Botany Graduate Degree Programs |
The has a successful faculty committed to excellence in teaching and research. The faculty provides instruction leading to highly respected undergraduate and graduate degree programs in botany and maintains one of the most highly funded research programs on campus.
Many of the faculty members have received awards from the University or their scientific colleagues in recognition of their teaching and research excellence. Most of the faculty have internationally recognized research programs and, as a consequence of their reputations, serve on advisory panels to federal agencies, review grant proposals and manuscripts for both national and international journals, serve on editorial boards, and hold offices in national and international societies in their respective disciplines.
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To see the research interests represented:Both undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to conduct research projects under the guidance of major professors throughout the semester. More intensive research experience in specific laboratories is frequently available through summer assistantships.
A variety of careers is available to persons with degrees in botany. Employment may be with biological supply houses, pharmaceutical companies, industries, state and federal agencies and research institutes. Botanists are frequently employed in diagnostic laboratories and agricultural research institutes. Increasing employment opportunities are becoming available in the biotechnology industry for persons trained in plant biology.
The department has scholarships and assistantships available for academically outstanding students. Individuals with a 3.00 grade point average must apply or be recommended for the scholarships by April 1. Undergraduates must have completed their sophomore year of study to be considered. Details can be obtained from the chair of the department and from our web page on scholarships.
The OU Botanical Society is open to undergraduate and graduate students. The Society organizes field trips and holds several meetings throughout the semester on topics of general interest to which the public and University community are invited.
Applicants for admission must submit an official transcript of all previous college or university work and three letters of recommendation. Submission of a report of verbal, quantitative and analytical scores from the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test (GRE) is NOT required for admission into the botany program. If submitted, however, these scores are to be sent directly to the Department of Botany and Microbiology at the time of application.
Each entering botany graduate student will have an advisory conference with a member of the botany faculty during the first semester for evaluation of his or her educational objectives and previous coursework. The conference will permit the student and faculty advisers to determine levels of proficiency in the student’s major area.
Prerequisites for full graduate standing in botany include meeting the general requirements for the Graduate College and at least 16 hours of coursework in life sciences.
Candidates for the Master of Science in botany will be required to possess a well-balanced knowledge of the field of botany, to have mastered the technical methods in one or more areas and to have had experience in applying such methods to the solution of a problem. A thesis is required in a total program of 30 hours.
A student working toward the Master of Science degree will be assigned a committee which will aid in designing the degree program.
Work leading to the Ph.D. degree is offered in most areas of botany. The program requires a satisfactory demonstration of knowledge in three of the major areas of botany which include structural botany, systematics, ecology, physiology, genetics, and molecular biology. This proficiency will be determined by the dissertation advisory committee. The satisfactory completion and successful defense of original research as described in a dissertation is also required. Each student will, in consultation with the chairperson, select a dissertation advisory committee. A student must complete the general requirements of the Graduate College, appropriate research skills, and a minor in a related field with a minimum of six hours. Each student must attend and participate in a graduate seminar (BOT 5971). Approximately one-half of the last 60 hours should be in research, Botany 6980.
Each student will be assigned a specific dissertation committee whose functions are to aid in designing the degree program, provide advice on the dissertation research and conduct the oral dissertation defense examination.
The following are online forms for the Department. Please note, the Department cannot consider your application unless you have also applied to the University and Graduate College and they will not release your file to the Department unless they receive payment of any applicable fees. For online application to the Department, it is possible to return the completed Word DOC file by email. If you fill out the PDF file you will have to do it by hand and mail or fax it in (+1-405-325-7619)
You still need to apply separately to the Graduate School and the University of Oklahoma. For more information and forms, see http://admissions.ou.edu/admissions.htm.