Biomolecular Engineering Contiguous Bachelor's/Master's Pathway

Because the bioinformatics concentration of the Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics (BME) B.S. provides excellent preparation for a graduate program in bioinformatics, we offer a contiguous B.S./M.S. degree pathway that allows those students to complete the M.S. somewhat sooner than students with a less-tailored preparation.

The current B.S. and M.S. requirements have three courses in common:

BME 80G, Bioethics in the 21st Century*
BME 205, Bioinformatics Models and Algorithms*
BME 230A, Intro to Computational Genomics and Systems Biology*

*These courses must be passed with a grade of B- or better to meet the M.S. requirements.

In accordance with UCSC Graduate Council guidelines for contiguous five-year bachelor’s/master’s programs, students are required to complete 35 credits during the master’s phase of the program, which may include graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses, but no more than 15 credits may be upper-division undergraduate courses. Since BME 205 and BME 230A are taken in the undergraduate phase, the credits cannot be counted toward the overall credits required by the M.S. degree.

Biomolecular engineering graduate courses suitable for fulfilling the 35-credit requirement include, but are not limited to, BME 215, Applied Gene Technology; BME 230B, Advanced Computational Genomics and Systems Biology; BME 232, Evolutionary Genomics; BME 272, Precision Medicine; BME 278, Stem Cell Biology. Suitable courses are to be selected in consultation with the Biomolecular Engineering Graduate Advising Committee, the student, and the student’s faculty mentor.

The combined B.S./M.S. degree pathway does not make any changes to the undergraduate program nor the graduate program, except that students must pass the overlapping courses listed above for a grade of B- or better.

To apply for the combined pathway, students apply to the M.S. program through the normal graduate admission process in the fall of their senior year. If admitted into the graduate program, they are automatically included in the combined B.S./M.S. pathway.

Other Course Requirements

Graduate-Level Quantitative Science Course

Students must take one 5-credit graduate-level course focused on quantitative science. Suitable courses are to be selected in consultation with the Biomolecular Engineering Graduate Advising Committee, the student, and the student’s faculty mentor.

Seminars

A minimum of three seminar courses (6 credits), including at least one quarter of the 2-credit biomolecular engineering seminar (BME 280B):

BME 280B

Seminar on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering

Because the intent of the seminar course requirement is to ensure breadth of knowledge, BME 281-series courses do not count as a seminar, since these are lab group meetings.

Transfer Limitations

Up to two graduate courses may be transferred from other graduate institutions with the approval of the faculty advisor and the graduate director. However, please note that students will still be required to complete 35 credits while in the graduate program at UC Santa Cruz, pursuant to UCSC's rules on minimum units for the master's degree.

Other Requirements

Bootcamp Activity

Entering graduate cohorts are encouraged to participate in the hands-on “bootcamp” just before the start of the fall quarter. Bootcamp activities include program orientation, laboratory safety training, teaching assistant (TA) training, fellowship advice, cohort building activities, practical advice for navigating graduate school, and a hands-on research project.

Further Study Outside the Department

No further courses are required. However, with faculty guidance students often choose to take upper-division undergraduate courses or graduate courses outside the department to make up for deficiencies in background areas of particular importance.

With consent of the graduate director, variations in the composition of the required courses may be approved.

M.S. Capstone Requirement

This is a Plan II capstone. Students must complete an individual project or a group project with a final written report submitted as part of the final evaluation. That project must be proposed by the student or student-group and be approved by BME faculty. Students will usually spend 2-3 quarters on the project and must include a BME faculty member for approval of the final written report. Group projects must describe in the written report a mechanism for evaluating the individual contributions of each member of the group.

Upon admission into the combined B.S./M.S. program, students should immediately seek out a BME faculty member to oversee their individual or group project. A faculty member must be identified by the first quarter of the M.S. phase.

Adequate Progress

Graduate students receiving two or more U (unsatisfactory) grades or grades below B- in courses relevant to the program are not making adequate progress and will be placed on academic probation for the next three quarters of registered enrollment.

Graduate students who fail (unsatisfactory or lower than B-) a relevant course while on probation may be dismissed from the program. Students may appeal their dismissal. Graduate students who fail a relevant course after being removed from probation are immediately returned to academic probation.

Graduate students experiencing circumstances that may adversely affect their academic performance should consult with their advisor and the graduate director.

Applying for Graduation

All candidates for a degree must submit an Application for Master's Degree to the Graduate Division by the date stated in the Academic and Administrative Calendar for the quarter they wish to receive the degree. The deadline for degree applications is typically in the second week of the quarter. For more information about applying for graduation, visit the Baskin Engineering Graduate Studies website.