Biology - M.A.

CIP Code

26.0101

Curriculum for a non-thesis track MA in Biology degree (30 credits minimum)

Required Courses

Required

BIOL 500	Molecular Methods	3
	And
BIOL 500L	Molecular Methods Lab	1

NSCI 561	Biochemistry I	3
	And
NSCI 561L	Biochemistry I Laboratory	1

NSCI 562	Biochemistry II	3
	And
NSCI 562L	Biochemistry II Laboratory	1

BIOL 540	Essential Developmental Biology	3
	And
BIOL 540L	Essential Developmental Biology Lab	1

BIOL 370	Introduction to Cancer Biology	3
	And
BIOL 370L	Introduction to Cancer Biology Laboratory	1

BIOL 590	Graduate Biology Journal Club	0.5

BIOL 285	BIOINFORMATICS I	3
	And
BIOL 285L	BIOINFORMATICS I LABORATORY	1

	Or
BIOL 286	Practical Tools for Bioinformatics	4
	And
BIOL 286L	Practical Tools for Bioinformatics Laboratory	1

	Or
	Other

BIOL 370/BIOL 370L or BIOL 285/BIOL 285L or BIOL 286/BIOL 286L or NSCI 390, or Other: At time of drafting this handbook, these courses did not yet have an existing graduate-level number.

BIOL 500 and BIOL 500L, NSCI 561 and NSCI 561L: Fall

NSCI 562 and NSCI 562L, BIOL 540 and BIOL 540L, BIOL 370 and BIOL 370L: Spring

BIOL 590: Fall and Spring

BIOL 285 and BIOL 285L, BIOL 286 and BIOL 286L, NSCI 390, or other: Fall or Spring

Total Credit Hours: 30

Possible Elective Courses

Required

BIOL 280	MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS	4
CHEM 341	PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I	3
NSCI/BIOL	(Independent Study)

Vanderbilt Courses available to Fisk Biology MA Program

Terminal Master’s students are encouraged to enroll in some of the Vanderbilt courses identified below to fulfill their academic interests and degree requirements. Bridge students will be expected to take at least two courses at Vanderbilt during the MA phase of their program.

It is imperative that students review off-campus courses with their advisor to select appropriate courses. Furthermore, the student and their advisor should contact the instructor to determine whether the student’s background has adequately prepared them for enrollment in a particular course. Below is a sample listing of some courses available in Vanderbilt’s Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Department of Biological Sciences. These were chosen because they are those most relevant to current areas of research at Fisk, but there are many other departments with many additional course offerings. It will be best to work with your mentor and the Program Leadership to identify courses of interest and stay up-to-date on currently offered courses (many graduate courses are subject to change as new areas of research develop).

Requirements

IGP BioRegulation I:

Beginning in Fall 2019, second year students have the option of enrolling in specific modules of Vanderbilt’s (IGP) Interdisciplinary Graduate Program’s “Bioregulation” course. This is a course typically taken by first-year PhD students in the IGP that is broken into distinct modular domains:

Biostatistics (offered in August before official start of the Fall semester)
Macromolecular Structure and Function
Genetics
Gene Expression
Cell Biology
Signaling
Cell Cycle and Chromosome Dynamics

These modules can be taken by students in the Bridge Program, and each will be given a Fisk course number.

IGP Bioregulation II Series:

Another option is to enroll (with prior approval of your advisor and the instructor of the course) for modules offered by the Vanderbilt Interdisciplinary Graduate Program as part of their Bioregulation II series IGP 300B.

Reminder: more courses are offered in other departments and graduate programs at Vanderbilt University that may match a student’s particular research area and these are typically open to Bridge students also.

Required

CBIO 8312	Introduction to Developmental Biology	3
CBIO 8313	Introduction to Modern Biological Microscopy	2
CBIO 8314	Basic Biological Microscopy	1
CBIO 8320	Cancer and Development	3
CBIO 8330	Seminar in Cell and Developmental Biology	1
CBIO 8331	Current Topics in Developmental Biology - Journal Club	1
CBIO 8341	Molecular Developmental Biology	1-3

CBIO 8345	Fundamentals of Neuroscience I: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience	4
	Or
NURO 8345	Fundamentals of Neuroscience I: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience	4

NURO 8340	Fundamentals of Neuroscience II: Systems Neuroscience	4
CBIO 8349	Genetics of Model Organisms	3
BSCI 4266	Advanced Molecular Genetics	3
BMIF 6310	Foundations of Bioinformatics	3