Note: At this time, applications are being accepted only for the Accelerated Track within the Biology Master's Program. Current enrollment as a Truman undergraduate student is a requirement for application to the Accelerated Track. For further information, please visit the Program's website or contact the Program Director.
The Biology MS degree program is designed to provide students with practical training in biological research and advanced knowledge within a chosen specialty area. Through graduate coursework and a thesis research project, students learn to identify important research problems, to design and conduct experiments for the critical testing of hypotheses, to carry out specific research methodologies, and to develop expertise in communicating scientific information. The goal of the biology graduate program at Truman is to provide the additional knowledge, maturity, and experience necessary for graduating students to be actively recruited by the nation's foremost institutions granting doctoral level graduate and professional degrees and by private companies and governmental agencies for challenging and meaningful positions.
The program is structured so that a student may concentrate effort in a selected area of biology. These include: 1)cell and molecular biology, 2) structural biology, 3) physiology, 4) genetics, and 5) ecology and evolutionary biology. Students complete a required common core of courses totaling 14 semester hours (including thesis) plus 22 semester hours of electives. Each graduate student also conducts an independent research project under the guidance of a faculty advisor and graduate committee. Advisors include faculty from the biology discipline as well as faculty from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. The committee is composed of a minimum of three members of the graduate faculty, one of whom must be from outside the biology area.
1. Bachelor's degree in biology or chemistry.
2. A 3.0 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale (in exceptional cases this may be waived).
3. Scores on the General Graduate Record Examination at or above the 50th percentile. (Scores on the GRE Biology exam are optional, but recommended.)
4. Three letters of recommendation.
5. Personal statement of interests in biology and career goals.
For more information, contact the Biology Graduate Program Director:
Biology Department
Truman State University
100 E Normal
MG 3042
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4642
Also, you may browse their website or read more about the Master of Science in Biology program in the current Graduate Catalog.