Admission to the Program

In addition to meeting the minimum university requirements for graduate study, applicants must have taken undergraduate science courses appropriate to the concentration, or have significant practical background in a relevant science area. A cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) is required. Specific courses needed to prepare for entering the program will be identified through interviews with the applicant. 

Degree Requirements

• 36 credit hours of approved graduate work 
• Tool of research: analytical courses (see Course Requirements, below) 
• One written comprehensive examination 
• Non thesis course work: 6 credit hours in 600-level courses as approved by a faculty advisor, with grades of B or better 
• Students participate in noncredit workshops and seminars on professional skills and current issues in science and technology. Students are required to demonstrate proficiency in these areas as part of the capstone project and internship. 

Course Requirements

Core (18 credit hours)

• 9 credit hours in analytical courses from the following: 

CSC-610 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (3) 

CSC-689 Topics in Computer Science: Simulation and Modeling (3) Informatics and Analytics (3) 

STAT-514 Statistical Methods (3) 

STAT-525 Statistical Software (3) 

Internship and Capstone Project

• One of the following: 

BIO-691 Internship (6) 

CHEM-691 Internship (6) 

CSC-691 Internship (6) 

ENVS-691 Internship (6) 

• One of the following: 

BIO-697 Research Methods in Biology (3) 

CSC-694 Capstone Project (3) 

ENVS-681 Environmental Research Seminar and Practicum (3) 

Concentration (18 credit hours)

Applied Computing

• CSC-520 Algorithms and Data Structures (3) 
• CSC-546 Introduction to Computer Networks (3) 
• CSC-570 Database Management Systems (3) 
• 9 credit hours as approved by  of the faculty advisor, including from the following: 

CSC-543 Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (3) 

CSC-544 Advanced Object-Oriented Programming (3) 

CSC-568 Artificial Intelligence (3) 

CSC-589 Topics in Computer Science (3) 

CSC-689 Topics in Computer Science (3) 

Biotechnology

• BIO-583 Molecular Biology (3) 
• BIO-589 Topics in Biology: Bioinformatics and Genomics (3) 
• CHEM-560 Biochemistry I (3) 
• 9 credit hours as approved by  of the faculty advisor, including from the following: 

BIO-589 Topics in Biology 

BIO-677 Special Topics in Developmental Biology (1) 

BIO-679 Topics in Evolutionary Biology (1) 

CHEM-589 Topics in Biochemistry (3) 

Environmental Science and Assessment

• ENVS-580 Environmental Science I: A Quantitative     Approach (3) 
• ENVS-581 Environmental Science II: A Quantitative     Approach (3) 
• ENVS-575 Environmental Risk Assessment (3) 
• 9 credit hours as approved by  the faculty advisor, from areas such as conservation biology, ecology, or toxicology