Biological Sciences MS
Major: Biological Sciences
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0
Co-op Option: Available for full-time, on-campus master's-level students
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 26.0101
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 19-1029
About the Program
The Department of Biology offers graduate programs in biological sciences leading to the thesis or non-thesis Master of Science degree. The curricula and research programs are designed to help students achieve success in their degree programs and pursue positions of leadership in their respective fields of research.
The intellectual life of the department relies heavily on the participation, creativity, and the energy of graduate students; therefore the department expects students to be vigorously involved in courses, seminars, journal clubs, research, informal discussions, and departmental functions.
Additional Information
For more information, contact the Department of Biology at 215-895-2624.
Degree Requirements (MS)
Soon after matriculation, the student completes a plan of study with the advisor outlining their specific program. Both thesis and non-thesis options are available. Conducting formal research necessary for the thesis is dependent upon the student finding a faculty member whom will serve as their faculty advisor and supervise a mutually agreed upon research project.
Students registering for an MS with graduate co-op will gain 6 months of work experience in the summer/fall term (year 1/year 2). The Steinbright Career Development Center will provide students with an overview of professionalism, resume writing, and the job search process. Students will not earn academic credit for the co-op but will earn 9.0 non-academic co-op units per term.
Students wishing to pursue PhD candidacy are encouraged to elect the MS with thesis. After all other requirements are completed, the research MS student defends the thesis at a final oral examination.
Program Requirements
| Requirements for the MS Curriculum with Thesis | ||
| BIO 500 | Biochemistry I | 3.0 |
| BIO 632 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3.0 |
| BIO 635 | Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3.0 |
| BIO 997 | Research in Bioscience | 12.0 |
| ENVS 506 | Biostatistics | 3.0 |
| Bioscience electives | 21.0 | |
| RCRG 600 | An Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research | 0.0 |
| Total Credits | 45.0 | |
| Requirements for the Non-Thesis MS with Graduate Co-op | ||
| BIO 500 | Biochemistry I | 3.0 |
| BIO 632 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3.0 |
| BIO 635 | Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3.0 |
| COOP 500 | Career Management and Professional Development for Master's Degree Students | 1.0 |
| ENVS 506 | Biostatistics | 3.0 |
| Bioscience electives* | 32.0 | |
| Total Credits | 45.0 | |
| Requirements for the Non-thesis MS Curriculum | ||
| BIO 500 | Biochemistry I | 3.0 |
| BIO 632 | Advanced Cell Biology | 3.0 |
| BIO 635 | Advanced Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3.0 |
| ENVS 506 | Biostatistics | 3.0 |
| Bioscience electives * | 33.0 | |
| Total Credits | 45.0 | |
- *
Non-thesis students may elect to take up to 4.0 credits of BIO 997 Research in Bioscience.
| Bioscience Electives Include: | ||
| BIO 534 | Bioinformatics I | 3.0 |
| BIO 613 | Genomics | 3.0 |
| BIO 614 | Behavioral Genetics | 3.0 |
| BIO 616 | Biochemistry of Major Diseases | 3.0 |
| BIO 630 | Cell Biology of Disease | 3.0 |
| BIO 644 | Human Genetics | 3.0 |
| BIO 646 | Stem Cell Research | 3.0 |
| BIO 650 | Virology | 3.0 |
| BIO 661 | Neurobiology of Autism Disorders | 3.0 |
| BIO 662 | Biology of Neuron Function | 3.0 |
| BIO 663 | Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration | 3.0 |
| BIO 664 | Neurobiology of Disease | 3.0 |
| BIO 701 | Bioscience Grant Writing | 3.0 |
| BIO 740 | Readings and Critical Thinking in Biology | 3.0 |
Sample Plan of Study (MS)
Thesis - MS Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 500 | 3.0 | BIO 635 | 3.0 | BIO 632 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| Bioscience electives | 6.0 | BIO 997 (OR Bioscience Electives) | 6.0 | ENVS 506 | 3.0 | ||
| RCRG 600 | 0.0 | Bioscience elective or Research | 3.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | ||||
| BIO 997 | 3.0 | BIO 997 | 3.0 | ||||
| Bioscience electives | 6.0 | Bioscience electives | 6.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Total Credits 45 | |||||||
Non-Thesis with Graduate Co-op - MS Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 500 | 3.0 | BIO 635 | 3.0 | BIO 632 | 3.0 | Bioscience electives | 6.0 |
| COOP 500 | 1.0 | Bioscience electives | 6.0 | ENVS 506 | 3.0 | ||
| Bioscience electives | 6.0 | Bioscience elective | 3.0 | ||||
| 10 | 9 | 9 | 6 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| COOP EXPERIENCE | COOP EXPERIENCE | Bioscience electives | 8.0 | ||||
| 0 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| Total Credits 42 | |||||||
Non-Thesis - MS Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 500 | 3.0 | BIO 635 | 3.0 | BIO 632 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| Bioscience electives | 6.0 | Bioscience electives | 6.0 | ENVS 506 | 3.0 | ||
| Bioscience elective | 3.0 | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | ||||
| Bioscience electives | 9.0 | Bioscience electives | 9.0 | ||||
| 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Total Credits 45 | |||||||
Program Level Outcomes
- Develop a strong foundation in the fields of biochemistry, cell biology, genetics and molecular biology.
- Develop critical thinking and reading skills in data-based research.
- Effectively communicate research results in written and oral formats.
- Identify individual skills, values and interests for developing and pursuing career goals.
- Propose and complete a research-based thesis project (MS-Thesis only).
- Write, present, and defend the results of a research thesis project (MS-Thesis only).
Biological Sciences Faculty
Ali Afify, PhD (University of Konstanz). Assistant Professor. Insect olfaction; Sensory Neurobiology; Mosquito oviposition; Malaria.
Laura Duwel, PhD (University of Cincinnati) Assistant Department Head, Department of Biology. Teaching Professor. Immunology and microbiology.
Felice Elefant, PhD (Temple University). Professor. Understanding the roles of two classes of chromatin regulatory proteins termed histone acetyltransferases(HATs)and histone de-methylases.
Denise Garcia, PhD (UCLA). Associate Professor. Neuroscience, the role of astrocytes in the central nervous system.
Tali Gidalevitz, PhD (University of Chicago). Associate Professor. Genetic and molecular pathways regulating protein folding homeostasis, and their role in protein conformation diseases, aging, and development.
Meshagae Hunte-Brown, PhD (Drexel University). Teaching Professor. Stable isotopes in aquatic food webs, ecosystem ecology, STEM education.
Kari Lenhart, PhD (Princeton University). Assistant Professor. Coordination of stem cell behavior and regulation of stem cell cytokinesis in the young and aged niche.
Robert Loudon, PhD (Thomas Jefferson University). Associate Teaching Professor. Rho GTPases, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, Regulation of G protein-coupled receptors by receptor kinases and arrestins.
Alison Moyer, PhD (North Carolina State University). Assistant Teaching Professor. Testing soft tissue preservation in the fossil record, Phage biology as part of the undergraduate research course SEA-PHAGES, STEM Education.
Michael O'Connor, MD, PhD (MD, Johns Hopkins University; PhD, Colorado State). Professor. Biophysical and physiological ecology, thermoregulation of vertebrates, ecological modeling.
Sean O'Donnell, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison). Professor. Climate ecology, focusing on geographic variation and species differences in thermal physiology; Behavior and ecology of army ant/bird interactions; Neurobiology, focusing on brain plasticity and brain evolution in social insects.
Ryan Petrie, PhD (McGill University) Director, Biology Graduate Program . Associate Professor. Cell Biology. Mechanisms of cell movement through three-dimensional extracellular matrix.
Megan V Phifer-Rixey, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Professor. Evolution; Genetics; Adaptation; Integrative Biology; Urban; Climate.
Jerome Ricard, PhD (University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France). Assistant Teaching Professor. Inflammation and cell death after spinal cord injury. Regulation of cell death by Eph receptors.
Jacob Russell, PhD (University of Arizona). Professor. Microbiomes and metagenomics; ecology and evolution of symbiosis.
Nianli Sang, MB, PhD (M.B., Fudan University Shanghai Medical College; Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University) Co-Director of the Cell Imaging Center. Associate Professor. Molecular and cellular biology of cancer; posttranslational modification, folding and quality control of proteins and their implication in cell physiology and human diseases.
Usha Sanka, PhD (Weill-Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences). Associate Teaching Professor. Human Physiology, Climate change and human physiology, human physiology education, air quality and human health, climate change education.
Aleister Saunders, PhD (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Director of the RNAi Resource Center. Professor. Identification and characterization of genes and proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease.
Manuel Seman-Senderos, PhD (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine). Assistant Teaching Professor. Cell Biology; genetics; history of science; synthetic biology; drug discovery.
Kevin P.W. Smith, PhD (Drexel University). Associate Teaching Professor. Linking behavioral ecology and organismal diversity, neonate behavior in herpetological models, STEM education.
Jennifer Stanford, PhD (Harvard University). Associate Professor. Evaluating and improving approaches to teach STEM content in higher education environments to promote student learning, engagement in STEM courses, and STEM student retention.
Monica M. Togna, PhD (New Jersey Institute of Technology). Teaching Professor. Examination of the structure and function of living organisms from the cellular to the organismal level in order to better understand common physiological processes.
Emeritus Faculty
Joseph Bentz, PhD (State University of New York [SUNY] at Buffalo). Professor Emeritus. Biophysics, biochemistry and biopharmaceutics, focused on the molecular basis of biological membrane transport and fusion.
Cecilie Goodrich, PhD (Harvard University). Professor Emeritus. Neuroscience and systems physiology, postnatal maturation of physiology and behavior in relation to brain immunocytochemistry.
Donna Murasko, PhD (Penn State Hershey Medical Center) Dean Emeritus. Professor. The effects of aging on the adaptive immune response to influenza virus and retrovirus latency and reactivation.
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