Master of Science in Biological Science
Prepare yourself for a career teaching biology or participating in diverse fields of biological research.
About this Program
The Department of Biology in the College of Liberal Arts offers the M.S. in Biological Science. This degree prepares students for various academic, industrial, or government positions that include but are not limited to those involving freshwater biology, medicine, education, molecular genetics, ecology and conservation biology.
A diversity of courses and a great variety of habitats in north Mississippi provide opportunities for both laboratory and field studies, including a 740-acre field station, a national forest, and flood-control reservoirs.
Accelerated Master's Degree
Undergraduate biology majors who have completed 90 credits as an undergraduate with a GPA of 3.0 or greater can begin earning credit toward an M.S. in biological science, while completing their B.A. or B.S. in biological science, potentially allowing an M.S. to be earned in only one additional year of graduate work after completion of the B.A. or B.S.
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Program Information
Program Type
Master's Program
Area of Study
Sciences, Mathematics, and Technology
School
Duration
2 years
Degree
M.S. in Biological Science
Program Location
Required Credit Hours
30
Program Details
APPLICATION DEADLINE: January 15
The Department of Biology welcomes applications to the M.S. program from students who have identified a member of the graduate faculty to be their major advisor. Student applications include the following materials, with additional details on the department website.
- Complete the Graduate School’s Online Application.
- Pay the application fee ($50).
- Submit official transcripts.
- International applicants whose first language is not English may be required to submit scores from an acceptable English language proficiency test.
- Upload Supplemental Application materials for the Department of Biology to the link provided upon completion of the online application.
- Statement of background and future goals. In this 1-2 page document, describe any prior research experience, relevant coursework, motivation for pursuing this graduate degree, and how it relates to your career goals.
- Statement of Research Interests. Use this 1 page statement to express your future interests and potential research questions and projects.
- Resume or CV.
- Two letters of recommendation. Pprovide contact information for two recommenders.
Students in the M.S. program complete a minimum of 30 semester hours with a cumulative average of not less than a B (3.0). Students can choose a thesis or non-thesis option.
Thesis Option:
- a minimum of 24 hours of course work, of which 18 hours must be formal classroom courses;
- 6 thesis hours;
- Bisc 691: Seminar.
Students pursuing the thesis option must satisfactorily complete a research prospectus, thesis based on potentially publishable research, and one seminar on their research.
Nonthesis Option:
- a minimum of 30 hours of course work, of which 24 hours must be formal classroom courses.
Undergraduate biology majors who have completed 90 credits as an undergraduate with a GPA of 3.0 or greater can begin earning credit toward an M.S. in biological science, while completing their B.A. or B.S. in biological science, potentially allowing an M.S. to be earned in only one additional year of graduate work after completion of the B.A. or B.S.
To pursue this path, undergraduate students enroll in the GradSHARK Launch "PAAD" (Program for Accelerated Advanced Degrees) program with the Graduate School by submitting a required form each semester, and can earn up to 15 credits toward the M.S. in biological science by taking 500- or 600-level biology courses in their senior year and completing all coursework requirements for graduate-level credit as specified in the course syllabi.
Admission to the graduate program in biology is a separate process, not guaranteed by participation in the Launch PAAD program. Participants in the Launch PAAD program who gain admission to a graduate program in biology can apply graduate credits earned as an undergraduate through the Launch PAAD program (with a grade of B or higher) to their graduate degree in biology.
Students in the Department of Biology's thesis Master's program who choose the thesis-option are typically supported through departmental teaching assistantships or through research assistantships from individual faculty. The current 9-month stipend for Teaching Assistants is $20,000 for students in the M.S. program.
Students with a graduate assistantship funded in the Department of Biology receive a scholarship that covers some or all of the tuition and non-residency fee, if applicable, for regular semesters and subsidized health insurance.
To qualify for assistantships, the applicant must be admitted to the thesis-based Master's program. All components of the application are used to determine eligibility for assistantships. These assistantships are competitive and the Department of Biology recommends that applicants have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 and/or a strong research background to qualify.
Students may also compete for summer teaching or research assistantships to supplement 9-month stipends. The department also provides a few scholarships based on academic excellence.
- Wayne Alexander Graduate Student Scholarship
- Steve and Mary Ann Cockerham Liberal Arts Graduate Student Scholarship
- McRight Biology and Speech Pathology Scholarship
- The Doctors Wong-Bridges Biology Scholarship for molecular or cellular research.
The Graduate School’s financial aid webpage lists a variety of funding possibilities, including summer support and a recruiting fellowship program that promotes academic excellence and access to graduate education to groups who are historically underrepresented.
Biology research is supported by
- the University of Mississippi Field Station that is 11 miles from the main campus and encompasses over 700 acres of forests, wetlands, and grasslands, over 200 experimental pond and streams, and houses the Center for Water and Wetland Research,
- nearby Holly Springs National Forest, which includes the Tallahatchie Experimental Forest and Strawberry Plains Audubon Center,
- University of Mississippi Libraries including a dedicated Science Library, and
- the Mississippi Center for Supercomputing Research.
Biology faculty and students collaborate with a number of units on and off campus, including
- National Center for Physical Acoustics,
- Research Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences,
- National Center for Natural Products Research,
- School of Engineering,
- National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering,
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences in the School of Pharmacy,
- USDA National Sedimentation Laboratory,
- Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, and
- University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.
We’re Here to Help!
If you have any questions about the M.S. in Biological Science, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Jason Dale Hoeksema
Professor of Biology
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