Admission Requirements

Applicant must possess an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution in a related field (i.e. Agriculture, Biology or Life Sciences) to meet prerequisites and meet the following requirements:

The applicant should follow instructions for General Requirements for Admission to Graduate Study as shown above.

A cumulative undergraduate G.P.A. of at least 2.75 or better on a 4.0 scale is required.

The Master of Science degree in Biotechnology has the following as its primary objectives: (1) increasing the number of students currently underrepresented in graduate education in the area of Plant / Animal / Applied Biotechnology, (2) preparing students for study toward a terminal degree in the area of biotechnology and other bioscience disciplines at the institutions of higher education in the state of Georgia and across the nation, (3) enhancing the scientific and technical knowledge base of our students for employment in biotechnology / bioscience related academics, industries and associated agencies, and (4) preparing students for the leadership roles in a technologically advanced society through learning of the unique aspects of biotechnology, such as animal biotechnology, cell biology, plant biotechnology, Food Bioprocessing and safety / security, nanobiotechnology, commercial biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, and other developing / emerging innovative biotechnology applications.

Classes are held on the Fort Valley campus as well as the Warner Robins campus.

Students will be required to take 36 semester credit hours in course work designated to have numbers between 5000 and 6999 to satisfy the requirements for the Master of Science degree in Biotechnology (MS in Biotech). Out of the total 36 semester credit hours, 6 credit hours will be allotted to thesis research. The combination of graduate level courses for each enrolled student will be determined by the graduate advisory committee with input from the graduate student(s).

Master’s candidates will be required to submit written and oral presentations of their proposed thesis research or internship projects, in consultation with their major professors or advisors, for assessment by the graduate committee prior to starting the thesis research or internship program. The student will be assessed in his/her oral presentation for organization, mastery of the subject matter, and presentation effectiveness. The written proposal will be assessed for technical completeness and feasibility.

Each student who will develop a thesis or write an internship report is encouraged to focus on a subject for research/internship early in his or her candidacy. With the help of his or her academic advisor, the student must choose three or more advisors as a thesis or internship committee by the time 18 hours of graduate study have been completed. At least one of these advisors must be a faculty member in the student’s graduate degree program. The graduate program department head should approve the three advisors chosen for this purpose, with final approval from the Graduate Dean.

A student can only register for thesis when the program coordinator receives official notification from the student’s thesis advisors. If at any time the student wishes to change the constitution of the thesis committee, a request stating the reason for the change must be submitted in writing to the program coordinator, and the change must be approved by the Graduate Dean. If a thesis committee member requests to be removed from the committee, a substitute must be approved by the graduate program department head with the final approval from the Graduate Dean.

A student who has received an “incomplete” on the thesis and has completed all other requirements is required to enroll and pay the required fees for three credit hours in any subsequent semester that he/she returns to remove the incomplete. Such students are ineligible for thesis consultations and use of library facilities during any interim period when they are not officially enrolled.

The thesis report is considered complete when it is unanimously approved by the thesis committee, when it is approved by the Dean of the Graduate College, when it is in the format specified in the Fort Valley State University Thesis Template, and when documentation is presented reflecting binding requirements are met and paid for.

Students will be required to present two graduate seminars during their Master’s Degree program. The first will be based on a current literature review in their respective area of interest relevant to thesis Research. The second seminar will be based on their thesis research and will be presented to the biotechnology and associated faculty before graduation. The biotechnology faculty will evaluate each presentation for technical content, student’s mastery of the subject matter, including mastery of techniques and use of appropriate technology. The student will be required to successfully defend his/her research thesis to the graduate committee in order to graduate.

Following are the suggested course sequences for the Applied Biotechnology option: