Biotechnology

The Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences offers the Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Agricultural Biotechnology.

The Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences is an interdepartmental degree program offered by the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Agricultural Sciences in the School of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences.

 
Admission Requirements: Ph.D. Program

Administered by the Department of Biological Sciences. Applicants to the Ph.D. program must submit a completed application form, a personal statement describing interest in the program and professional goals, and three letters of recommendations from persons familiar with the applicant's academic work, especially in biology. The departmental admissions committee will base admission upon these materials and interviews with selected applicants.

Admission requires the applicant have a bachelor's degree from a fully accredited four-year college or university, a minimum score of 1370 calculated from the GPA multiplied by 200 and added to the GRE combined verbal and quantitative scores and a minimum score of 600 on the GRE subject test in biology. Students may also be admitted with subject test scores below 600, but such students must take the departmental diagnostic examination. The admissions committee will evaluate the student's performance on the examination and design a curriculum to eliminate any identified weaknesses. After passing the recommended courses with a grade of "B" or better in each, the student will begin the Ph.D. curriculum.

Programs of Study: Ph.D. Program

The degree candidate must file a program of study after competing nine (9) semester hours of graduate work, but before completing fifteen (15) hours of graduate work. The program lists the courses which will be used to satisfy degree requirements, as well as detailing how other requirements will be met. The student may later change the program of study with the written approval of the Department and the Graduate School.

Admission to  Candidacy: Ph.D. Program

The student must apply for admission to candidacy after completing the 24 hour core of required courses (See Degree Requirements below), with an average of "B" (3.00) or better, passing the comprehensive examination, and gaining approval of the dissertation proposal. Students may have a "C" grade in no more than two courses (6 credit hours), neither of which can be a core course. No "D" or "F" grades are acceptable. A student who receives a grade of "C" in excess of six credits must repeat the course and achieve at least a "B".

Degree Requirements: Ph.D. Program

After gaining admission to candidacy, the student must complete an approved curriculum (24 hours minimum of electives set by the student's research advisory committee), enroll in Graduate Seminar (BIOL 7010, 7020), complete a dissertation (24 hours), and successfully defend the dissertation prior to gaining the Ph.D. degree (please refer to Biological Sciences Graduate Student Handbook for specific dissertation requirements). A student entering with a Master's degree may have applicable hours transferred toward the Ph.D. program, as determined by the Advisory Committee. The total number of hours required is 76.

For additional information:
Contact Dr. S. Singh.

Graduate Elective Courses

Click on the name of the course to see the description

AGSC 5160 Animal Genetics and Breeding


AGSC 5190 Plant Breeding


AGSC 7010 Advancements in Agricultural Biotechnology


AGSC 7020 Economic, Regulatory and Ethical Issues in Biotechnology


AGSC 7030 Gene Expression and Regulation and Regulation in Higher Plants


AGSC 7040 Plant Tissue Culture Methods and Applications
Course Description

AGSC 7050 Biotechnology in Animal Reproduction


AGSC 7060 Advanced Soil Technology


AGSC 7070 Molecular Genetic Ecology

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Degrees 

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences
(concentration in Agricultural Biotechnology)

Research

A genomic and proteomic search for segregating adipose genes in broilers

A molecular model for tolerance to toxic metal ions in plants

Characterization of root proteomes for drought and salt tolerance in wild tomato species

Mitigating the effect of plant disease through an understanding of bacterial soft rot

Genetic characterization of upland cotton chromosome substitution lines using multiple molecular markers

Microencapsulation-based technologies for effective delivery of micronutrients and nutriceuticals through fortified and functional foods

Characterization of novel hydrolytic enzymes for improving conversion efficiency of lignocellulosic biomas into ethanol

Mutagenesis of switchgrass to select for herbicide resistant mutants and varieties and selection of alternative energy crops

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For admission to any of the TSU doctoral programs, the prospective student should apply through the School of Graduate Studies.