The current degree requirements are below. Remember you are required to fulfill the requirements from the academic year you were admitted. Please refer to the handbook from your year of admission as needed.

Required Core (3, 1 credit-hour)

BIO 610 - Introduction to Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) in Life Sciences,

BIO 541 - SOLS Seminar Series

AND

BIO 542 - SOLS Current Topics in the Life Sciences

Electives/Research (24 credit hours)

Students are free to explore a range of topics or use their elective space to more deeply dive into a topic or two. If pursuing the Capstone as your culminating event, coursework should be chosen with this project in mind, which typically looks like a literature review of a particular topic. 

An in-depth list of approved coursework can be found below in the Course Offering Sheet.

• You can take coursework offered by SOLS and other academic units. 

• The only restriction is the number of undergrad, or 400-level, classes: 6 credit hours.

Culminating Experience (3 credit hours)

BIO 597 - Capstone (Default)

• BIO 597 is a structured, C session course where students complete a literature review and an NSF-GRFP-style grant proposal on a life sciences topic of interest. 

BIO 593 - Applied Project

• An Applied Project is an alternative option to Capstone where a student is mentored by a faculty member on a project that can be completed in one semester (e.g., extended literature review, analysis of a dataset, etc.). Students must secure a SOLS faculty mentor willing to guide their project. The final product of the applied project is either a written report or a presentation, and the faculty mentor assigns the grade. (A formal proposal and Program Director approval are required ahead of your final semester.)