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Department of Biological Sciences
Department Chair: Dr. Gopi Podilla The Program The Graduate Program in Biological Sciences provides instruction and supports creative scholarly activities in the life sciences in programs of study leading to the M.S. degree. The three different program of study tracks (thesis, non-thesis, biology education) prepare students to become competent teachers, researchers and future scholars. Scholarly investigations are directed by a faculty mentor in association with a supervisory committee of faculty from related specialties to develop an area of expertise within the discipline that the student can pursue in further graduate education or as a career in an academic, government or commercial setting. The department emphasizes instruction and research in the following areas: cell biology, environmental biology, genetics and molecular biology, microbiology, and physiology. Further information about the department can be obtained at http://www.uah.edu/biology. The Biology Department also participates in the Environmental Science Certificate Program. The graduate program is exceptional in a number of ways. First, the relatively small number of graduate students fosters an academic atmosphere stressing individuality and close interaction with the graduate faculty. Second, the graduate program is a cooperative effort with Alabama A&M University, providing a combined graduate faculty from both institutions comparable in number to that of a department at a large research university with a diversity of expertise. Finally, since the Master's degree is the terminal degree for the department, we provide a level of mentoring and professional development that other departments typically reserve for their doctoral students. We value Master's students and do not consider them second class graduate student citizens. For students who want only to pursue graduate study at the Master's level or who are unsure about doctoral graduate education, our program provides a unique niche to satisfy that interest at an exceptional level of attention. Twenty-three percent of our recent M. S. degree recipients have gone on for further graduate education. The Master of Science degree with Thesis (Plan I) requires 24 semester hours of course work and 6 hours of thesis. The non-thesis M.S. program (Plan II) requires 33 semester hours of course work. The Biology Education M.S. program leading to Class A certification requires 24 semester hours of course work in Biological Sciences plus 9 hours of graduate course work in Education. All students must pass a written comprehensive exam. The thesis student presents a departmental seminar and defends the thesis. Students pursuing the Plan II or Plan III M. S. degree must submit an acceptable Master's Report, consisting of a review paper on a scientific topic related to the student's area of emphasis or a short, original article on laboratory experimentation. Admission Requirements An applicant must meet the minimum requirements for
admission to the School of Graduate Studies. Furthermore, the applicant
must also show competence in an area of the life sciences, have completed
at least one semester of organic chemistry and/or biochemistry, and
have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale) in the major area of study for
admission to the Biological Sciences graduate program. Applicants who
show potential for graduate work in Biological Sciences, but who have
some deficiencies in their academic background, may be admitted on a
conditional basis. Graduate School applications can be downloaded from
the UAH web site at http://www.uah.edu/HTML/Academics/Grad. The department
has a limited number of competitive Graduate Teaching Assistantships
and the Dimpoullous Fellowship that pay tuition and a monthly stipend.
Questions about the graduate program, the application and admissions
process, potential faculty mentors and appropriate research projects,
or financial support can be forwarded by e-mail to biology.grad@uah.edu
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