MS, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Degree Program Summary:

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BCMB) is in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The college offers both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, but M.S. applicants are not accepted into the program. Instead, the M.S. degree is an option limited to Ph.D. candidates who are in good academic standing. Graduate students usually enter the program at the beginning of fall semester, but in special cases a student with previous experience may be admitted for the spring semester. Deadline for all fellowships and assistantships is January 1, but exceptional qualifications may lead to awards at other times. In addition to the courses listed in the curriculum, a number of interdisciplinary courses are available to interested students in the BCMB program. The listings in Biology, Plant Biology, Cellular Biology, Genetics and Microbiology should be consulted to determine the range of courses available to graduate students majoring in BCMB; see the online Graduate Bulletin.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. It functions largely as a graduate department with programs of study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. There are 20 large research laboratories for biochemistry and molecular biology in the Davison Life Sciences Building, a $36 million facility completed in 1991. The building houses a fermentation plant with facilities for the large-scale production and processing of microorganisms, animal quarters and a large suite of plant growth chambers giving the department facilities to work with any type organism. Several faculty members have labs in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, which is housed in a $10 million research building and is currently composed of six faculty members and 100 support personnel.

The research laboratories are equipped with most of the specialized equipment required for modern biochemical research including automated amino acid analyzers, analytical and preparative ultracentrifuges, liquid scintillation counters, recording spectrophotometers, spectrofluorimeters and stopped-flow devices, electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometers, x-ray diffraction facilities, mass spectrometers, protein sequenators, DNA synthesizers, HPLCs, mini-computers and other specialized equipment.

Graduate students are usually admitted at the beginning of fall semester, but in special cases a student with previous experience may be admitted in January. Deadline for most fellowships and assistantships is January 15, but exceptional qualifications may lead to awards at other times.

In addition to the courses listed below, a number of interdisciplinary courses such as Nucleic Acids (GENE 8920) and Molecular Genetics (GENE 8930) are offered to interested students in the biochemistry and molecular biology graduate program. The listings in biology, cellular biology, genetics, microbiology, and plant biology should be consulted to determine the range of courses available to graduate students majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. One year of a foreign language at the high school or college level is required for a master of doctoral degree.