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Overview
Graduate programs leading to both the M.S. or
Ph.D. are offered through the Graduate School-Newark.
Application forms are available upon request from
the Director, Graduate Program in Biology, Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey, 101 Warren
St., Newark, New Jersey 07102-1811. Applications
are also available online at http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu
Applicants for either the M.S. or Ph.D. degree
should have taken undergraduate courses in the
biological sciences, or another pertinent area
of science, equivalent to a major. Full-year courses
in both General and Organic Chemistry, as well
as Physics, also are required. College mathematics
through Calculus is preferred.
In addition to the application form, three letters
of recommendation, undergraduate and graduate
transcripts, and Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
General test scores are required for admission.
GRE scores of 50 percentile or better on each
of the general examinations are required. The
subject test in Biology is recommended. All applicants
whose primary language is not English are required
to submit their scores from the Test of English
as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Completed applications
should be submitted by February 15 for admission
to the Ph.D. program the following fall. M.S.
Applications are accepted until July 15.
Late applications will be accepted only if space
permits.
Electronic application
forms are available. Use program name "Biology"
and program code "26120"
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A
PCA of the 1996 growing season AVHRR NDVI
composites of the midAtlantic coast.
Provided by Professor
Geoff Henebry
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Financial
Support
The Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences, Newark Campus
offers teaching assistantships and graduate
assistantships to qualified graduate students
with strong records of scholastic achievement
and scholarly promise. Assistantships include
tuition remission and have an annual value
of $22,000 per year. During the summer months,
support is generally available in the form
of research positions or summer teaching
appointments. Teaching and graduate assistants
and their dependents are eligible for University-paid
health benefits.
Applicants
are encouraged to compete for Excellence
Fellowships, which are awarded to students
with exceptional undergraduate records on
a competitive basis. Currently, these two-year
awards are valued at more than $20,000 per
annum, including tuition remission.
The Graduate
School-Newark also is the recipient of the
Minority Biomedical Research Support Grant,
providing for research and training opportunities
for minority students. Funded by the National
Institutes of Health, the program provides
financial support to undergraduate and graduate
students in the departments of Biological
Sciences, Chemistry, Behavioral and Neural
Sciences, Nursing and Psychology.
Tuition
Tuition for
full-time study in 2000-2001 os $3,558 per
term for New Jersey residents and $5,217
per term for nonresidents. Tuition for part-time
study is $294 per credit for state residents
and $330 per credit for nonresidents.
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Degree Requirements
Once admitted to
the doctoral program, students are advised by
the Graduate Standards Committee so that course
selection and progress can be monitored. Full-time
doctoral students complete at least two rotations
in research laboratories during the first two
years. Both rotations will require a written
report with a public oral presentation. At the
completion of the two rotations, students must
take and pass an oral candidacy examination, and,
with a research mentor, begin to develop and execute
an independent thesis project. The program also
provides opportunities for teaching experience
to complement research interests and career goals.
Masters candidates
can complete their degree in one of two ways:
Students who choose the Thesis Option must
complete 24 course credits and at least 6 research
credits, and must write and defend a thesis based
on an experimental laboratory or field project;
Students choosing the Non-Thesis Option
take 30 credits of coursework, pass a written
comprehensive examination, and write an extended
report on a topic to be determined by the student
and his/her major advisor.
Research Interests
Currently established
research projects within the Graduate Program
in Biology include those which are investigating
cell cytoskeletal elements, development and regeneration
in the nervous system, calcium regulation in plants,
cellular trafficking, environmental stressors
and their impact on development, opportunistic
parasitic infections in AIDS, environmental bioremediation,
estuarine and salt marsh ecology
and ecotoxicology, plant ecophysiology,
and interactions
of neurotransmitters with the immune system. The
department also is strong in molecular evolution,
cellular biophysics, endocrinology, toxicology,
and microbial physiology. Students participating
in the program earn either an M.S. or Ph.D. degree
through the campus's Graduate School-Newark.
Recent departmental
graduates have gone on to post-doctoral fellowships
at such outstanding research institutions as Harvard,
University of California at Los Angeles, Washington
University in St. Louis, Case Western Reserve,
Vanderbilt, the National Institutes of Health,
and Yale, and have achieved academic and industrial
positions from California to Washington, D.C.
Training Across Disciplines
Adding to the strength
of the department are its collaborative interactions
with the other science units at Rutgers-Newark,
including the Departments of Chemistry, Physics
and Geology, and the Center for Molecular and
Behavioral Neuroscience (CMBN). In addition, the
department participates in the environmental science
programs at the neighboring New Jersey Institute
of Technology and in the graduate and clinical
programs at the nearby University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey.
The department
places a high priority on the training of researchers
who are capable of drawing on a broad range of
scientific views and approaches. Toward that end,
the department is involved in a number of innovative
multidisciplinary research initiatives.
MASTERS
PROGRAM
The Master of Science
in Biology is designed to provide students with
advanced knowledge of both plant and animal biology
and microbiology. The program requires a minimum
of 30 credits. These must include a least one
3-credit course in each of four of the following
five areas: cell biology/biochemistry, molecular
biology, physiology, ecology, and plant biology.
The program also
includes a research component that students meet
by either writing a thesis on an experimental
laboratory or field project or by submitting a
research paper based on current literature in
the field. The topic of the research paper is
determined by both the student and the student's
academic advisor. Students electing to write a
thesis must complete a minimum of 24 credits of
course work and 6 credits of research (26:120:701,702)
and must pass an oral defense of the submitted
thesis. Students choosing the research paper option
are required to take 30 credits of course work,
pass a written comprehensive examination, and
complete the research paper.
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Lobelia growing in the mountains of East
Africa. Subject of much of Professor
Eric Knox's research.
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The Ph.D.
Curriculum
The Ph.D.
Curriculum in Biology is divided into three
tracks. Students may select:
Each track
requires a minimum of 36 credits of coursework
and 36 credits of research.
Required
courses in the Cell/Molecular/Biochemical
Track consist of Biochemistry, Molecular
Biology of Eukaryotes, and Molecular Cell
Biology. A maximum of 6 course credits must
be taken as Laboratory Rotation.
Students
in the Ecology/Evolution Track are required
to take 3 credits each in Ecology, Evolution/Systematics,
and Comparative Physiology, in addition
to the Laboratory Rotations and to their
electives.
The Computational
Biology Track course requirements include
Foundations of Mathematical Biology and
6 credits of mathematical and computational
courses, as well as Laboratory Rotations
and electives.
Individualized
courses of study also are permitted in consultation
with the student's major advisor with the
approval of the Program Director
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Biological
Sciences - 101 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07102
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