Integrative Biology MS

The Integrative Biology Graduate Program provides training in the following broad subject areas: cellular and molecular biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, physiology, ecology, evolution, and animal behavior. There is great flexibility in our graduate program to serve the diverse scholarly interests and cultures in the Department of Integrative Biology. Each students course of study is tailored to his or her individual interests, career goals, and needs, and we admit students with diverse academic backgrounds. The path taken by a student results from a deliberative process that involves discussions between the student and the students advisor and advisory committee.

The Department of Integrative Biology faculty strongly believes that graduate education should be distinguished from undergraduate education in recognition of individuality and emphasis on responsibility in graduate students. This philosophy requires flexibility and is not well served by the imposition of many formal requirements to be met by all students. Rather, more emphasis is placed on the role of advisory committees in devising programs of breadth and depth appropriate for individual students with due regard to areas outside of biology which are important for the student's effectiveness in their chosen field.

The faculty, students and staff in the Integrative Biology Graduate Program are committed to supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We believe that each persons identity, background, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, beliefs, and other experiences fuel the creativity and innovation that are central to scientific discovery.In our program we also require a diversity statement in your application.

FACILITIES

Facilities and staff are available for advanced study in a wide variety of biological fields including aquatic and terrestrial ecology, conservation biology, cell/molecular/developmental and neurobiology, endocrinology, ethology, genetics, evolution and systematics, comparative physiology, and physiological ecology.

In addition to a broad range of well-equipped laboratories, research facilities includeadvanced microscopy facilities, limnological laboratories on campus (Lake Mendota) and in northern Wisconsin (Trout Lake), the University Arboretum, the Zoological Museum, and a Molecular Systematics Laboratory.

1. Master fundamental skills in at least one of the broad subject areas represented in the Department of Integrative Biology.
2. Demonstrate understanding of major current and past theories, research findings, and methodologies and techniques in their area of concentration.
3. Develop critical thinking skills. Retrieve and examine scientific literature, evaluate evidence for and against hypotheses, identify knowledge gaps, strengths and weaknesses in existing literature, synthesize knowledge, and develop conclusions.
4. Complete an original research project in one of the broad subject areas represented in the Department of Integrative Biology.
5. Retrieve, evaluate, and interpret professional scientific literature and use this information to select and/or use the most appropriate methods for their own research project.
6. Conduct research, analyze, and interpret resulting data. Prepare a thesis or research report describing their research project.
7. Effectively communicate in writing and orally.
8. Write a clear and concise research report.
9. Present research articulately and informatively. Have opportunities to engage in public outreach and education.
10. Understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
11. Trained to use scientific rigor when designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting and reporting results.
12. Trained in the ethics of publishing.
13. Know and adhere to laws, regulations, needed permits and licenses, occupational health and safety standards.
14. Provided with diverse training that will prepare them for a range of flexible and sustainable careers (e.g., academia, industry, government, science policy and administration, science commerce, science writing, law, and science education and outreach at all levels).
15. Develop broadly applicable skills in critical thinking and problem solving.
16. Have opportunities for teamwork, communication skills, and collaborations.

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a comparable degree from an international institution is required. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree. You must have completed your undergraduate degree, or similar, before starting graduate school.

A minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required. Applicants from an international institution must demonstrate strong academic achievement comparable to a 3.00 for an undergraduate or master’s degree. The Graduate School will use your institution’s grading scale. Do not convert your grades to a 4.00 scale.

Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English, must provide an English proficiency test score. TOEFL scores must be submitted electronically via ETS. IELTS scores can be submitted electronically or by paper.  Our office address is: UW-Madison Graduate School, Office of Admissions, 232 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706.  Your score will not be accepted if it is more than two years old from the start of your admission term. Country of citizenship does not exempt applicants from this requirement. Language of instruction at the college or university level and how recent the language instruction was taken are the determining factors in meeting this requirement.

Applicants are exempt if: