Master's Degree Program

The BICB graduate program offers the master’s degrees under two different plans: Plan A, which requires a thesis; and Plan B, which substitutes additional coursework and a capstone experience. 

Every M.S. graduate student will have a temporary advisor assigned when entering the program. The student is expected to decide on a research area by the end of the first year and to choose a permanent advisor by the end of the first year.

The examining committee for a M.S. graduate student must be chosen by the end of the first year. It consists of at least two members from the BICB graduate faculty and, if the student has a Minor, one member from the student’s Minor. If the student does not have a Minor, all members of the examining committee may be from the BICB graduate faculty but must represent at least two different budgetary units. The advisor will be the chair of the examining committee.

A degree program is a list of coursework that you submit to the Graduate School as the basis for your degree. The Degree Program Form is available online. You need to file the form with the Graduate School when you have completed about 10 credits (and no later than by the end of the second semester for full-time students and the end of the second year for part-time students). List only graduate level courses (one 4000 level course is permitted). The Graduate School requires that at least 60% of the coursework for the official degree programs (excluding thesis credits) are completed as registered University of Minnesota Graduate School students. When you file your degree program, the Graduate School appoints your examining committee. Once the degree program is approved, any changes must be petitioned to the Graduate School by submitting a Petition Form.

Core Areas & Electives

M.S. students (Plan A and Plan B) are required to gain competency in Core Area 1 and at least one of the Core Areas 2-5 (total of at least 9 credits, including Core courses with the BICB designator).The Core Areas are:

1. Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology
2. Database, data mining, and computing
3. Informatics, analysis, and machine learning
4. Mathematics, biostatistics and statistics
5. Computational and systems biology

M.S. students will take at least five credits of Elective courses (including Elective courses with the BICB designator). The Elective courses are from the following eight areas:

1. Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology
2. Informatics, database, data mining, and computing
3. Mathematics, biostatistics and statistics
4. Chemistry, chemical engineering, and physics
5. Biophysics and structural biology
6. Imaging, information theory, and signal processing
7. Computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry and drug design
8. Clinical and translational sciences

There is a limit of one 4xxx level course counted in the total course credits. Courses that are used to satisfy course requirements in the Core Areas of the interdisciplinary program cannot simultaneously be used to satisfy credit requirements for a Minor. A maximum of 6 course credits in the Elective courses may be applied towards a Minor and thus count toward satisfying both the Elective and the Minor requirements.

M.S. students will take at least 1 credit in Ethics and at least 1 credit of Leadership and Management courses (see the course list) that cover the areas legal and intellectual property issues; academic leadership; science and technology leadership; and Clinical and translational research and entrepreneurship. M.S. students are required to take one semester of BICB 8920 (BICB Seminar) and two semesters of BICB 8930 (Journal Club). These seminars or courses may count toward Elective courses.

This program adopts Graduate School standards: The Graduate School requires a minimum GPA of 2.80 (on a 4.00 scale) for courses included on any official master's degree program form. Courses with grades of A, B, C (including C-), and S may be included in the official degree program, but grades of S are not calculated in the GPA. Students pursuing a Plan A master's degree are required to register for 10 thesis credits (BICB 8777); these registrations are not graded and therefore cannot be used to meet course credit requirements. At least two-thirds of the course credits included on any M.S. degree program form must be taken A-F. Rules for transferring courses from other programs follow Graduate School guidelines.