passing evaluation for the final report and presentation will not be awarded the MS degree.

Teaching

Teaching is an integral component of the master’s degree. Students fulfill the teaching requirement by serving as a teaching assistant for the General Biology and General Biology Laboratory or other Department of Biology courses during the fall and spring semesters.

Advanced Course Requirements

These courses fulfill the advanced course requirements for the MS Program.

  • 020.304 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • 020.307 Enzymes, Metabolism, and Metabolic Disorders
  • 020.310/610 Developmental Neurobiology
  • 020.312/612 Introduction to the Human Brain
  • 020.317/614 Signaling in Development and Disease
  • 020.322 Cellular and Molecular Biology of Sensation
  • 020.324 DNA Microarray Technology (Bioinformatics)
  • 020.325 Introduction to the Protein World
  • 020.326 The Sugar Code: The Sweet Side of Life (formerly Intro to Glycobiology)
  • 020.328 Adopt a Genome: Genomics and sequence analyses*
  • 020.329 The Microbial World
  • 020.331/630 Human Genetics
  • 020.332 Photosynthesis by Land and Aquatic Organisms (Plant Biochemistry)
  • 020.333 Adaptations of Plants to Their Environments
  • 020.334 Planets, Life and the Universe
  • 020.335 Landmarks in Biochemical Research
  • 020.336 Stem Cell Biology (in Development and Disease)
  • 020.337 Stem Cells & the Biology of Aging & Disease
  • 020.342 Proteins
  • 020.344 Virology
  • 020.346 Immunobiology
  • 020.347 AIDS
  • 020.349 Microbial Pathogenesis (Epidemics and Pandemics)
  • 020.352 Topics in Virology and Bacteriology
  • 020.353 Examining Alternative Health Strategies
  • 020.365 Introduction to the Human Skeleton
  • 020.368 Mammalian Evolution
  • 020.370/670 Emerging Strategies and Applications in Biomedical Research
  • 020.374 Comparative Animal Physiology
  • 020.375 Human Anatomy
  • 020.376/606 Molecular Evolution
  • 020.379 Evolution
  • 020.380 Eukaryotic Molecular Biology
  • 020.383 Molecular Biology of Aging
  • 020.629 Principles of Cancer Biology (Human Cancer Biology and Treatment)
  • 020.634 Chromatin and Transcription
  • 020.637 Genomes and Development
  • 020.638 Regulation and Mechanisms of the Cell Cycle
  • 020.639 Macromolecular Assemblies in Biology
  • 020.640 Epigenetics & Chromosome Dynamics
  • 020.642 Proteins: Structure, Folding, and Interaction with Partners
  • 020.646 Biological Spectroscopy
  • 020.651 Retroviruses
  • 020.665 Advanced Biochemistry
  • 020.667 Bioconjugate Techniques
  • 020.668 Advanced Molecular Biology
  • 020.674 Grad Biophysical Chemistry
  • 020.676 Functional Interpretation of Biological Structures
  • 020.680 Molecular Basis of Drug Discovery
  • 020.682 Molecular Recognition and Signaling
  • 020.686 Advanced Cell Biology

*Successful completion of this course provides 1 credit hour toward the upper-level bio elective requirement for the BA and BS degrees and 2 credit hours toward the BS research requirement.