Master of Science Requirements

Students who have been approved (by both the School of Biological Sciences and the UC San Diego Office of Graduate Admissions) for the Directed Research Track must complete at least thirty-six units of graduate course work as described below during the graduate year.

Students in the Directed Research Track are required to enroll full time each quarter and must take the following courses for a letter grade.

Students who deviate from this plan will be subject to dismissal from the program.

Students in the Directed Research Track must write and present an MS Thesis to a three member faculty committee. All committee members must approve a student’s MS thesis in order for the student to successfully complete the Directed Research Track. It is anticipated that the thesis committee will be comprised of faculty teaching the required courses, although students may identify alternate faculty should they desire.

The MS Thesis Committee must include:

• Three faculty members, one of whom serves as committee chair
• Two Academic Senate faculty from the School of Biological Sciences (with no more than one teaching professor)
• No more than one adjunct faculty member
  • If an adjunct faculty member serves as chair of the thesis committee, one ladder-rank biology faculty member must serve as committee co-chair.

To meet the minimum requirements for a MS degree at UC San Diego, BS/MS students must complete at least 3 quarters of residency as a MS student. Summer cannot be used as a quarter of residency for MS students.

BS/MS students must maintain a grade-point average of at least 3.000, both cumulatively and for each quarter of enrollment in the graduate program. If GPA falls below 3.000, the student will be subject to dismissal from the program

Students should pay relevant fees during any quarter in which the student is using university resources (taking courses).