Students choose among three areas of study: BioInnovation, Biomedicine, and Environmental Biology.

The Biological Sciences Ph.D. program at Missouri S&T will require 72 hours of graduate credit. For students who enter the program directly with a baccalaureate degree, this will include a minimum of 30 credit hours of 5000-, and 6000-level lecture courses, and a minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate research. Students who enter with a master’s degree may transfer in 30 credit hours which will count toward the total seventy-two-hour program requirement. Students entering with an MS will be required to complete a minimum of 12 hours of 6000-level lecture courses, and 24 credit hours of graduate research.

A qualifying exam based upon a research proposal written and defended by the student will be successfully completed no later than the end of the fifth semester of enrollment, and a plan of study will be approved by a student’s advisory committee by the end of the semester in which the qualifying exam is passed. A comprehensive exam will be completed after the student has completed their coursework. Upon conclusion of research, the student will complete a written dissertation and successfully defend the dissertation in their final exam (defense).

All students in the Biological Sciences Ph.D. program will complete a minimum of 6 hours of data analytic competency courses. Options include any graduate courses in statistics or any graduate computer programming, database management, machine-learning, or artificial intelligence courses.

Graduate students who are interested in industry career paths will be strongly encouraged to cultivate industry connections and to perform an industry-supported internship prior to graduation.

Explore the Graduate Student Handbook for comprehensive information on the program and department, ensuring you have all the information for a successful academic journey.

Graduate Student Handbook