Biology (M.S.)

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Purdue University
Master of Science (M.S.)
Department of Biology
College of Arts and Sciences

Science Building ~ 260-481-6305

Elliott Blumenthal, Chair
Jordan M. Marshall, Graduate Program Director

The graduate program in Biology helps you prepare to become a research scientist in academia, industry, or government, to obtain advanced education as a high-school teacher, or to pursue further study in a professional or Ph.D. program.

Courses and faculty research cover a wide range of specific disciplines within biology: behavior, cancer biology, developmental biology, ecology, forestry, genetics, herpetology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, physiology, toxicology, and virology.

Degree Requirements

This program includes Nonthesis and Thesis degree options. Each option is described below:

Nonthesis Option

If you select this option, at least 30 credit hours of graduate course work are required. Fifteen of the credit hours must be at the 500-level within the Department of Biology. The remaining 15 hours can be fulfilled by some combination of the following: additional BIOL courses at the 500-level; up to 9 credit hours of BIOL 59500 Special Assignments; up to 6 credit hours of undergraduate courses at the 300- or 400-level taken from other departments (B- or better grade is required) or 400-level BIOL courses (B- or better grade is required); or up to 15 credits of 500-level courses in other departments. Students also must satisfactorily complete a written examination prepared by each committee member during the student’s last semester. A passing grade of B must be earned on the final exam. Students will have two attempts to pass the exam.

Thesis Option

This option requires a minimum of 30 credit hours of formal course work and research credits combined. A minimum of 18 credit hours of formal course work approved by the student’s committee is required, 15 of these credit hours must be at the 500-level within the Department of Biology (3 credit hours may be fulfilled by an additional BIOL course at the 500-level; undergraduate course at the 300- or 400-level taken from another department (B- or better grade is required; or undergraduate course at the 400-level BIOL course (B- or better grade is required). The remaining 12 credits can be exclusively BIOL 69800 Research M.S. Thesis or a combination of no less than 9 credits BIOL 69800 and a maximum of 3 credits of BIOL 59500 Special Assignments. BIOL 59500 Special Assignments credits cannot be included in the 18 hours of formal course work. Students must present their research to the department in a seminar and pass a final oral defense of their thesis work after they have submitted their thesis to the examining committee.

Graduate Program Courses:

BIOL 50100 - Field Botany Cr. 4.
BIOL 50200 - Conservation Biology Cr. 3.
BIOL 50500 - Biology of Invertebrate Animals Cr. 3.
BIOL 50600 - Human Molecular Genetics Cr. 3.
BIOL 50900 - Molecular Biology and Applications Cr. 3.
BIOL 51600 - Molecular Biology of Cancer Cr. 3.
BIOL 51810 - Biomedicine Cr. 3.
BIOL 52000 - Contemporary Parasitology Cr. 3.
BIOL 52410 - Bacterial Diversity and Systematics Cr. 3.
BIOL 53300 - Medical Microbiology Cr. 3.
BIOL 53700 - Immunobiology Cr. 3.
BIOL 54000 - Biotechnology Cr. 3
BIOL 54110 - Invasion Biology Cr. 3.
BIOL 54300 - Population Ecology Cr. 4.
BIOL 54400 - Principles of Virology Cr. 3.
BIOL 55110 - Proteins: Structure And Function Cr.3.
BIOL 55600 - Physiology I Cr. 3.
BIOL 55900 - Endocrinology Cr. 3.
BIOL 56500 - Immunobiology Laboratory Cr. 1.
BIOL 56600 - Developmental Biology Cr. 3.
BIOL 56700 - Laboratory in Developmental Biology Cr. 1.
BIOL 57710 - Emerging Infectious Diseases Cr. 3.
BIOL 57810 - Biology Of Disease Vectors Cr. 3.
BIOL 58000 - Evolution Cr. 3.
BIOL 58200 - Ecotoxicology Cr. 3.
BIOL 58400 - Molecular Biology and Applications Laboratory Cr. 1.
BIOL 58600 - Topics in Behavior and Ecology Cr. 3.
BIOL 59500 - Special Assignments Cr. 1-4.
FNR 50500 - Molecular Ecology and Evolution Cr. 3
FNR 52300 - Aquaculture Cr. 3

Total Minimum Credits: 30

Student Responsibility

You are responsible for satisfying the graduation requirements specified for your selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies and procedures governing your academic career. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the appropriate chair or dean.