Degree Requirements

Note: Details are also available in the Student Handbook [PDF].

Requirements for the Professional Master's Program in Applied Biosciences include 36 units minimum of coursework organized in the following way:

Disciplinary Courses

12 units of advanced graduate coursework in any of the life sciences disciplilnes forms the core of the science curriculum.

Cross-Disciplinary Courses (Electives):

Electives are chosen from a broad range of subjects depending on the students interests and career choices, and can be taken in subjects and departments such as:

• Animal Sciences
• Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
• Bioinformatics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Cancer Biology
• Cell Biology & Anatomy
• Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
• Entomology
• Genetics
• Microbiology & Immunology
• Molecular & Cellular Biology
• Neuroscience
• Pharmacology & Toxicology
• Physiology
• Plant Pathology
• Plant Sciences
• Veterinary Science & Microbiology

Research

The Applied Biosciences Master's is a non-thesis degree. Students are not required to participate in laboratory research but may choose to do so if they:

1. Are employed in a laboratory on campus;
2. Have previously started a research program and have the permission of their advisor to continue; or
3. Have made special arrangements with a particular faculty member.

Research can be done in almost any related department on the main campus or in the Arizona Health Sciences Center. Examples of departments are listed above. Students work with their advisors to determine where and how their research component will be executed.

Business Courses

Students are required to take the two business courses (Business Fundamentals for Scientists, and Project Management) especially designed for the Professional Science Master's Degree by the Eller College of Management.

Industrial Colloquium Series

The Industrial Colloquium Series, with speakers from industry, is a degree requirement. Students in the Program are expected to attend and participate. The colloquium is vital to gaining knowledge about scientific work in a business environment, and is an opportunity for the student to begin establishing valuable contacts.

Internship

An internship in industry, a national laboratory, or some other setting inside or outside the University is an essential part of the degree. Alternatives to traditional internships will be designed for students who are already employed in industry. The Internship should expose the student to a hands-on experience in an environment that may be of interest to them for a career, whether it is in industry or in a research laboratory. Credit will be based on an academic project associated with the internship. In most cases, the academic project will be the thesis or final project for the entire program. The internship is waived for students who are currently full-time employees in industry; however, a written record/project associated with their work experience is required.

In addition to internships in laboratories or industry, students have the option in enrolling in the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program. The one year program gives students options including:

1. Feasibility and Market Assessments. Students working in teams and individually to identify potential applications for early stage UA owned technologies and knowledge sets and conducting an assessment of the market potential, assisting inventing faculty and the UA Office of Technology transfer in decision making regarding ongoing research and development and in enhancing funding options.
2. Commercialization Planning and Business Plan Development. Graduate and undergraduate business and non business students have the opportunity to develop comprehensive investment quality business plans for UA technologies and knowledge sets as the driver for their entrepreneurship education delivery. For over one year, business planning teams comprised of entrepreneurship students, inventing faculty, mentors in residence, technology mentors, and Office of Technology Transfer personnel. All aspects of market potential and business formation are addressed.

Thesis/ Final Project:

Some type of culminating written record of the student's internship project or research is required. It may be in the form of a Master's thesis or a significant report typical of those used in a specialty, such as a technical report, user's manual, or portfolio. The project will be defined by the students advisor and committee. Good organizational and writing skill should be demonstrated in the production of this document. The student will defend and/or present their final project/thesis for their committee and peers. While this report is not a thesis, it should be as comprehensive and rigorous as one. The level of detail and analysis should be comparable. The Student Handbook [PDF] gives more details on the scope and form of the final project.

Masters Committee: The student selects an advisor within the first year based on their selected specialty. Advisors may be chosen from any of the Life Science disciplines on campus. The advisor and student then select two additional committee members to advise the student and evaluate their program completion. Advisors and committee members are often chosen for their connections with industry.

Graduate College Requirements: It is the student's responsibility to be aware of and plan for the requirements of the Graduate College. Information is available in the Student Handbook [PDF] and the Graduate College website.

Graduation requirements: The degree has the attractive feature of not requiring a written qualifying examination. However students must fulfill minimum GPA requirements. Students in the Professional Science Master's Degree Program must maintain a GPA of better than 3.0. If a student's GPA falls below 3.0 they are put on academic probation by the Graduate College. Students with two semesters of academic probation are removed from their degree program. The Applied Biosciences program requires the student's final defense to include a 45 minute public seminar based on their final project.