2024-2025 Graduate Course Catalog 
    
    Nov 09, 2024  
2024-2025 Graduate Course Catalog

Biotechnology, MS


Program Director

Ramesh Raina (Executive Director of Biotechnology Program)
464 Life Sciences Complex  
raraina@syr.edu
 
Surabhi Raina (Director of Biotechnology Graduate Programs)
462 Life Sciences Complex
sraina@syr.edu

Contact

Sarah Hartmann
Graduate Academic Support Coordinator
114 Life Sciences Complex
315.443.9154
biograd@syr.edu

Faculty

BIOLOGY:
Yasir Ahmed-Braimah, Abrar Aljiboury, Melanie Blanden, Carlos Castañeda, Heather Coleman, Steve Dorus, Christopher Fernandez, Scott Erdman, Thomas Fondy, Austin Garner, Sarah Hall, Heidi Hehnly, James Hewett, James Hougland, Louis James (Jamie) Lamit, Katharine Lewis, Sarah Lucas, Jessica MacDonald, Eleanor Maine, Allison Oakes,   Angela Oliverio, Melissa Pepling, Ramesh Raina, Surabhi Raina, Robert Silver, Roy Welch, Jason Wiles

CHEMISTRY:
Arindam Chakraborty, Robert Doyle, James Hougland, Yan-Yeung Luk, Mathew Maye, James Spencer, Michael Sponsler, Rachel Steinhardt, Nancy Totah

ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE:
Jesse Bond, Eric Finkelstein, Julie Hansenwinkel, James Henderson, Xiyuan Liu, Zhen Ma, Dana Radcliffe, Dacheng Ren, Pranav Soman, Pun Yung

WHITMAN:
Robert Florence, Don Harter, Alexandra Kostakis, Peter Koveos, E. Scott Lathrop, Catherine Maritan, Alexander McKelvie, Kira Reed, Ravi Shukla, John Torrens, Johan Wiklund, Zhengping Wu


Program Description

The Biotechnology MS program is designed to create a strong scientific workforce by providing students with advanced training appropriate for jobs in academia, government, or the private sector.  This three-semester, non-thesis academic and laboratory master’s-level training program prepares students for careers in biotechnology research, industry or management, while also offering excellent preparation for further training in graduate school or professional doctoral programs.

Gateway Courses (21 credits)

All students are required to complete a series of seven Gateway courses in biological sciences, business management, and industrial biotechnology.

Elective Courses (15 credits)

In addition, elective courses allow each student’s program to be individually structured to provide maximum flexibility in choice of coursework.  The rich variety of available biotechnology course offerings spans three different colleges at Syracuse University:

Students are able to personalize their curriculum with elective courses in one of four tracks:

  • General Biotechnology Track
  • BioBusiness Track
  • BioMedical Sciences Track
  • Industrial Biotechnology Track

Students wishing to follow the General Biotechnology track may select elective courses from all three of the other areas.

Advisory Board


The Biotechnology MS program includes external collaboration in the form of an Advisory Board made up of five academic and industry professionals who will meet yearly with faculty to provide guidance and insight into emerging trends in the field.  This will ensure that the program develops and maintains relevant student competencies and produces competitive applicants for future employment.  The Advisory Board will also hold periodic panels with students in the program, providing contacts, insights, advice, and information for career development.



Student Learning Outcomes


Upon completing the program, students will be able to:



  1. Evaluate the extent to which Biotechnology research and businesses meet contemporary standards of ethical, inclusive and equitable practices.
  2. Formulate research questions and develop solutions to current problems in Biotechnology using a multidisciplinary approach.
  3. Use a variety of laboratory techniques in the design, implementation and analysis of experiments that address problems in Biotechnology.
  4. Critically evaluate scientific literature in the context of current, real-world applications in multiple areas of Biotechnology.
  5. Develop professional networking, leadership, communication and collaborative skills appropriate for professional-level employment in Biotechnology research and/or industry.

Biotechnology MS Program Requirements


Gateway Courses (21 credits)

All students must complete the following seven required lecture and laboratory courses, which will provide solid groundwork in advanced principles from three different areas of biotechnology-biological sciences, business management, and industrial biotechnology:

Biotechnology Tracks


In addition to completing the seven required gateway courses, students will personalize their remaining curriculum by choosing to pursue one of the four following biotechnology tracks, and completing an additional 15 credits:



  1. General Biotechnology Track
  2. BioBusiness Track
  3. BioMedical Sciences Track
  4. Industrial Biotechnology Track

1. General Biotechnology Track (15 credits)


Students select at least 15 credits of elective courses from the course list for any of the three tracks (i.e., BioBusiness, BioMedical Sciences, or Industrial Biotechnology), including at least 3 credits from each of the three track disciplines:



  • BioBusiness (EEE, MBC, or SCM courses)
  • BioMedical Sciences (BCM, BIO, or CHE courses)
  • Industrial Biotechnology (BEN courses)

2. BioBusiness Track (15 credits)


Students select 12 credits of elective courses from the following list of courses.  The remaining 3 elective course credits required to complete the program must be selected from the course list for either of the other tracks (i.e., BioMedical Sciences or Industrial Biotechnology):



3. BioMedical Sciences Track (15 credits)


Students select 12 credits of elective courses from the following list of courses.  The remaining 3 elective course credits required to complete the program must be selected from the course list for either of the other tracks (i.e., BioBusiness or Industrial Biotechnology):



4. Industrial Biotechnology Track (15 credits)


Students select 12 credits of elective courses from the following list of courses.  The remaining 3 elective course credits required to complete the program must be selected from the course list for either of the other tracks (i.e., BioBusiness or BioMedical Sciences):



Total Degree Credits - 36