The Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology is offered for students with a Bachelor's degree who wish to obtain advanced level training in those fields of biology that pertain to biotechnology without necessarily earning a Master's degree. Students who enter this program may have a variety of interests including biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, developmental biology, or molecular evolution.
Admission
Students who wish to earn a Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology must apply to the Biotechnology Certificate Program for admission to the program. Students must be enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis either as non-degree students or as Master's students. Students who wish to obtain a Master's degree with a Biotechnology Certificate must be accepted into the Master's degree program in Biology as well as into the Biotechnology Certificate Program. Students who apply to the certificate program as non-degree students will earn only the certificate. Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA for undergraduate course work to be accepted into the program. The minimum course prerequisites for admission to the program are undergraduate courses in genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry.
Requirements
Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to remain in the certificate program and earn the certificate. The certificate is awarded after completion of the courses listed below. Students enrolled in the Master's program may simultaneously earn a graduate degree and count the appropriate courses from the list below toward the Biotechnology Certificate.
The biotechnology certificate requires 18 credit hours of coursework.
Students who are admitted into the master's degree program who wish to earn a biotechnology certificate will fulfill the degree requirements for a M.S. in Biology and will take the courses described below. Students may earn a non-thesis degree or may earn an M.S. with a research thesis, but all students must complete the core courses described below to earn a Certificate in Biotechnology.
Total hours (for either thesis or non-thesis option) - 36
M.S. course requirements:
Biol 401 Current topics in biology - 1 credit hour
Biol 489 Graduate seminar - 4-8 credit hours
The biotechnology certificate requires 18 credit hours of additional coursework.
Other biology courses may be taken to fulfill the 36 credit-hour requirement of the master's degree.