Biological Science, M.S.
Prepare yourself for a career teaching biology or participating in diverse fields of biological research.
About the Master of Science in Biological Science
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
Degree
M.S. in Biological Science
Required Credit Hours
30
Program Type
Master's Program
Program Location
School
Duration
2 years
M.S. in Biological Sciences 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 ($60).
- 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 students interested in graduate study in biology can get a head start through the GradSHARK Launch PAAD for Biological Science.
Requirements to Qualify for the GradSHARK Launch PAAD in Biological Science
Undergraduate students that would like to qualify for the GradSHAARK program must meet the following requirements:
- Enrollment in Biology major
- 3.0 minimum GPA overall
- 90 completed credit hours as an undergraduate
LaunchPAAD Courses in Biological Science
Courses undergraduate students in the Launch PAAD can take to earn credit towards the graduate degree:
- 504 Biometry (4 credits)
- 510 Theoretical Ecology (3 credits)
- 520 Medical Microbiology (3 credits)
- 522 Microbial Ecology (3 credits)
- 528 Conservation Physiology (4 credits)
- 533 Advanced Neuroscience (3 credits)
- 538 Hormones & Behavior (3 credits)
- 540 Chemical Ecology (3 credits)
- 541 Cell Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases (3 credits)
- 542 Microbial Diversity (4 credits)
- 543 Functional Neuroanatomy (3 credits)
- 547 Advanced Histology (4 credits)
- 579 (Section 1) Introductory Molecular Genetics (3 credits)
- 579 (Section 3) Symbiosis: from Parasitism to Mutualism (3 credits)
- 614 Advanced General Microbiology (4 credits)
- 615 Ichthyology (4 credits)
- 658 Systems Biology: Theory & Practice (3 credits)
- 662 Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data
- 675 Advanced Microbial Physiology (3 credits)
Remember: Students who fail to reserve 500-level courses for graduate credit at the time they take the course will not receive graduate credit for the course (graduate level work must be completed to earn graduate credit).
- Reserving graduate credit with 500-level courses is required to ensure the Graduate School and instructor know the student must complete graduate credit requirements for the course.
- Students cannot later claim graduate credit for 500-level courses if they did not take the appropriate steps to notify the Graduate School prior to taking the course.
How to Apply to the GradSHARK Launch PAAD in Biological Science
Students must be accepted into the Launch PAAD and complete the requisite GradSHARK Launch PAAD Course Enrollment Form for this degree. The form must be received by the Graduate School (the form requires approval from your Undergraduate Advisor and the Graduate Program Coordinator for Biological Science).
- Students must download and complete the participating program’s specific enrollment form each term. The form must be completed prior to the start of the term.
- The form requires approval from the Undergraduate Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator (the Graduate Program Coordinator can be found next to the specific degree program listed above).
- By signing the form to approve the enrollment for the semester, the Graduate Program Coordinator is agreeing that the student has been admitted to their PAAD opportunity.
After the Graduate School receives the first approved program-specific enrollment form, the student will be identified as enrolled in the GradSHARK Launch PAAD for that degree.
- Each subsequent term for which the student wishes to earn credit towards the graduate degree while still completing their undergraduate studies, they must submit a registration form prior to the start of the semester.
- Failure to submit the required form on time will mean that the student does not earn graduate credit.
To access the required form, please visit the specific page for the participating degree program of interest. The form must be submitted to the Graduate School by the Graduate Program Coordinator. Until the Graduate School receives the required form, the student is not officially registered for graduate coursework for that term.
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, Associate Chair and Graduate Program Coordinator
Video: Get to Know the Department of Biology
Hear firsthand from students and faculty about our graduate program in Biological Sciences.
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Accelerated Master's Degree in Biological Science
Undergraduate students that would like to qualify for the Accelerated Master's Degree Program must meet the following requirements:
- Enrollment in Biology major
- 3.0 minimum GPA overall
- 90 completed credit hours as an undergraduate
Courses undergraduate students in the Accelerated Master's Degree Program in Biological Science can take to earn credit towards the graduate degree:
- 504 Biometry (4 credits)
- 510 Theoretical Ecology (3 credits)
- 520 Medical Microbiology (3 credits)
- 522 Microbial Ecology (3 credits)
- 528 Conservation Physiology (4 credits)
- 533 Advanced Neuroscience (3 credits)
- 538 Hormones & Behavior (3 credits)
- 540 Chemical Ecology (3 credits)
- 541 Cell Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases (3 credits)
- 542 Microbial Diversity (4 credits)
- 543 Functional Neuroanatomy (3 credits)
- 547 Advanced Histology (4 credits)
- 579 (Section 1) Introductory Molecular Genetics (3 credits)
- 579 (Section 3) Symbiosis: from Parasitism to Mutualism (3 credits)
- 614 Advanced General Microbiology (4 credits)
- 615 Ichthyology (4 credits)
- 658 Systems Biology: Theory & Practice (3 credits)
- 662 Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data
- 675 Advanced Microbial Physiology (3 credits)
Remember: Students who fail to reserve 500-level courses for graduate credit at the time they take the course will not receive graduate credit for the course (graduate level work must be completed to earn graduate credit).
- Reserving graduate credit with 500-level courses is required to ensure the Graduate School and instructor know the student must complete graduate credit requirements for the course.
- Students cannot later claim graduate credit for 500-level courses if they did not take the appropriate steps to notify the Graduate School prior to taking the course.
Students must be accepted into the Accelerated Master's Degree Program and complete the requisite Accelerated Master's Degree Program Course Enrollment Form for this degree. The form must be received by the Graduate School (the form requires approval from your Undergraduate Advisor and the Graduate Program Coordinator for Biological Science).
- Students must download and complete the participating program’s specific enrollment form each term. The form must be completed prior to the start of the term.
- The form requires approval from the Undergraduate Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator (the Graduate Program Coordinator can be found next to the specific degree program listed above).
- By signing the form to approve the enrollment for the semester, the Graduate Program Coordinator is agreeing that the student has been admitted to their Accelerated Master's Degree Program opportunity.
After the Graduate School receives the first approved program-specific enrollment form, the student will be identified as enrolled in the Accelerated Master's Degree Program for that degree.
- Each subsequent term for which the student wishes to earn credit towards the graduate degree while still completing their undergraduate studies, they must submit a registration form prior to the start of the semester.
- Failure to submit the required form on time will mean that the student does not earn graduate credit.
To access the required form, please visit the specific page for the participating degree program of interest. The form must be submitted to the Graduate School by the Graduate Program Coordinator. Until the Graduate School receives the required form, the student is not officially registered for graduate coursework for that term.
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