26:120:503
Plant Morphology (3)
Study of the major groups of vascular plants: lycopods, ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Emphasis on their morphology, anatomy, and reproductive biology, with discussion of evolutionary trends and occurrence in the fossil record.
Prerequisite: Undergraduate ecology or botany, or permission of instructor.
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26:120:504
Plant Physiology (3)
Survey of modern aspects of plant physiology with emphasis on recent literature. Topics include photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, transport, development, and physiological genetics.
Prerequisites: 26:120:503, organic chemistry, and physics; or permission of instructor.
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26:120:507
Computational Ecology (3)
This course is designed to be accessible to biology and ecology graduate students. This is not an "equations on chalkboard" course. As well as ecological theory, learn how to use a general-purpose computing package--a skill which will likely help in your own research, whether you use it for design, analysis, or simply processing data.
Prerequisite: Basic college calculus.
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26:120:509,510
Advanced Problems in Biology (BA,BA)
Advanced studies for doctoral student rotations through at least two departmental research laboratories.
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26:120:512
Cell Biology: Methods and Applications (3)
This course aims to provide students with a foundational knowledge of current laboratory techniques and methodology used by cell biology research laboratories. Through building an understanding of experimental approach and research design methods, students will learn about the many research tools available and how to plan more effective experiments themselves. Students will then use this understanding of cell biology techniques to develop a framework approach for reading primary scientific papers and provide critical analyses of data.
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26:120:515
Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes (3)
First-year graduate course providing an accelerated review of eukaryotic molecular biology. Introduces critical reading and discussion of current journal articles. Nucleic acid biochemistry, molecular technology, transcription, RNA processing, chromosomal structure, molecular anatomy of the genome, genomic rearrangements, gene control signals, DNA-protein binding, carcinogenesis, and oncogenes.
Prerequisites: Molecular biology and biochemistry.
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26:120:522
Resource Sustainability (3)
Builds upon fundamental principles of ecology such as resource dynamics, population density, and ecological crisis to include the alteration of the ecology on earth through human influence. The interdependency of social, economical, and environmental factors influencing resources, their distribution, and depletion are the focus of
this course. Building upon Rutgers-Newark's urban setting, the course will integrate the many facets of urban living, resource availability and
consumption, and the sustainability for future generations to live.
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26:120:523
Scales of Biodiversity (3)
A graduate-level introduction to biogeography, community, and population ecology. Demonstrates how the diversity of ecological systems is measured and explores how these fields relate to one of the most striking attributes of our earth: biodiversity. The class also demonstrates how the richness and diversity of ecological systems can be measured and understood.
Prerequisite: Undergraduate-level evolution, plant, or animal ecology or equivalent.
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26:120:524
Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology (3)
Advanced analysis of cellular systems with emphasis on cytoplasmic structure and function.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate courses in two of the following: cell biology, molecular biology, or biochemistry. Exceptions by permission of course instructor.
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26:120:526
Topics in Cell Biology (3)
Journal review format in which original research is critically read, analyzed, and discussed. Recent course topics have included molecular motors, cytokines, methods in model systems, and signaling pathways in neurodevelopment.
Prerequisite: 26:120:524 or permission of instructor.
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26:120:532
Evolution (3)
Critical examination of theories and mechanisms of evolution of animal groups. Emphasis on gene pool dynamics, models of speciation, and adaptive radiations. Consideration of evolutionary relationships of major invertebrate and vertebrate groups.
Prerequisite: Undergraduate genetics.
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26:120:534
Biological Invasions (3)
Biological invasions by nonnative species have become one of the major environmental problems and an emerging focus of biological research. The course will primarily address the ecological and evolutionary aspects of this ever-growing problem. After describing patterns of invasion and linking them into a scientific framework, applied aspects will be addressed focusing on aspects of societal concern and workable counterstrategies.
Prerequisite: Background in ecology or evolution.
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26:120:538
Topics in Molecular Genetics (3)
Lecture and laboratory course on the principles and techniques of molecular biology. The laboratory portion of the course will immerse students in a semester-long laboratory project, in which the students will perform molecular methods (isolation of RNA and plasmid DNA, PCR, restriction digests, cloning into GFP vectors, sequencing), learn the safest use of molecular biology lab equipment and reagents, and rigorously interpret and analyze results.
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26:120:548
Biology of Cancer (3)
Examination of the mechanisms by which cancer cells arise, develop into tumors, and metastasize. Topics include chemical, biological, and physical risk factors associated with cancer.
Prerequisite: Biology background.
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26:120:560
Effective College Teaching (3)
Provides graduate students with formal training for teaching. The course will permit you to explore state-of-the-art, research-based methods that have been shown to work. Emphasis is on developing practical skills that can put to immediate use. It is taught in a workshop format with a high level of participant interaction, allowing one to work with the content of his or her own discipline or professional field to learn how to develop diverse student abilities.
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26:120:568
Neuroendocrinology (3)
This is a basic course that covers current topics in neuroendocrinology such as stress, obesity, and immunity. This course, which is at the intersection of the endocrine System and the nervous system, will also address the role of environmental factors in modulating these physiological and behavioral processes. The course focuses on the role of the hypothalamus, an essential organ in the brain, in regulating the activity of endocrine glands and discuss the consequences on health when such intricate regulation is lost or modulated.
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26:120:588
Topics in Advanced Ecology (3)
Discussion of selected topics in advanced ecology. Current literature and newly developing approaches and theories stressed.
Prerequisite: Graduate course(s) in ecology.
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26:120:590
Introduction to Environmental Biophysics (3)
Fundamental fluid mechanics in terrestrial ecosystems. Fluid encompasses all gaseous and liquid media, and their mechanics are transport phenomena, conductivity of surfaces, and their physical properties.
Through mechanistic models, data handling, and simulation, students will quantitatively and qualitatively assess transport processes such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) in the atmosphere, biosphere, and in soil in terrestrial ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and urban areas.
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26:120:593
Ecophysiology (3)
Fundamental principles of how plants interact with their environment and what mechanisms are underlying these responses.
Through field experiments and subsequent data analysis, empirical models and simulation will enable students to apply the principles conveyed and assess processes such photosynthesis, water transport in plants, and nutrient cycling between the atmosphere, biosphere, and in soil in terrestrial ecosystems such as forests and urban areas. Through understanding and quantitatively assessing these phenomena, students will be able to make inferences to human health and environment.
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26:120:594
Systematics (3)
Present theory of the nature of the Mendelian species: theories of species origin, polytypic species concept; isolating mechanisms; the reduction of interspecific competition; and mechanisms of evolution above the species level.
Prerequisites: Genetics, vertebrate or invertebrate zoology, and permission of instructor.
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26:120:610
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (3)
This course introduces students to the groups of vertebrates
and explores the anatomical evolution of vertebrates within the context of the
functional interrelationships of organs and the changing environments to which
vertebrates have adapted. An ideal entry point into the ways living creatures
interact with their immediate physical world, we examine how the forms and
activities of animals reflect the materials available to nature and consider
rules for structural design under environmental forces.
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26:120:616
Topics in Biology (BA)
Discussion of advanced topics in the biological sciences. Current literature and newly developing approaches and theories stressed.
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26:120:640
Cellular Neurophysiology (3)
This course will examine the nervous system from
a functional perspective. The goal is to understand how ion channels and other
components of nerve cells give rise to electrical excitability and synaptic
function, and how those properties are then used for coding information and
higher order function in the nervous system.
Prerequisites: Graduate student status or permission of the instructor.
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26:120:651,652
Biology Colloquium (1,1)
Various biological topics of current interest discussed by a series of experts in the field.
Open to all graduate students in good standing in the biology graduate program and by permission to students in other graduate programs. All Ph.D. students must participate.
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26:120:697
Growth factors in the Nervous system (3)
This course explores the function of growth factors in the nervous system, to provide an understanding of how different growth factors regulate the function of neurons and glial cells in the nervous system. In the course, students discuss signaling mechanisms and their functional consequences.
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26:120:701,702
Research in Biology (BA,BA)
Research for M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation.
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26:120:725,726
Independent Study (3)
Research for M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation.
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26:120:800
Matriculation Continued (E1)
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48:120:612 (NJIT)
Comparative Animal Physiology (3)
Explores how animals, from invertebrates to vertebrates, function from the cellular to the organism level. The study of the structure and function of the various organs provides insight into how animals survive extreme environments and how they respond to changes in their environment. The comparative approach shows that the underlying physiological principles that govern life are common to all animals, and yet animals have evolved unique and sometimes startling physiological solutions to problems posed by their particular environments.
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48:120:615
Approaches to Quantitative Analysis in the Life Sciences (3)
A
graduate seminar-style course based around case studies of common data
analytic methods used in the life sciences. The case studies are
designed to help students who are interested in applications of
statistical thinking to biological sciences appreciate the scope of
quantitative methods, their underlying concepts, assumptions and
limitations. While the mathematics of specific methods are not covered,
students will get an understanding of the diverse
approaches to statistical inference in the life sciences.
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48:120:628 (NJIT)
Cell Biology of Disease (3)
Briefly reviews normal physiological function of humans and then extensively explores the basis of many human diseases at the cellular level. The goal is to understand how alterations in normal cell functions affect human physiology by reviewing current research in the field of cell biology.
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48:120:630 (NJIT)
Critical Thinking for Life Sciences (3)
Researchers in the biological sciences must understand and be able to effectively apply the scientific method, and they must also be able to clearly communicate their ideas and results. This course will involve heavy student participation and discuss the scientific method, analyze and discuss data gathering and organizing, and analyze existing grant proposals with the goal of enabling graduate students to write a clear and convincing grant proposal.
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48:120:638 (NJIT)
Computational Ecology (3-0-3)
An overview of computational approaches to the study of mathematical models in ecology. Topics include one-, two-, and multispecies models, life history analysis, spatial dynamics, epidemiology. The course is taught as a hands-on computer lab in which students explore models, perform simulation, and solve problems.
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48:120:641 (NJIT)
Systems Neuroscience (3)
Examines neurophysical phenomena from a systems perspective. The course will review basic concepts of cellular neuroscience, such as excitability, impulse conduction, and integration of activity at the cellular level, before focusing on network-level physiology of the nervous system and its role in the generation of behavior. The goal is to provide students with the basic knowledge to understand neurobiological processes at all levels of complexity.
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48:120:788 (NJIT)
Selected Topics in Biology (3-0-3)
Survey of recent research topics in biology at the doctoral level.
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48:120:789 (NJIT)
Selected Topics in Biology (3-0-3)
Survey of recent research topics in biology at the doctoral level.
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48:120:791 (NJIT)
Biology Seminar (0)
This seminar includes student and faculty presentations on current papers, student presentations related to their research, and occasional outside speakers. It will acquaint students with possible topics for dissertation search and provide an opportunity to present and receive feedback on current work.
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Programs, Faculty, and Courses 
