School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Department of Biological Sciences
Department Objectives
The Graduate Program offers training in those aspects of molecular and cell biology that underpin modern biological and biomedical sciences.
The Master of Science degree in Molecular and Cell Biology is designed for students who wish to learn the methodology of research in molecular and cell biology and the fundamentals of problem solving in these areas.
The Master of Science degree in Molecular and Cell Biology (without thesis) is intended for students who seek to gain knowledge of modern biology without the intent to seek positions as technical laboratory personnel, and for those students who are seeking additional preparation for admission to professional schools.
The Master of Science degree in Biotechnology is intended to prepare students for careers in biotechnology and biomedicine, and to assist currently employed professionals in enhancing their career opportunities.
The Master of Arts in Teaching degree in Science Education with a specialization in Biology is designed to strengthen the knowledge of high school teachers in fundamental aspects of biology and to bring them up to date on advances in this rapidly developing field. For further information on this program and for course descriptions, see the Science/Mathematics Education section of this catalog.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Molecular and Cell Biology is appropriate for students who show a potential for originality in research, and is designed to develop a critical and analytical understanding of current developments, which will enable them to keep abreast of the rapid advances that are likely to occur in the biological and biomedical fields.
The MS and PhD degree plans offer students the opportunity to prepare for academic careers in colleges and universities including medical and dental schools, and for careers in industrial, hospital, public health, and environmental and governmental laboratories and organizations.
Specializations
First-year MS and PhD students in Molecular and Cell Biology will complete a body of core courses that emphasize fundamental aspects of biochemistry, quantitative biology, molecular biology, and cell biology. MS Biotechnology students take core courses in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, and a laboratory-based course. All students may then proceed to advanced coursework in any of these general areas. Elective courses are open to all qualified students as recommended by their supervising committees. First-year PhD students are required to participate in rotations through research laboratories.
In the second year, MS and PhD students in Molecular and Cell Biology initiate research under the supervision of one or more of the Biological Sciences faculty.
Admission Requirements
The University's general admission requirements are discussed on the Graduate Admission page.
For full participation in the Graduate Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, the student should have a good background in calculus, general physics, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and general biology, including genetics and cell biology. Entering students not having this background may be required to take some additional coursework in their first year or in the summer immediately preceding entry. Students intending to do research in computational biology should have some background in mathematics and in programming. Admission is competitive.
Degree Requirements
The University's general degree requirements are discussed on the Graduate Policies and Procedures page.
Upon satisfactory completion of the core courses (and, for PhD candidates, a favorable evaluation following the spring semester as described below), a supervising committee is appointed for each student (except non-thesis MS students) based upon mutual agreement between student, research mentor and faculty. The supervising professor, possibly with the advice of the supervising committee will help plan an elective course curriculum. The supervising committee will oversee the student's research and thesis or dissertation.
Master of Science in Biotechnology
36 semester credit hours minimum
Department Faculty
Professors: Rockford K. Draper, Juan E. González, Kelli Palmer, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Stephen Spiro, Li Zhang, Michael Qiwei Zhang
Associate Professors: Joseph Boll, Mehmet Candas, Nikki Delk, Tae Hoon Kim, Faruck Morcos, Duane D. Winkler, Zhenyu Xuan
Assistant Professors: Nicole De Nisco, Nicholas Dillon, Xintong Dong, Lin Jia, Purna Joshi, Erica Sanchez, Darshan Sapkota
Professors Emeriti: Lee A. Bulla, Donald M. Gray
Associate Professors Emeriti: Gail A. M. Breen, Dennis L. Miller
Clinical Professor: David Murchison
Professors of Instruction: Scott A. Rippel, Uma Srikanth
Associate Professors of Instruction: Wen-Ju Lin, Elizabeth Pickett, Ilya Sapozhnikov
Assistant Professors of Instruction: Stephanie Boyd, Yi Huang, Meenakshi Maitra, Caitlin Maynard, Iti Mehta, Ramesh Padmanabhan, Jing Pan, Ruben D. Ramirez, Eva Sadat, Subha Sarcar, Michelle Wilson, Zhuoru Wu
Associate Professor of Practice: Uyen Henson
Research Assistant Professors: Li Liu, Ru-Hung Wang
Senior Lecturer: Wen-Ho Yu
UT Dallas Affiliated Faculty: Heng Du, Jung-whan (Jay) Kim
Degree Objectives
The MS degree in biotechnology is intended to prepare students for careers in biotechnology and biomedicine and to assist currently employed professionals in enhancing their career opportunities.
Biotechnology captures the exciting possibilities provided by the decoding of the human genome and by advances in bioanalytical instrumentation, and the field is projected for continued rapid growth. The MS in Biotechnology is designed so that students may enter the program with a wide range of prior disciplinary backgrounds, prepare for and take the four core courses, and, by choice from a wide range of approved electives, tailor the remainder of the degree program to their career aspirations. In this manner, students may develop areas of additional depth in fields such as:
- molecular and cell biology
- chemistry
- engineering and computer science
- health care policy
- management and business administration
The MS in Biotechnology requires 36 semester credit hours of courses, typically twelve courses of three semester credit hours each. Students may also elect to prepare and defend a thesis; more than 36 semester credit hours may be required for such a program.
The MS in Biotechnology is administered by the Department of Biological Sciences. Students seeking further information or advisement should contact the Biological Sciences Department office.
Core Courses
The core consists of four courses: BIOL 5375 Genes to Genomes, BIOL 5381 Genomics, BIOL 6373 Proteomics, and BIOL 6684 Biotechnology Laboratory. BIOL 6684 Biotechnology Laboratory is a skills based course. Students must show that they have adequate laboratory skills in order to enroll in BIOL 6684. Students enrolled in the MS in Biotechnology program will have priority for enrollment in BIOL 6684.
The four core courses should be taken in the following order: BIOL 5375 Genes to Genomes, BIOL 5381 Genomics, BIOL 6373 Proteomics, BIOL 6684 Biotechnology Laboratory. Instructor consent is required for core courses taken out of this sequence.
Program Policies
The program is open to all students who hold a bachelor's degree, although those with laboratory science, mathematics, computer science, or engineering degrees are particularly encouraged to apply. In general, students will not be admitted to the MS in Biotechnology program if they require more than two courses in order to be ready to take the core courses.
Every student admitted to the MS in Biotechnology program shall consult with the program advisor(s) and develop a mutually agreed degree plan. All requests for deviations from the degree program described in this catalog shall be discussed first with a program advisor, who will forward the request to the Committee on Biotechnology for decision.
There are no formal prerequisites for most of the core courses, and a student, after obtaining consent from the program advisor, may attempt one or more core courses. However, the level of the BIOL core courses is such that most students will want to have mastered the material in the following courses:
General Chemistry (two semesters, with lab), Organic Chemistry (two semesters, with lab)
BIOL 2311 Introduction to Modern Biology I (with workshop)
BIOL 3361 Biochemistry I or BIOL 6352 Modern Biochemistry I
BIOL 3301 Classical and Molecular Genetics or BIOL 6331 Molecular Genetics
BIOL 3302 Eukaryotic Molecular and Cell Biology or BIOL 6356 Eukaryotic Molecular and Cell Biology
Students who elect to prepare and defend a thesis must satisfy the MS thesis procedures specified by the department of their thesis supervisor.
Elective Courses
As a general rule, any UT Dallas graduate course that is approved by the advisor as being relevant to the student's tailored degree plan may be taken as an elective for the Biotechnology MS program. Students should consult the program advisor for the current list of recommended electives.
Master of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology
36 semester credit hours minimum
Department Faculty
Professors: Rockford K. Draper, Juan E. González, Kelli Palmer, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Stephen Spiro, Li Zhang, Michael Qiwei Zhang
Associate Professors: Joseph Boll, Mehmet Candas, Nikki Delk, Tae Hoon Kim, Faruck Morcos, Duane D. Winkler, Zhenyu Xuan
Assistant Professors: Nicole De Nisco, Nicholas Dillon, Xintong Dong, Lin Jia, Purna Joshi, Erica Sanchez, Darshan Sapkota
Professors Emeriti: Lee A. Bulla, Donald M. Gray
Associate Professors Emeriti: Gail A. M. Breen, Dennis L. Miller
Clinical Professor: David Murchison
Professors of Instruction: Scott A. Rippel, Uma Srikanth
Associate Professors of Instruction: Wen-Ju Lin, Elizabeth Pickett, Ilya Sapozhnikov
Assistant Professors of Instruction: Stephanie Boyd, Yi Huang, Meenakshi Maitra, Caitlin Maynard, Iti Mehta, Ramesh Padmanabhan, Jing Pan, Ruben D. Ramirez, Eva Sadat, Subha Sarcar, Michelle Wilson, Zhuoru Wu
Associate Professor of Practice: Uyen Henson
Research Assistant Professors: Li Liu, Ru-Hung Wang
Senior Lecturer: Wen-Ho Yu
UT Dallas Affiliated Faculty: Heng Du, Jung-whan (Jay) Kim
Degree Objectives
All students seeking the Master of Science degree in Molecular and Cell Biology must satisfactorily complete a total of at least 36 graduate semester credit hours, which must include the following core courses:
Core Courses
BIOL 5410 Biochemistry
BIOL 5420 Molecular Biology
BIOL 5460 Quantitative Biology
BIOL 5440 Cell Biology
MS students intending to submit a thesis must, in addition to the core courses specified above, satisfactorily complete a further 20 semester credit hours of Biology courses which includes BIOL 6193 Colloquium in Molecular and Cell Biology, BIOL 8V01 Research in Molecular and Cell Biology, BIOL 6V98 Thesis, and a minimum of 6 semester credit hours of general electives for which a letter grade is assigned. The remainder of the semester credit hours usually reflects experimental research but may also be based on literature research as determined by mutual agreement of the student and Supervising Committee. For MS (thesis) students, the maximum number of Pass/Fail credits allowed within the 36 semester credit hour minimum is 13 semester credit hours.
MS (non-thesis) students must, in addition to the core courses specified, satisfactorily complete a minimum of four general elective courses in Biology (for which a letter grade is assigned) for a minimum of 9 semester credit hours, up to 11 semester credit hours of special electives, and/or, with approval of the graduate advisor, other graduate courses. For non-thesis MS students, the maximum number of Pass/Fail credits allowed within the 36 semester credit hour minimum is 11 semester credit hours.
Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular and Cell Biology
75 semester credit hours minimum beyond the baccalaureate degree
Department Faculty
Professors: Rockford K. Draper, Juan E. González, Kelli Palmer, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Stephen Spiro, Li Zhang, Michael Qiwei Zhang
Associate Professors: Joseph Boll, Nikki Delk, Heng Du, Tae Hoon Kim, Faruck Morcos, Duane D. Winkler, Zhenyu Xuan
Assistant Professors: Nicole De Nisco, Nicholas Dillon, Xintong Dong, Lin Jia, Purna Joshi, Erica Sanchez, Darshan Sapkota
Professors Emeriti: Lee A. Bulla, Donald M. Gray
Associate Professors Emeriti: Gail A. M. Breen, Dennis L. Miller
Degree Objectives
All PhD students must satisfactorily complete a total of at least 75 semester credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree, including two of four core courses: BIOL 5410 Biochemistry, BIOL 5420 Molecular Biology, BIOL 5460 Quantitative Biology, and BIOL 5440 Cell Biology.
In the first year, PhD candidates must perform two laboratory rotations, and take BIOL 6V02 The Art of Scientific Presentation, and BIOL 6193 Colloquium in Molecular and Cell Biology. At the end of the first year, students are evaluated based upon performance in the core classes, laboratory rotations, and performance as teaching assistants (if applicable). Students who pass this evaluation must complete BIOL 6398 The Art of Scientific Writing in their second year and two graded electives (for which a letter grade is assigned) before graduation. Students must also pass a written and oral qualifying examination by the end of year two to be eligible to continue in the PhD program.
PhD students will earn an MS degree in Molecular and Cell Biology after satisfactory completion of two core courses, BIOL 6398, 36 total hours, and attempting the qualifying examination in their second year.
A dissertation defense will be conducted after the dissertation has been written. All students are required to have accepted for publication a minimum of one manuscript in an internationally recognized, peer-reviewed scientific journal. There is no foreign language requirement.
Certificates
Graduate Certificate in Genomics
12-13 semester credit hours
A Graduate Certificate in Genomics is offered by the Department of Biological Sciences in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
The graduate certificate program in Genomics will provide the students with advanced, broad knowledge of Genome Science and conceptual and practical understanding of major approaches in genomic analyses.
Completion of the certificate will enable students to critically evaluate primary research literature in genomics, to perform analyses of genomic data, make critical interpretation of genomic data, and communicate relevant findings from genomic analyses.
Students will also become familiar with modern high performance computation systems used for Genomics.
Admission Requirements
Undergraduate science or engineering degree in any biologically oriented discipline
Certificate Requirements
Required Courses: 9 semester credit hours
BIOL 5381 Genomics
BIOL 5382 Applied Genomics
BIOL 5376 Applied Bioinformatics1
Electives: 3-4 semester credit hours
Choose one from the following:
BIOL 5420 Molecular Biology
BIOL 5460 Quantitative Biology
BIOL 6315 Epigenetics
BIOL 6355 The Nucleus
BIOL 5312 Programming in the Biological Sciences for Graduate Students
BIOL 6385 Computational Biology2
1. MATH 6341 or BMEN 6387 can substitute for BIOL 5376
2. MATH 6343 or BMEN 6389 can substitute for BIOL 6385