MS Requirements


As the Genetics program prepares for the next exciting part in our history with the upcoming merger with the Functional Genomics program, we are in the process of updating our core curriculum. If you have questions about the curriculum, please contact Director of Graduate Programs Dr. Reade Roberts (rbrober2@ncsu.edu) or Graduate Services Coordinator Tyler DeAtley (tdeatle@ncsu.edu). Below is our historical curriculum. If you are interested in the proposed curriculum for the new program, you may see the proposed curriculum here. 

During their first semester, new graduate students participate in at least three laboratory rotations, each rotation being five weeks in duration. These rotations facilitate choosing a major professor and a research focus. Once associated with a particular mentor, an advisory committee of at least three additional professors is assembled. The majority of coursework for the MS is completed within approximately one to two years at the beginning of the program. Following the completion of this coursework, a final written and oral examination is taken. In addition to coursework and research, MS students are required to teach one semester of undergraduate courses.

To see the catalog listings for the below course, please visit the NCSU course catalog.

 

REQUIRED CORE COURSES

 

Number  Department Course Title Credit Hours Semester Offered
GN 701  GN Molecular Genetics 3 Fall
GN 702  GN Cellular & Developmental Genetics 3 Spring
GN 703  GN Population & Quantitative Genetics 3 Spring
GN 810  GN Special Topics in Genetics – Journal Club 1 Fall
GN 850  GN Professionalism & Ethics 1 Fall
ST 511  ST Experimental Statistics for Biologists 3 Fall/Spring

 

(An additional 6 hours of elective courses are required, 3 hours must have substantial Genetics content, such as the examples below.**)


PRIMARY ELECTIVE COURSES

 

Number Department Course Title Credit Hours Semester Offered
GN 713 ANS Quantitative Genetics and Breeding 3 Fall
GN 721 ST Genetic Data Analysis 3 Alt. Spring
GN 725 FOR Forest Genetics 3 Spring
GN 735 GN Functional Genomics 3 Fall
GN 750 GN Developmental Genetics 3 Alt. Spring
GN 756 GN Computational Molecular Evolution 3 Alt. Fall
GN 757 ST Stats for Molecular Quantitative Genetics 3 Alt. Fall
GN 758 MB Prokaryotic Molecular Genetics 3 Spring
GN 761 BCH Advanced Molecular Biology of the Cell 3 Alt. Spring
GN 768 BCH Nucleic Acid: Structure and Function 3 Alt. Spring
GN 810X GN Special Topics in Genetics Var Variable
ST 590C ST Bioinformatics I 3 Fall
ST 590C ST Bioinformatics II 3 Spring
PB 780 PB Plant Molecular Biology 3 Fall
PB 824N PB Topics in Plant Molecular Genetics 3 Alt. Spring
BCH 701 BCH Macromolecular Structure 3 Fall
BIT 510 BIT Core Technologies 4 Fall/Spring
BIT 815X BIT Advanced Modules (Several) Var Fall/Spring

 

†Only three hours of these courses may be counted toward the primary elective requirement.

**Other courses that do not appear on this list may be counted if they have substantial Genetics content. Please consult with the Director of Graduate Programs if you would like to count a course as an elective that is not on this list.