2011-2012 University Catalog 
  
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2011-2012 University Catalog

■ School of Systems Biology

Phone: 703-993-8400
Web: ssb.gmu.edu

Faculty

Professors: Bailey (distinguished), Jafri, Kashanchi, Liotta, Petricoin, Popov, Soyfer (distinguished university), Vaisman (Associate Director), Willett (Director), Wu

Associate professors: Baranova, Christensen, Fryxell, Grant, Kinser, Klimov, Seto

Assistant professors: Cox, Hakami, Kehn-Hall, Luchini, van Hoek

Adjunct faculty: Pitt, Solka

Affiliate faculty: Baxevanis, Bokhari, Camphausen, Carr, Cooper, Grefenstette, Hakami, Ikonomi, Kim, Lipsky, Masso, Marr, Matson, Matthews, Monroe, Reck, Sobie, Van Tassell, Ward, Williams

Emeritus: Isbister, Royt

The new School of Systems Biology results from the merger of the Department of Molecular and Microbiology with the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. The School offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in bioinformatics, and graduate degree programs in biology and bioscience. The School also offers research opportunities at the graduate and undergraduate levels. For additional details about current faculty research activities, please visit the School’s website, ssb.gmu.edu.

Course Work

The School offers all graduate and undergraduate course work designated BINF and BIOS in the Courses  chapter of this catalog, as well as all BIOL graduate courses.

Other Undergraduate Programs

The School of Systems Biology works closely with and provides faculty and administrative support to the Biology Undergraduate Program, through which the BA and BS degrees in Biology are offered. Refer to the Biology Undergraduate Program  section for more information on bachelors degrees in Biology.

Policy on Using Laboratories

Only authorized experiments and exercises may be carried out in the School’s research and teaching laboratories and must be done under the supervision of a university faculty or staff member. No unauthorized work is allowed in any laboratory.

Policy on Using Organisms in Classes

Direct observations of actual organisms are considered an essential part of learning biology at all levels. Direct observations of organisms may involve the use of living or preserved specimens, dissections of organisms or parts of organisms, and microscopic examination of organisms or parts of organisms. All use of live animals conforms to National Institutes of Health guidelines for the use and care of laboratory animals. Activities specified above may be a required part of a course and thus serve as a basis for grading in the course. Any questions about the administration of this policy should be directed to the course coordinator or instructor.

Biology, Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s Degree

Qualified undergraduates may be admitted to an accelerated master’s program and obtain both a BS and an MS within an accelerated time frame. This program is open only to those students who wish to pursue the master’s degree concentrations in microbiology or molecular biology. Students admitted to this program may take graduate courses after completing 90 undergraduate credits, and up to 6 credits of graduate work may be used in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the undergraduate degree. If students earn at least a 3.00 in these classes, they are granted advanced standing in the master’s program and must then complete an additional 24 credits to receive the master’s degree. All other master’s degree requirements must be met, including a minimum of 18 credits taken for the master’s after the bachelor’s degree is completed.

Students with an overall GPA of at least 3.00 may apply for provisional acceptance to the accelerated master’s program after completing BIOL 213, 303, 304, 305/306, 307, and 311; and CHEM 315 and 318; or after completing 75 undergraduate credits including BIOL 494. Three letters of recommendation, including one from a prospective thesis or project advisor, are required.

After completing 120 credits and all requirements for the bachelor’s degree and filing the Graduation Intent Form, students are awarded a bachelor’s degree. Accelerated master’s students must then submit scores on the GRE general exam to have the provisional qualifier removed. Ordinarily, students should receive a minimum combined score of 1,100 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the exam.

Programs

    Undergraduate MinorMaster’s DegreeMaster’s Level CertificateDoctoral Degree