Graduate Studies

The Department of Biological Sciences offers research opportunities for advanced study at the master's and doctoral levels. The standard admissions process occurs once a year to make decisions about entrance for the upcoming Fall semester; this is the admissions date that should be chosen by applicants, in general. The priority deadline for Fall 2024 admission to our program is December 1, 2023.

For exceptional circumstances, it is possible to be considered for admission to Spring or Summer. It should be noted, however, that consideration will only be given to such applicants who have already contacted a prospective mentor and have received that faculty member’s encouragement to apply off-cycle.

All applicants will need to indicate the thesis advisor(s) they are interested in working with. We encourage applicants to contact these prospective advisors ahead of submitting their application to discuss the opportunities that may or may not be available in that laboratory.

Please contact Chris Marx if you have any questions regarding the graduate programs in biological sciences.

Master of Science Degree

The Master of Science (M.S.) degree, with options in biology or neuroscience, is a research degree requiring a thesis with a minimum of 30 semester credits.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree has options in biology, microbiology/molecular biology/biochemistry, or neuroscience. The Ph.D. is a research degree requiring a thesis with a minimum of 78 semester credits. The credit totals for both degrees include credit for dissertation research.

Research in the Department

Research in the department is clustered in several focus areas, utilizing a variety of microorganism, plant, or animal models: Biomedicine, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Evolution and Ecology, and Neuroscience.

For more complete information on research concentrations, please see the faculty profile pages and the faculty research lab web pages.