Students should have up to a total of 15 semester hours of enrollment (9 semester hour minimum) for each semester. PhD students should add research hours to reach 15 semester hours total in each of their first four semesters. Electives may be included as desired. 

Most students will also TA either BIOL:1411 or BIOL:1412 during the Fall (M.S.) and Spring (Ph.D.) semesters. A typical schedule for the first two years is as follows:

PhD students should add research hours to reach 15 semester hours total in each of their first four semesters.

6 semester hours of advanced lecture-based courses plus a data informatics course and a free elective are required as part of the iBio curriculum. If a student is required to take a lecture course to make up for undergraduate deficiencies (e.g. physics, biochemistry, or Fundamental Genetics lecture), these do not count towards the 6-semester hour advanced lecture minimum. Specialized introductory courses (e.g. Cell Biology BIOL:2723, Ecology BIOL:2673) also do not count towards the 6-semester hour minimum. A list of approved advanced elective courses can be found in the General Catalog (MS in iBio, PhD in iBio). A list of pre-approved Data Informatics courses and Electives are also at the above links. These lists are not exhaustive, and students are encouraged to seek out other appropriate courses in consultation with their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

The free elective requirement can be fulfilled with either a third advanced lecture course or a second data analysis course. Most students will take more than the minimum during their graduate career. 

All continuing iBio students (PhD and MS) must enroll in the COSMOS I Fall Graduate seminar series (1 semester hour) each fall semester and must participate by giving research seminars as scheduled.
 

In the spring semester of the second year, all iBio students (PhD and MS) must enroll in:

In addition to "Seminar: Writing in Natural Sciences (BIOL: 6188)," PhD students must enroll in 3 (and MS students in 2) more seminar courses during their graduate career. This count includes "COSMOS II Seminar (BIOL: 6299)" taken for 2 semester hours in the second semester/spring of the first year in residence.

Because the topics in both the fall and spring 2 semester hour offerings of "COSMOS II Seminar (BIOL: 6299)" will change each time it is offered, these courses can be taken several times to meet the seminar requirement.

The Critical Analysis of Biological Research (BIOL:5312) course (but not Readings in Genetics, Writing in Natural Sciences, or COSMOS Seminar I) may be counted towards the two required 2 s.h. seminars in the M.S. program but not the Ph.D. program.