The program in biological sciences, administered through the Division of Life Sciences Office of Undergraduate Instruction, is intended to provide a broad and comprehensive training in modern biology. This course of study is recommended for those who wish to study biology as part of their liberal arts education, preparing them for a career in one of the health professions, graduate studies in biology, a teaching career in secondary schools (courses in education also are required), as well as employment in various areas of the life sciences. If a student wishes to concentrate his or her studies in a specific area of biology, he or she should consider a major offered by one of the departments in the Division of Life Sciences or in the
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Faculty advisers are available to assist each student with course selection and program requirements.
A minimum of 20 credits of coursework from among general biology, genetics, and life sciences electives must be completed in residence. In other words, no more than 16 credits in this part of the major requirements may be transferred from any institution outside of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. This rule is intended to assure that students receiving degrees from Rutgers-New Brunswick have taken a minimum number of courses in their major with this faculty. Please keep in mind that although a course may transfer from another institution into one of the Rutgers-New Brunswick schools, it will not necessarily be accepted toward the major in biological sciences. Therefore, all transfer courses must be evaluated and accepted by the advising office of the Office of Undergraduate Instruction in order to count toward the major. As indicated earlier, students must complete both semesters of general biology at the same institution or on the same campus of Rutgers before becoming eligible to declare the biological sciences major. Any life sciences courses applied to the major in biological sciences should be taken within 10 years of
graduating. Returning students must meet
with their adviser to discuss their path to graduation.
Credits for cooperative
education and Winter Session courses (exceeding 1 credit) may not be used to satisfy requirements for the major in biological
sciences. To be applied to the major, Summer Session courses must be offered over a minimum of five weeks. Online courses will
be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to confirm that they meet departmental
learning goals before they may be used to satisfy the requirements for the
major.
The course requirements for the biological sciences major are divided into two sections: the life sciences core courses and the life sciences electives.
Required Life Sciences
Core Courses (47 credits)
01:119:115-116
General Biology I,II (4,4)
01:119:117
Biological Research Laboratory (2)
01:160:161-162
General Chemistry (4,4) or 01:160:163-164 Honors General Chemistry (4,4)
or 01:160:165-166 Extended General Chemistry (4,4)
01:160:171
Introduction to Experimentation (1)
01:160:307-308
Organic Chemistry (4,4) or 01:160:315-316 Honors Organic Chemistry
(4,4)*
01:160:311 Organic
Chemistry Laboratory (2)
01:750:203-204
General Physics (3,3) or 01:750:271-272 Honors Physics***
01:750:205-206
General Physics Laboratory (1,1)***
01:640:135,138 136
Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences (4,4)** or 01:640:151-152
Calculus for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (4,4)
01:447:380 Genetics (4)
* With approval from a Biological Sciences Advisor,
01:160:308/316 may be replaced by another elective course. Please meet with an
Advisor to discuss.
**01:750:193-194 (4,4) or 01:750:201-202 (5,5) may be substituted for
01:750:203-204 (3,3) plus 01:750:205-206 (1,1).
***Calculus II 01:640:1386(4) may be substituted by
01:960:379 Basic Probability and Statistics (3), 01:960:401 Basic Statistics
for Research (3), or 01:960:211-212 Statistics I,II (3,3).
Life Sciences Electives
(24 credits)
It is highly recommended that
students meet with a life sciences adviser in the Division of Life Sciences
Office of Undergraduate Instruction when planning their elective courses. It is
important that the courses taken complement each other as much as possible and
are not merely a collection of unrelated topics.
The electives must include at
least three laboratory courses, only one of which may be satisfied by research
work. Biological Research Laboratory and "library research" do not
qualify for this requirement. A minimum of six courses (18 credits) must be at
the 300 or 400 level, including at least three separate laboratory courses or
three courses with a laboratory component. The laboratory associated with
genetics (01:447:382 or equivalent), if taken, may be used to satisfy one of
the three laboratory requirements.
No course at the 100 level may
be used to satisfy the life sciences elective requirements. A maximum of 6
credits of independent study/research/honors research may be used toward the 24
elective credits. Please keep in mind that a minimum grade-point average of 2.8
is required to enroll in an independent study/research course in biological
sciences. Research courses can satisfy only one of the three laboratory
requirements, regardless of number of credits. Courses taken on a
pass/fail basis may not be used to satisfy requirements for the major in
biological sciences. A grade-point average of 2.0 or better in courses credited
toward the major is required. No more than two courses with a grade of D may be
used to fulfill the requirements of the major.
The elective courses must
include at least one course (3 or 4 credits) each from the Departments of Cell
Biology and Neuroscience 146, Genetics 447, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
694, and Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources 11:216 at the School of
Environmental and Biological Sciences. A list of approved courses in subject
areas in addition to those in the Division of Life Sciences (Biological
Sciences 119, Cell Biology and Neuroscience 146, Genetics 447, and Molecular
Biology and Biochemistry 694) will be published by the advising office of the
Office of Undergraduate Instruction. It is strongly recommended that students
consult this list, which is available on the website, prior to registering for
their courses. Generally, acceptable courses from other departments on any
campus of Rutgers University have a year of general biology as a prerequisite;
however, there are exceptions. It is imperative for students to consult
the published list and
meet with an adviser. Credits from cooperative education and Winter Session
courses (exceeding 1 credit) may not be used to satisfy requirements for the
major in biological sciences. To be applied to the major, Summer Session
courses must be offered over a minimum of five weeksIf double majoring with
another permitted life sciences major, at least four of the 3-4 credit life science courses
applied to the Biology major may not overlap with courses used to fulfill
second major requirements. Given that biological sciences is a dynamic and
developing field, it is critical that coursework applied to the major must be
current. Thus, any life sciences courses applied to the major in biological
sciences should be taken within 10 years of graduating. Returning students
must meet with their adviser to discuss their path to graduation.
