• BIOL 4559

    New Course in Biology
     Rating

    4.44

     Difficulty

    3.33

     GPA

    3.60

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    New course in the subject of biology.

  • BIOL 4270

    Animal Behavior Laboratory
     Rating

    4.31

     Difficulty

    2.33

     GPA

    3.70

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This laboratory course provides hands-on experiences with experimental approaches used to study animal behavior. The laboratory exercises explore visual and auditory sensory perception, biological clock, reproductive and aggressive behaviors using actively behaving animals such as hamsters, cichlid fish, crickets and electric fish. Students are given opportunities to design hypothesis-testing experiments in some laboratories.

  • BIOL 8240

    Professional Skills for the Life Sciences I
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.75

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    Introduces professional skills to first-year graduate students in the life sciences. This includes personal skills such as research management, ethics training and career awareness. Skills for communicating in science include small grant writing, poster creation and presentation. Emphasis will be placed on developing a scientific community that recognizes and values diversity.

  • BIOL 4045

    Neurodegenerative Diseases
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.76

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This course for advanced undergrads will focus mainly on research about Alzheimer's disease, and will meet once/week for 3 hours. The first 3 weeks will be primarily didactic, and the remainder of the course will be a "journal club" in which primary research paper discussions will be led by teams of students. Assessments will be based on how well students lead and participate in discussions, and on exams.

  • BIOL 4900

    Independent Study in Biology
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.82

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    Independent study under the direction of a Biology faculty member for students to read and critically assess primary research papers and current reviews in a focused area of the life sciences. Directed readings and discussions can be used to explore how contemporary topics and research areas can be incorporated into other formal courses. Students will have the opportunity to develop both scientific writing and oral presentation skills.

  • BIOL 4920

    Independent Research in Biology
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.84

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    Independent research for qualified undergraduates under the direction of a faculty member within the Biology Department. Prerequisite: Instructor Permission

  • BIOL 7240

    Foundations of Neuroscience I: Genetics, Development, Molecular-Cell Bio
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.86

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This intensive, graduate-level course is designed to provide a foundational understanding of the principles underlying the development, genetics, and molecular-cellular biology of the nervous system. Over the span of the semester, students will engage with three core areas of neuroscience: Genetics in Neuroscience, Neurodevelopment, Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) of Neurons.

  • BIOL 4020

    Computational Evolutionary Biology Lab
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.87

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    The evolutionary history of a population can be studied by examining patterns of genetic variation among individuals. Using information about genetic variation, we can infer historical evolutionary events like migration and adaptation. In this lab course, you will learn to utilize genomic data to conduct evolutionary inference. We will learn fundamentals of population genetics, bioinformatic skills, and research methods applied to real short-read sequencing data.

  • BIOL 4585

    Selected Topics in Biology
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.87

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    Periodic seminar offerings to provide intensive study of the scientific literature in focused areas of Biology.

  • BIOL 8260

    Writing in Science: creating grant and research proposals
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    3.88

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    Developing skill in communicating scientific principles and writing compelling research proposals is essential for successful graduate training in the biological sciences. This seminar and workshop course will focus on how to create effective grant and research proposals in preparation for thesis research. Students will be actively involved by presenting their research progress and plans, and critiquing each other's written proposals.