Graduate Program
Master of Science Plan B
General Information of Program of Study
Under this option, course work is substituted for the thesis requirement.
- A minimum of 30 credits is required for graduation.
- At least half of these 30 credits must be in the major subject area (MB).
- Two-thirds of the minimum 30 credits must be at the 5XX-level. (Undergraduate courses at the 4XX-level are allowed but not 3XX-level)
- Credit in seminar (500), individual problem (570) and internship (576) courses may not exceed 10 credits required.
- Credit for a Professional Paper (MB 575) may not exceed 6 credits.
- Course work more than 6 years old cannot be applied toward the program.
- No more than 3 credits (except thesis credits) can be taken Pass/Fail.
- Transfer credits – see policy at Transferring Credits
Coursework (subject to change)
All plan B M.S. students are required to take Ethics, BIOB 524 - Ethical Practice of Science, offered each Spring. In addition, students must take at least three courses in the seven areas of the core curriculum with an emphasis of offerings from the Department. See the Table below for the core groups and course opportunities to fulfill the requirements.
|
Courses |
Semester |
Bioinformatics & Advanced Statistics |
MB 544 – Advanced Bioinformatics MB 591(002) – Intro to Programming for Biologists Any approved graduate level statistics course |
Spring Summer --- |
Biochemistry |
MB 520- Microbial Physiology BCH 544 - Molecular Biology MB 527 - Toxicology |
Fall Fall Spring |
Immunology & Cell Biology |
MB 525 – Advanced Immunology IMID 505 – Eukaryotic Gene Regulation |
Spring (Even) Spring (Odd) |
Microbial Evolution & Ecology |
MB 537 – Advances in Molecular Evolution MB 515 – Microbial Ecology MB 591 – Precambrian Biosphere ERTH 505 – Geomicrobiology |
??? Spring (Odd) Fall (Odd) Spring (Even) |
Genetics |
MB 528 – Advanced Genetics EBIO 566 – Fundamentals of Biofilm Engineering |
Spring (Odd) Fall |
Pathogenesis |
MB 530 - Virology MB 505 – Host-Associated Microbiomes MB 560 – Disease Ecology & Spillover |
Fall Spring Fall |
Scientific Writing |
MB 591(001) – Scientific Proposal Writing MB 592 – Journal Club |
Summer Spring/Fall |
Seminar Series and Journal Club
- Departmental Research Seminar Series
- All students are required to attend the Departmental Seminar (MB 594) each semester regardless if they are registered in the course. There are limits to the number of MB594 credits allowed in a Graduate Program (3 for Ph.D.). Departmental administrators will register you for these credits.
- Student Research-in-Progress (RIP) Series
- All students are required to attend the Student RIP Series, and present starting in their second year.
- Journal Clubs
- All students are required to attend one of the MB 592 Journal Club sessions each semester.
- Prior to each semester, the instructors and topics of the Journal Club sections will be announced. The topics will vary but and can be focused on either environmental or biomedical research topics or synchronize with the Departmental Research Seminar Series schedule.
Plan B Master’s Degree Review and Oral Examination
Plan B Master's Degree students must write a review of a topic in Microbiology or Immunology. The topic will be assigned by the student's Masters Committee, and it will cover a field of Microbiology or Immunology rather than a single research paper. This review should be completed and approved before the end of the 4th semester (excluding summers), and once 2/3’s of the course work has been completed.
The review shall be written using the guidelines found in the instructions to authors for the journal Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews or other suitable format with advisor approval.
An oral exam is then scheduled within two weeks of the submission of the review. The review will serve as a focus for questions. However, other questions will be included in the examination to test breadth of comprehension.
If the student fails the examination, at least 2 months must pass before repeating it. A second failure will result in dismissal from the academic program.