Cellular and Molecular Biology, M.S.

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STEM Designation: This program is STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)-designated by the Department of Homeland Security. For more information, please see https://www.newhaven.edu/admissions/stem-designated-programs.php

Program Outcomes

1. Students will exhibit mastery of advanced cell and molecular biology content

2. Students will be able to critically analyze primary literature from cell and molecular biology journals

3. Students will employ appropriate experimental design and formulate testable hypothesis

4. Students will effectively communicate scientific principles and data verbally or in writing

5. Students will be able to utilize basic and advanced laboratory techniques, computational tools and equipment.

A minimum of 38 to 39 credit hours of graduate work must be completed to earn the Master of Science degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Candidates for the program must have a background in biology, chemistry or a related field with specific course work that includes genetics or molecular biology, general and organic chemistry and biochemistry.

The program has both thesis and non-thesis options. Students who elect the thesis option must carry out an original thesis research project under the guidance of University of New Haven faculty, by taking a minimum of 9 credit hours of thesis related research courses: CMBI 7695 - Independent Study for Thesis Preparation, CMBI 7698 - Thesis I and CMBI 7699 - Thesis II, over a minimum of three academic terms. The Thesis option can be elected after a minimum of 9 credits hours of graduate study with a minimum GPA of 3.3, and approval of the program coordinator. Thesis preparation and submission must comply with the graduate policy on theses as well as all requirements for the department.

Students choosing a non-thesis option are required to take a minimum of 12 credit hours of laboratory course work in addition to a written comprehensive exam. The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to assess the candidate's understanding of their course work and to evaluate the ability of the candidate to synthesize research and theory in the field of cellular and molecular biology and to present this information in an effective written format. After a minimum of 18 credits of graduate course work, non-thesis students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 may elect 3 credit hours of research, consisting of CMBI 6690 - Research Project, or CMBI 6688 - Internship I, upon the approval of the program coordinator.

Thesis Option (38 credits minimum)

Second Spring term:

Non-Thesis Option (39 credits minimum):

First Fall term:

CMBI 6606 - Molecular Genetics/Genomics
CMBI 6617 - Cell Culture Techniques with Laboratory
or
Elective (from list of electives below)
CMBI 6608 - Evaluation of Scientific Literature
or
ENGL 6659 - Writing and Speaking for Professionals

First Spring term:

CMBI 6603 - Nucleic Acid Biochemistry
CMBI 6613 - Molecular Biology of Nucleic Acids with Laboratory
CMBI 6609 - Data Analysis in the Environmental and Biological Sciences
or
CMBI 6622 - Database Systems for Biological Research
or
BIOL 6605 - Biostatistics
or
Elective (from list of electives below)

Second Fall term:

CMBI 6601 - Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology
CMBI 6611 - Molecular Biology of Proteins with Laboratory
Elective (from list of electives below)

Second Spring term:

CMBI 7607 - Advanced Topics in Cellular Biology
BIOL 6605 - Biostatistics
or
CMBI 6609 - Data Analysis in the Environmental and Biological Sciences
or
CMBI 6622 - Database Systems for Biological Research
or
Elective (from list of electives below)

CMBI 7694 - Comprehensive Exam

Electives for both Thesis and Non-Thesis options:

BIOM 6621 - Tissue Engineering Laboratory
BIOM 6636 - Cell Biomechanics
CHEM 6650 - Medicinal Chemistry I
CHEM 6655 - Pharmacology
CMBI 6620 - Bioinformatics
CMBI 6621 - Bioinformatics Programming/Python
CMBI 6622 - Database Systems for Biological Research
CMBI 6625 - Advanced Bioinformatics
CMBI 6633 - Nutritional Genomics
CMBI 6636 - Immunology
CMBI 6647 - Molecular Biotechnology
CMBI 6650 - Molecular Targets, Drug Discovery and Precision Medicine
CMBI 6652 - Virus and Disease
CMBI 6653 - Environmental Microbiology
CMBI 6656 - Receptors, Signaling, and Disease
CMBI 6670 - Special Topics
CMBI 6680 - Graduate Seminar
CMBI 6688 - Internship I (non-thesis only)
CMBI 6689 - Internship II (non-thesis only)
CMBI 6690 - Research Project (non-thesis only)
CMBI 6695 - Independent Study I
CMBI 6696 - Library based-Independent Study II
PHYS 6620 - Introduction to Nanobiotechnology
PHYS 6670 - Selected Topics
Any CMBI course (minimum 3 credits) not already required by the program.

Research Options for Cellular and Molecular Biology

Non-Thesis Option ( CMBI 6688 or CMBI 6690)

Work related to these courses can be performed at the University of New Haven or at an outside laboratory that satisfies the University's requirements. Student can choose from these courses after a minimum of 18 credit hours of graduate course work with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and the approval of program coordinator.

Thesis Option (CMBI 7695, CMBI 7698 & CMBI 7699)

The thesis option is highly recommended for CMB students who wish to further their education in a Ph.D. or other doctoral program. Students who elect to write a thesis must include CMBI 7695 Independent Study for Thesis Preparation, CMBI 7698 and CMBI 7699 , Thesis I and II or the chemistry or physics equivalents. All the research for the thesis must be performed at the University of New Haven, and must be advised by full time faculty members of the University and one of the advising faculty members should be selected from the Department of Biology and Environmental Science. Students can select the Thesis option after completing 9 to 20 credit hours of graduate study with a minimum GPA of 3.3 and the approval of the program coordinator.

The first research course, CMBI 7695 Independent Study for Thesis Preparation, is designed to introduce the student to the specific research field and allow the student to develop the necessary research techniques as well as to work on the Thesis proposal and determine the committee members for the thesis. Prior to registering for CMBI 7698 Thesis I, the student must complete the Proposal for Thesis form and attach the Thesis proposal developed during CMBI 7695 in which the proposed subject, the methodology and the hypotheses are described. The student next secures an approval signature from the faculty member who will serve as the thesis adviser. The student must then receive approval for the proposed thesis and the thesis adviser from the Department Chair, Program Coordinator and the Provost's Office. Only after the Registrar has received the approval form with necessary signatures will the student be permitted to register for thesis.

Completion of Thesis I is a prerequisite for Thesis II registration. The two may not be taken concurrently. A preliminary draft of the thesis must be presented to the adviser at least 75 days prior to commencement. The thesis adviser will then schedule the thesis defense before the student's thesis committee. Successful defense of the thesis, with any edits to the written thesis, must be completed at least three weeks prior to the date of commencement. Upon approval by the adviser and program coordinator, unbound copies are presented to the Provost's Office. Students must complete and defend the thesis within the time limit for completion of the degree.

After successful defense and approval by the Provost's Office, thesis credit is awarded. Final, unbound copies of the thesis are deposited with the Provost's Office to be forwarded for binding at the University Library where they become part of the permanent collection. The Department or Program Coordinator may require additional copies of the thesis.

For guidance in the preparation of theses, graduate students should consult the University's Dissertation & Thesis Manual (3rd edition, 2012). Questions not resolved by the instructions should be settled in consultation with the adviser and by reference to a standard style manual.

The University of New Haven participates in the University Microfilms, Inc. (UMI) Dissertation Services program and provides assistance to doctoral students for registration of dissertations and copyrights.