Biochemistry

Welcome from the Chairman

About the Program

Faculty

Courses

Master of Arts

Doctor of Philosophy

Students who have completed an undergraduate degree usually with a major in biochemistry, biology, or chemistry, and have taken courses in general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and calculus may apply for an MA in biochemistry. Coursework in biochemistry and physical chemistry is also recommended. 

A part-time MA program is available to qualified applicants who are research techinicians working with a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine.  To learn more about this program, write to the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Barbara Schreiber, Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA  02118; call (617/683-5094); or emailing (schreibe@biochem.bumc.bu.edu).  A student currently enrolled in our MA program in biochemistry may apply for the PhD program if he/she has successfully completed 12 or more graduate credits in biochemistry (including GMS BI 755/756 and excluding GMS BI 854.

 

Completion of the MA program requires 32 credits.  Some of these credits are taken as formal courses (including GMS BI 755/756, GMS MS 753, GMS BI 782 and GMS BI 854), and the remainder are taken as research credits.  MA candidates are also required to submit a written thesis based on laboratory research performed under the direction of a faculty memeber of the Department of Biochemistry.  The program is designed so that the student can complete formal course work during the first year.  In addition to coursework during the first term in the program, students rotate through two laboratories to idnetify a laboratory in which the thesis work will be performed.  The student then initiates his/her thesis research during the second semester of the first year, while completing the formal coursework. 

Eight semester courses (32 credits), including:

(1) Biochemistry (GMS BI 755, 756 or the equivalent)

(2) GMS MS 753 Cell Biology

(3) GMS BI 782 Molecular Biology

(4) GMS BI 854 Biochemistry Seminar

(5) a maximum of 14 credits in research.

Normally, all candidates submit a written thesis based upon their laboratory research. Under special circumstances a comprehensive examination or a library thesis may be substituted for the research thesis at the discretion of the Committee on Graduate Student Affairs.