The Graduate Program
Email graduate advisor: Dr. Laura Katz.Goals of ProgramAt Smith we have a small number of graduate students, both men and women, who enjoy the advantages of an individually tailored program, the personalized attention of fine faculty members and access to superb facilities. The master's degree program in the Department of Biological Sciences at Smith College is appropriate for those students with an undergraduate degree in biology who missed the opportunity to engage in research during their undergraduate years and who now wish to obtain an intense research experience prior to applying for jobs or Ph.D. programs. Our master's degree students find that the additional educational experience they receive at Smith places them in an excellent position for obtaining jobs in industry, government, private foundations, law, finance and so on. In addition, some of our master's degree students have continued their education in excellent Ph.D. programs.Smith is in a particularly good position to teach students at the master's degree level. Unlike many universities, the M.A. at Smith is the terminal graduate degree and, more importantly, it is recognized as valuable degree both to the student and the department. Since Smith has no Ph.D. program and few post-doctoral fellows, our master's students receive a great deal of individual attention and advising. They also are required to take on important responsibilities within the department. For example, master's degree students at Smith assist in courses and are often heavily involved in training undergraduate researchers.
Applicants should contact two or three faculty members who might be appropriate advisors based on the faculty research interests. Identification of appropriate laboratories for applicants will help in the application process as we discuss applications with potential mentors. Because of the emphasis on laboratory-based learning in the master's program, identifying an advisor early also enables students to start their research immediately upon arriving at Smith. Additional information and forms can be obtained from the Smith College graduate office . Smith College requires all master's students to take a minimum of 32 credits of work, at least 16 of which must be at the graduate level. Of the remaining 16 credits, no more than eight may be given for intermediate (200) level courses. To count towards the degree, all grades must be a B minus or higher. Master's students arrive on campus having already identified a potential advisor and conduct research during both years of their program. This research ultimately results in a thesis that is read by the advisor plus two additional readers. A written thesis is required of all students in the master's program. The master's degree candidate is also required to present his or her research to the department at the end of the fourth semester. In addition to these formal academic experiences, many graduate students regularly attend one of the several lunch bag seminars that meet weekly (e.g. Frontiers in the Life Sciences or Chemistry). The graduate committee also strongly recommends that each graduate student be required to present either a journal article or research update, at least once a year, in an appropriate forum such as one of the lunch seminars.
Graduate Level Courses (arranged by topic) :
Colloquium on Molecular Medicine Animal Behavior Biogeography INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
In addition, graduate students can, and often do, take courses at the other schools participating in the five college consortium, including the University of Massachusetts. In consultation with the graduate advisor, master's students at Smith have ample opportunity to build a challenging and appropriate graduate program. * specific topics for seminars change year by year
Email gradstudy@smith.edu to request an application for graduate study.
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