Biotechnology (M.S.)

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School of Sciences and Engineering

Professors: H. Azzazy (CHEM), H. El-Dorry (BIOL), A. Shaarawi (PHYS and
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research), S. Zada (BIOL)
Associate professors: H. Salem (MENG), R. Siam (BIOL and Program Director)
Assistant professors: A. Amleh (BIOL), J. Grubich (BIOL), A. Rafea (CSCE), E. Cruz-Rivera (BIOL)

The Master of Science program in biotechnology provides postgraduate education to prepare students for a career in biotechnology through the construction of a firm foundation in the science and engineering of biotechnology and to provide an introduction to bioentrepreneurship.

A total of 33 credit hours is required for the Master of Science degree. This consists of 24 credits hours of courses, 6 credit hours of thesis work, and 3 credit hours of seminar.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the Master of Science in Biotechnology are:

To introduce students to a combination of fundamentals and frontline applications in the field of biotechnology.
To introduce students to regulatory affairs, intellectual property issues, and ethics related to different aspects of biotechnology.
To introduce students to principles and requirements of bio-entrepreneurship.
To provide the students with a deep understanding of the research techniques and data analysis in the area of specialization.
To train students to solve biotechnology-related problems, think critically, function well in a team, and communicate effectively.
To train students at a high standard of written and oral communication skills on technical matters

Admission

A Bachelor’s degree in sciences or engineering, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0, is required for admission into the biotechnology master’s program. Admission is also subject to the general university requirements for the graduate program. For those students whose grade records indicate promising ability, but who otherwise did not have an adequate preparation in sciences or engineering, admission may be granted under the requirement that remedial courses will be taken.

Courses (24 credits)

The program of study is planned with the faculty advisor, and should include 12 credit hours of core courses and 12 credit hours of electives.

Core Courses (12 credit hours)

To be chosen from the following courses:

BIOT 501 - Biochemistry (3 cr.)
BIOT 502 - Cell and Molecular Biology (3 cr.)
BIOT 503 - Biotechnology (3 cr.)
BIOT 504 - Experimental Biotechnology (3 cr.)
BIOT 505 - Basics of Bioentrepreneurship (3 cr.)

Biotechnology Electives (12 credit hours)

Student may select from the following list of courses:

BIOT 511 - Bioengineering (3 cr.)
BIOT 521 - Fundamentals of Bioinformatics (3 cr.)
BIOT 531 - Molecular Diagnosis (3 cr.)
BIOT 533 - Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacogenetics (3 cr.)
BIOT 541 - Molecular Genetics (3 cr.)
BIOT 543 - Microbial Biotechnology (3 cr.)
BIOT 551 - Selected Topics in Biotechnology (3 cr.)

Notes:

Students may also take a maximum of one 400-level course in sciences or engineering, or other related areas subject to their advisor’s approval.

Thesis (9 credit hours)

Each student must submit a thesis topic that has been approved by a faculty supervisor normally after acquiring 12 credit hours of course work. Since various research topics are addressed in a sequence of two seminar courses, the student must register for the first (BIOT590) before submitting a thesis topic while the second (BIOT591) must be taken during the execution of the thesis research. To ensure adequate faculty consultation, two semesters of the graduate thesis course (BIOT599) are required. After that, the course may be taken for one credit hour each semester until completion of the program requirements.

BIOT 590 - Graduate Seminar I (2 cr.)
BIOT 591 - Graduate Seminar II (1 cr.)
BIOT 599 - Research Guidance and Thesis (3 cr. + 3 cr.)

AUC New Cairo Campus

AUC Tahrir Square Campus

New York