M.S. program requirements

The Department of Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University offers a master of science degree in biology and a graduate minor in biology.

Master of science

Master of science degree candidates are required to take a minimum of 30 semester credits, which should include the following specifications:

• nineteen credits must be courses designated exclusively for graduate students
• a maximum of two credits in BIOL 690 Biology Seminar counts toward the required 19 credits designated exclusively to graduate students
• a minimum of two and a maximum of four credits must be BIOL 693 Current Topics in Biology
• a minimum of six and a maximum of nine credits must be BIOL 698 Thesis
• at least five lecture or lecture laboratory courses must be taken from at least three different instructors (excluding Thesis, Research Seminar and Independent Study)

All graduate students are required to write a thesis proposal and a formal thesis following a prescribed format. The thesis proposal must be approved by the student’s graduate committee and the chair of the department to initiate thesis research. At the earliest possible opportunity, students must take STAT 543 or an equivalent statistics course approved by the chair of the department. Students entering the program with a statistics background equivalent to STAT 543 may petition the chair of the department to have this requirement waived.

A maximum of six semester hour credits from graduate work taken at other institutions may be transferred if they meet approval of the department.

Receipt of a grade of "C" or lower in two courses constitutes automatic dismissal from the graduate program in biology. Courses with a grade of "C" or lower cannot be applied to satisfying the degree requirements.

Each student will be required to pass a final examination which will be primarily a defense of the thesis.

Continuous enrollment in the graduate program is required. Interruption in continuous enrollment for any reason will require that students reapply to the Department of Biology Graduate Committee.

Graduate minor in biology

A minimum of nine semester hours excluding seminar and limited to a maximum of three credits of BIOL 692 Independent Study.