The Biochemistry and Biotechnology Program offers three types of Master of Science degrees.
- One is a 30 credit hour non-thesis option suitable for those with laboratory research experience or for others, such as educators, who do not require research experience.
- The second is a 32 credit hour Professional Science emphasis area that includes a strong business component for students who are interested in learning more about the business aspects of companies. This track may not be appropriate for students who are interested in pursuing a PhD or working primarily as laboratory scientists.
- The third option includes laboratory-based research under the supervision of one of the program faculty members, leading to a written thesis. All students admitted to the graduate program are considered to be in the non-thesis program. They may transfer into the thesis program after they have been accepted as a thesis student by one of the faculty.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the M.S. program must submit a completed application and personal data forms, and transcripts of all previous postsecondary academic work. Submission of Graduate Record Examination scores, although not required, will be considered. Admission as a regular graduate student requires graduation from an accredited college with a minimum grade point overall and in biology and chemistry courses of 3.0 (where A=4.0). Students will generally be expected to have completed a major in biology, chemistry, biochemistry or biotechnology. In addition to the Graduate School admission requirements, applicants should have completed an undergraduate course in biochemistry. Successful applicants will typically have completed courses in organic chemistry, cell biology, and genetics. Applicants may be asked to make up any deficiencies in these areas as a condition of enrollment.
All international applicants, except those from countries where English is the primary language, must take the TOEFL. Ordinarily, a score of 213 on the computer-based exam (550 on the paper-based exam or 80 on the internet-based exam) or better is required.
Degree Requirements
Both the thesis and non-thesis options require a total of 30 graduate credit hours, of which at least half must be at the 5000-level or above. A maximum of 12 or 5 credit hours of Graduate Research (BIOL 6905 or CHEM 6905) may be applied toward the 30 credit hour total for the thesis or non-thesis options, respectively. Students must have a 3.0 GPA in non-research courses.
| Required Courses | ||
| CHEM 4722 | Advanced Biochemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 5774 | Bioinformatics | 3 |
| BIOL 6615 | Advanced Biotechnology Laboratory II | 4 |
| BIOL 6602 | Advanced Molecular Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 6889 | Graduate Seminar | 2 |
| Elective Courses | ||
| CHEM 4733 | Biochemistry Laboratory | 2 |
| CHEM 4772 | Physical Biochemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 5694 | Special Topics in Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 5794 | Special Topics in Biochemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 6787 | Problem Seminar in Biochemistry | 1 |
| CHEM 6905 | Graduate Research in Chemistry | 1-10 |
| BIOL 4842 | Immunobiology | 3 |
| BIOL 5069 | Topics in Cellular and Molecular Biology | 1 |
| BIOL 6442 | Advanced Developmental Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 6550 | Advanced Bacterial Pathogenesis | 3 |
| BIOL 6602 | Advanced Molecular Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 6622 | Advanced Cellular Basis of Disease | 3 |
| BIOL 6632 | Advanced Nucleic Acid Structure and Function | 3 |
| BIOL 6642 | Advanced Plant Biology and Biotechnology | 3 |
| BIOL 6652 | Advanced Virology | 3 |
| BIOL 6699 | Graduate Internship in Biotechnology | 1-4 |
| BIOL 6889 | Graduate Seminar | 2 |
| BIOL 6905 | Graduate Research in Biology | 1-10 |
| BIOL 6920 | Advanced Topics in Biology (when relevant) | 2-5 |