Program Requirements

The Bacteriology M.S. program is designed to give you an advanced education focused on bacteriology. This is done through curricular and other requirements.

All requirements can be found on the Bacteriology M.S. page in the UW – Madison Guide.

Coursework Track

Year 1

Advising and Orientation: Week before classes begin.

Orientation Advising Meeting and Form: September 15 for fall admits; January 31 for spring admits. Form must be completed by the student to include the first semester’s courses.

Register for Classes: By the first day of class. All classes not on the pre-approved list must be approved by the program director in writing. Requests for approvals must be made at the time of class registration.

Ethics Workshop: Complete during Microbio 875 course (offered Fall only)

Advisor Check in Email: Prior to each semester’s enrollment, IF any non-pre-approved courses are selected.

Advisor Check in Meeting: March 1 for fall admits; October 1 for spring admits.

Seminar Assessment/Research Poster: March 1 for fall admits; August 1 for spring admits. Students must notify the program of their seminar of choice at least 1 week prior to the seminar.

Complete IDP (optional)

Details for the Coursework Track

Students in microbiology lab

Year 2

Register for Classes: By the first day of class. All classes not on the pre-approved list must be approved by the program director in writing. Requests for approvals must be made at the time of class registration.

Complete Coursework Certification Form and Let the Program Coordinator Know your Plans for Graduation: September 15 for fall graduates; January 31 for spring graduates

Advisor Check in Meeting: March 1 for fall admits; October 1 for spring admits.

Research Track

Year 1

Advising and Orientation: Week before classes begin.

Orientation Advising Meeting and Form: September 15 for fall admits; January 31 for spring admits. Form must be completed by the student to include the first semester’s courses.

Register for Classes: By the first day of class. All classes not on the pre-approved list must be approved by the thesis advisor in writing. Requests for approvals must be made at the time of class registration.

Ethics Workshop: Complete during Microbio 875 course (offered Fall only).

Establish a Research Advisory Committee: December 1 for fall admits; May 1 for spring admits

Email Research Advisory Committee to Set Up Your Committee Meeting Date: December 15 for fall admits; May 15 for spring admits

Research and Coursework Proposal and Committee Meeting: March 1 for fall admits; August 1 for spring admits

Complete Coursework Certification Form: March 1 for fall admits; August 1 for spring admits

Complete IDP (optional)

 

Details for the Research Track

Students talking about a research poster

Year 2

Register for Classes: By the first day of class. All classes not on the pre-approved list must be approved by the thesis advisor in writing. Requests for approvals must be made at the time of class registration.

Complete Coursework Certification Form: September 15 for fall graduates; January 31 for spring graduates

Work with your Research Advisory Committee to schedule the date of the Thesis Defense: beginning of the semester in which you plan to graduate

Send an email notification with the scheduled date of the Thesis Defense to the Bacteriology Program Manager: at least three weeks prior to defense date

Research Thesis and Defense: Before the degree deadline: https://grad.wisc.edu/deadlines/

Complete Exit Interview with Program Coordinator: December 1 for fall graduates; May 1 for spring graduates

Required Courses

The following courses (or equivalent) are required for completion of the M.S. degree for both the coursework and research tracks, and may be fulfilled by courses taken prior to entrance to the M.S. program or as part of the M.S. program.

MICROBIO 303 (Online in Summer) Biology of Microorganisms 3
MICROBIO 526 Physiology of Microorganisms 3
MICROBIO 470 Microbial Genetics & Molecular Machines 3
BIOCHEM 501 (In Person and Online) Introduction to Biochemistry 3
MICROBIO 875 Masters Degree Seminar 1

Elective Courses

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Pre-approved Courses

MICROBIO 520 Planetary Microbiology: What Life Here Tells Us About Life Out There 3
MICROBIO/​SOIL SCI  523 Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry 3
MICROBIO 525 Field Studies of Planetary Microbiology and Life in the Universe 3
MICROBIO/​ONCOLOGY 545 (Not Grad 50% – Online) Topics in Biotechnology 1
MICROBIO/​BIOCHEM/​GENETICS  612 Prokaryotic Molecular Biology 3
MICROBIO 626 Microbial and Cellular Metabolomics 3
MICROBIO 657 Bioinformatics for Microbiologists 3
MICROBIO/​BMOLCHEM  668 Microbiology at Atomic Resolution 3
MICROBIO 710 Microbial Symbiosis 3
M M & I/​PATH-BIO  528 (Not Grad 50%) Immunology 3
M M & I 554 Emerging Infectious Diseases and Bioterrorism 2
M M & I/​BIOCHEM  575 Biology of Viruses 2
M M & I 704 Infectious Diseases of Human Beings 3
M M & I 740 Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis 3
M M & I/​PATH-BIO  750 Host-Parasite Relationships in Vertebrate Viral Disease 3
M M & I 760 Quantitative Systems Biology and Disease 3
GENETICS/​MD GENET  565 Human Genetics 3
GENETICS/AGRONOMY/AN SCI/HORT 615 Genetic Mapping 3
GENETICS/ENTOM/ZOOLOGY 624 Molecular Ecology 3
GENETICS/​CHEM  626 Genomic Science 2
GENETICS/BIOCHEM 631 Plant Genetics and Development 3
GENETICS 633 Population Genetics 3
GENETICS/MD GENET/POP HLTH 636 Public Health Genomics 1
GENETICS/​BOTANY/​M M & I/​PL PATH  655 Biology and Genetics of Fungi 3
GENETICS/BOTANY/ENTOM/ZOOLOGY 820 Foundations of Evolution 2
GENETICS 885 Advanced Genomic and Proteomic Analysis 3
GENETICS/B M E/B M I/BIOCHEM/CBE/COMP SCI 915 Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine 1
BIOCHEM/NUTR SCI 510 Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism 3
BIOCHEM 601 Protein and Enzyme Structure and Function 2
BIOCHEM/B M I/BMOLCHEM/MATH 609 Mathematical Methods for Systems Biology 3
BIOCHEM/NUTR SCI 619 Advanced Nutrition: Intermediary Metabolism of Macronutrients 3
BIOCHEM/​GENETICS/​MD GENET  620 Eukaryotic Molecular Biology 3
BIOCHEM/BOTANY 621 Plant Biochemistry 3
BIOCHEM 919 Synthetic Biology Seminar 1
BIOCHEM 924 Membrane Protein Structure and Function 1
CHEM 665 Biophysical Chemistry 4
PUBLHLTH 710 (Online) Introduction to Global Health: History, Current Issues, and Health Statistics 2
PUBLHLTH 711 (Online) Global Public Health and Healthcare Systems: Organizations, Governance, Financing, and Workforce 2
BOTANY/​ANTHRO/​ZOOLOGY 410 (Online in Summer) Evolutionary Biology 3
PL PATH/​BOTANY/​ENTOM 505 Plant-Microbe Interactions: Molecular and Ecological Aspects 3
PL PATH/​ONCOLOGY/MM&I 640 General Virology-Multiplication of Viruses 3
ONCOLOGY 675 Advanced or Special Topics in Cancer Research 1-3
LSC 432 (Online in Summer) Social Media for the Life Sciences 3
LSC 450 (Online in Summer) Documentary Photography for the Sciences 3
LSC 560 Scientific Writing 3
LSC 561 Writing Science for the Public 3
SOIL SCI 585 (Online) Using R for Soil and Environmental Sciences 3
STAT/​ B M I 541 (Online) Introduction to Biostatistics 3
STAT/​F&W ECOL/​HORT  571 Statistical Methods for Bioscience I 4

Advanced Lab Courses (Not Grad 50%)

MICROBIO 304 Biology of Microorganisms Laboratory 2
MICROBIO 527 Advanced Laboratory Techniques in Microbiology 2
MICROBIO 551 Capstone Research Project in Microbiology 2

Online Courses (Need to be Approved)

BOTANY/​F&W ECOL/​ZOOLOGY 460 (Online in Summer) General Ecology 4
DERM 602 Advances in Skin Biology and Skin Diseases 2
GENETICS 466 (Not Grad 50%-Online in Summer) Principles of Genetics 3
GENETICS 662 (Not Grad 50%-Online in Summer) Cancer Genetics 3
NUTR SCI/POP HLTH 621 Introduction to Nutritional Epidemiology 1
PATH 404 (Not Grad 50%) Pathophysiologic Principles of Human Diseases 3
POP HLTH/​ENVIR ST 739 Climate Change, Human and Planetary Health 2
ZOOLOGY/PSYCH 523 (Not Grad 50%-Online in Summer) Neurobiology 3

Archived Pre-approved Courses

MICROBIO 607 Advanced Microbial Genetics 3
MICROBIO 632 Industrial Microbiology/Biotechnology 2
M M & I/​POP HLTH  603 Clinical and Public Health Microbiology 5
M M & I/​PATH-BIO  790 Immunology of Infectious Disease 3
GENETICS 525 Epigenetics 3
BIOCHEM 570 Computational Modeling of Biological Systems 3

Exceptions

Courses from the departments of Genetics, Biochemistry, Bacteriology, and MM&I are generally accepted for electives. If the course you wish to take is not on the pre-approved list, be sure to request approval from your advisor (coursework track) or research advisory committee (research track).

Prior Coursework Policy

Graduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions

With permission of the program advisor, up to 7 credits (Coursework Pathway) or 3 credits (Research Pathway) from another institution may be applied toward degree requirements. The course must focus on central processes of microorganisms and be outside the core requirements of the Bacteriology MS Program. The student must have earned a B or better in the course. Decisions are made by the MS program advisor. Credits earned ten or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree are not allowed to satisfy requirements.

Undergraduate Credits Earned at UW-Madison or Other Institutions

With permission of the program advisor, up to 7 credits (Coursework Pathway) or 3 credits (Research Pathway) from UW-Madison or another institution may be applied toward degree requirements. The course must focus on central processes of microorganisms and be outside the core requirements of the Bacteriology MS Program. The student must have earned a B or better in the course. These credits are not allowed to count toward the 50% graduate coursework minimum unless numbered 700 or above from UW-Madison. Decisions are made by the MS program advisor. Credits earned ten or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree are not allowed to satisfy requirements.

Credits Earned as a Professional Student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers)

Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.

Credits Earned as a University Special student at UW–Madison

With permission of the program advisor, up to 9 credits (Coursework Pathway) or 6 credits (Research Pathway) of courses numbered 300 or above may be applied toward degree requirements. The course must focus on central processes of microorganisms, and the student must have earned a B or better in the course. These credits are not allowed to count toward the 50% graduate coursework minimum unless numbered 700 or above or are taken to meet the requirements of a capstone certificate and has the “Grad 50%” attribute from UW-Madison. Decisions are made by the MS program advisor. Credits earned ten or more years prior to admission to a master’s degree are not allowed to satisfy requirements.

*Students can combine undergraduate transfer credits and special student transfer credits for a maximum of 9 credits (Coursework Pathway) and 6 credits (Research Pathway).