Web Site Update to come in January, 2008
Faculty Information
Research Facility
Information
Faculty Research
Interests
Degree Plan A
(Thesis; Master of Science)
Degree Plan B
(Nonthesis: Master of Science)
M.S. Graduate
Program Steps
Changing Between
Degree Plan
Course Work and
Grades
Plan A Thesis Committee
Thesis Proposal
Thesis and Thesis
Defense
Plan B Examination
Committee
Admission Requirements
Student Classification
Graduate Advisors
Financial Support
M.S. and
Ph.D. Program Curricula
Graduate
Policies
Faculty
Information
The Department of
Biological Sciences is composed of fourteen faculty,
a blend of new and more experienced researchers
who employ contemporary methodology to answer
fundamental biological questions. Faculty research
is federally funded by the National Science Foundation,
the National Institutes of Health, the Department
of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the
Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous
private foundations. Support totals about
$2.5 million. National searches to hire additional
faculty are in progress. The department has strong
research representation in celland molecular biology,
microbiology, and cellular and systems physiology.
Faculty research areas include animal virology,
bacterial molecular biology, prokaryotic cytokinesis,
physiology and biochemistry of metal reducing
bacteria, the study of regulatory mutants in corn,
bone cell biology, tissue engineering, the biochemistry
of insect-plant interactions, tick biochemistry
and physiology, sensory neurobiology, sex steroid
hormone receptor regulation, endocrine disruptors,
the biochemistry and molecular genetics of transposable
elements, the physiology and energetics of bird
and bat flight, developmental biology of the eye,
regulation of phospholid metabolism in yeast,
Pseudomonas Aeruginosa virulence factors, and
early developement of the vertebrate body plan.
More information on specific areas of study may
be found on additional pages (see Faculty Research
Interests).
Research
facilities Information
The department benefits
from contemporary facilities in the award winning
Mellon Hall of Science. Recent grants from the
R.K. Mellon, Kresge, and Sony Chemical Foundations,
as well as the National Science Foundation, ensure
that graduate students in biology at Duquesne
have access to modern, well-equipped research
and teaching facilities. Our expanding equipment
inventory includes such recent acquisitions as
computers, high-speed centrifuges, spectrophotometers,
electrophoresis units, DNA thermal cyclers, Philips
electron microscope, Nikon light microscope with
image enhancement features, Computer based neurophysiological
/ physiology laboratories, fraction collectors,
and dissecting and compound microscopes. We have
an excellently appointed computer repair facility
and full-time instrument manager. A modern USDA-approved
animal care facility is housed in the adjacent
Bayer Learning Center.
Faculty
Research Interests
The research interests
of the faculty are described on separate pages
under Biology Research Faculty Interests.
Degree
Plan A (Thesis; Master of Science)
· Plan A
is designed for full time students who wish to
conduct thesis research. Full time students
are those who take nine or more credits per semester
in course work, thesis credits, or teaching assistantship
credits. Students should understand that the Plan
A program requires a full time commitment. Therefore,
part time students may participate in Plan A only
with the consent of the department chair and their
permanent advisor. Part time students are encouraged
to participate in Plan B (see below).
· Only Plan A students are eligible for
teaching assistantships. All teaching assistants
are required
to participate in Plan A throughout the duration
of their degree program. Changing from Plan A
to Plan B will result in the loss of the teaching
assistantship and its associated benefits.
· Plan A students are required to complete
26 credits of course work and 6 credits of thesis
research, for a total of 32 credits for the M.S.
degree. Plan A candidates are also required to
write and defend a thesis.
· Plan A students are required to take
Research Skills (Biol 502), Advanced Cell Biology
(Biol 645), Advanced Molecular Biology (Biol 667)
and Biochemistry I (Chem 501). These courses should
be taken in the fall semester of the student's
first year.
· All Plan A students must register for,
attend, and participate in the departmental seminar
series
(Biol 690). Each student must have four "P"
grades for seminar to graduate with an M.S. degree.
· To remain in Plan A, a student must demonstrate
satisfactory progress each semester based on:
1) research progress, 2) maintenance of a 3.0
or higher QPA, 3) teaching or research assistantship
performance, and 4) adherence to University standards
of ethical conduct.
· Qualified Plan A M.S. students will be
given the opportunity to convert to our Ph.D.
program
in the fall of their second year.
Degree
Plan B (Nonthesis; Master of Science)
· Plan B is designed
for students who do not wish to conduct thesis
research. Students in Plan B
may fulfill the program requirements on a full
time or part time basis. Accordingly, they may
take less than the full semester credit load described
for the Plan A student.
· Plan B students take 32 credits of course
work. There are no specific course requirements
for Plan
B students. Those Plan B students wanting some
research experience may take up to 3 credits of
Biological Research (Biol 695), with the consent
of the faculty member of interest.
· To complete their degree, Plan B students
must pass both written and oral comprehensive
examinations. The scope of these examinations
is determined by the student's committee, which
consists of three faculty members.
· Plan B students are not eligible for
teaching or research assistantships.
Changing
Between Degree Plan
Students may change
from Plan B to Plan A only with the consent of
the graduate student selection committee and the
department chairperson. Students may change from
Plan A to Plan B with the consent of their permanent
advisor and the department chairperson; however,
they may not maintain a teaching or research assistantship
after the change.
Course
Work and Grades
· Requirements
for a graduate degree in biological sciences are
to be met in residence. Six credits of course
work may be transferred from another department
at Duquesne or from another institution, with
approval of the department chairperson. Work for
the degree requirements will normally be completed
within two calendar years of full-time effort.
· Since B level performance is the minimum
expected in graduate work, a student must maintain
a 3.0 QPA. The graduate school requires a B average
for graduation. QPA 's below 3.0 can result in
dismissal of the student from the program.
Plan A Thesis
Committeee
The thesis committee's
responsibility is to provide both guidance and
oversight of the Plan A student's thesis research.
Primary guidance of the research project is by
the thesis advisor. The thesis advisor will serve
as chair of a committee of at least three faculty
members, including the permanent advisor. The
members of the committee are determined by mutual
consent between the student, the permanent advisor,
and potential committee members. This committee
should be formed immediately after the thesis
advisor is chosen. (See Summary of Major Program
Steps for exact deadlines.) While the committee
would usually be made up of faculty from the Department
of Biological Sciences, individuals from outside
the Department may serve with consent of the permanent
advisor and the Departmental chair. The thesis
committee members and the student must sign the
Thesis Committee Agreement Form.
Thesis
Proposal
· It is the responsibility
of the Plan A student to approach and discuss
potential thesis research areas with appropriate
faculty members. The specific research to be done
is a matter of mutual agreement between the student
and the faculty member, who serves as the student's
thesis advisor.
· The thesis proposal is a written outline
of the work to be done. It consists of a thesis
title, a statement of the thesis problem, an introduction
to the problem (including a literature survey),
the research strategy, and anticipated results.
The thesis outline requires the approval of the
permanent advisor, the thesis committee, the department
chairperson, and the Dean of the Bayer School
of Natural and Environmental Sciences.
· A thesis proposal seminar is to be presented
to the department after the proposed thesis research
has been finalized, but before significant thesis
laboratory work has been initiated. See Summary
of Major Program Steps for exact deadlines.
Thesis
and Thesis Defense
· The content
and structure of the written M.S. thesis will
be determined by the advisor and the student.
The thesis committee will review the written thesis.
A copy of the completed thesis should be delivered
to each of the committee members at least two
weeks prior to the thesis defense.
· Thesis results must be presented to the
department in the form of a thesis defense seminar.
A separate examination by the thesis committee
takes place immediately after the thesis defense
seminar. A Report of final M.S. Degree Examination
Form is to be signed by the thesis committee members.
This form is available in the department office.
· Substantial changes in content may be
required before approval of a final copy; therefore,
the defense should be scheduled well before the
graduate school deadline for the submission of
the final thesis. The thesis requires the signatures
of the permanent advisor, members of the thesis
committee, the departmental chairperson and the
dean of the graduate school.
Plan B Examination
Committee
The examination
committee is responsible for administering final
comprehensive written and oral examinations for
Plan B students. The membership of the committee
is determined by mutual consent between the student
and potential committee members. This committee
is usually composed of the permanent advisor and
two other biology department faculty members;
however, individuals from outside the department
may serve with consent of the student, the permanent
advisor and the graduate studies coordinator.
Admission
Requirements
Applicants should
have an undergraduate degree in biology (or a
related sub-discipline) with a basic foundation
in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
Required application information consists of completed
admission forms, application fee, a statement
of educational goals, three letters of recommendation,
complete official undergraduate transcripts, and
GRE scores. Students are required to take the
GRE general test; a subject area test is not required.
Occasionally, a student can be admitted based
on other test scores (e.g., MCAT) but students
will be required to take the GRE general test
by the end of their first semester. Foreign students
must include TOEFL scores and a certification
of financial responsibility. Applicants will be
considered on the basis of their intellectual
capacity, communication skills, motivation, and
aptitude for laboratory research. Applicants with
serious undergraduate course deficiencies may
be required to correct these prior to admission
into the program.
Student
Classification
· Regular
students are enrolled in the graduate degree programs
of the department.
· Unclassified/Provisional Students are
not enrolled in the graduate degree program of
the department and cannot receive a graduate degree
while so classified. This classification is given
to students who do not qualify for admission as
a regular student. This is a temporary status;
to continue in the department these students must
apply for Regular Student status, normally after
one full-time semester. Unclassified students
are not eligible for graduate assistantships and
may not engage in thesis research.
· Special Students are qualified students
who do not wish to become degree candidates. These
individuals may enroll for a particular course
or courses, with the approval of department chairperson
and the professor concerned.
Graduate
Advisors
New students are assigned a temporary advisor from upon arrival at Duquesne. The Graduate Program Director will usually serve in this role. A thesis advisor is secured following short laboratory rotations by a date that normally falls late in October for MS students and Early December for Ph.D. students. A Thesis Advisor Agreement Form must be signed by both the student and the faculty member by this date.
Financial
Support
Most students enrolled in the Ph.D. program finance their graduate studies by working as teaching assistants. At the present time, Ph.D. program teaching assistantships currently carry an annual stipend of $20,00 plus a waiver of tuition and most university fees
For more information about graduate
education in the Biological Sciences, please see
:
ApplicationForms
and Admissions Information
For additional information about
the Department of Biological Sciences, write or
call:
Dr. Joseph R. McCormick, Associate Professor
Department of Biological
Sciences
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Telephone: 412-396-4775
FAX: 412-396-5907
E-mail to: biology@duq.edu
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