These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2024-2025. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Bachelor of Science Requirements

Summary of Requirements for the Degree

  1. University Requirements
    • Students must complete all University requirements including those listed below.
    • All undergraduate students must complete at least two writing-intensive courses for a total of at least six credits at Temple as part of their major. The specific writing-intensive course options for this major are:
      BIOL 2297Research Techniques in Genetics3
      BIOL 4396Advanced Study in Biology3
    • Students must complete the General Education (GenEd) requirements.
      • See the General Education section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for the GenEd curriculum.
      • Students who complete CST majors receive a waiver for 2 Science & Technology (GS) and 1 Quantitative Literacy (GQ) GenEd courses.
    • Students must satisfy general Temple University residency requirements.
  2. College Requirements
    • A minimum of 90 total credits within the College of Science & Technology (CST), the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), and/or the College of Engineering (ENG).
      • A minimum of 45 of these credits must be upper-level (courses numbered 2000 and above).
    • Complete a one-credit first-year or transfer seminar.
      • SCTC 1001 CST First Year Seminar for every entering first-year CST student.
      • SCTC 2001 CST Transfer Seminar for every entering transfer CST student.
  3. Major Requirements for Bachelor of Science (79-85 s.h.)
    At least 9 courses required for the major must be completed at Temple. At least 6 Biology courses must be completed at Temple.
    Biology
    BIOL 1111Introduction to Organismal Biology4
    or BIOL 1911 Honors Introduction to Organismal Biology
    BIOL 1112Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes4
    or BIOL 1912 Honors Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
    BIOL 2207Genetics3
    BIOL 2297Research Techniques in Genetics (WI) 13
    BIOL 3113Genome Analytics3
    Select one of the following: 23-4
    BIOL 3204
    Cell Structure and Function (F)
    BIOL 3324
    Molecular Biology
    BIOL 4375
    General Biochemistry I
    BIOL 3403Genomic Biology3
    Select one of the following:3-4
    BIOL 3514
    Biological Models in Python
    CIS 1051
    Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming in Python
    CIS 1057
    Computer Programming in C
    BIOL 4396Advanced Study in Biology3
    BIOL 4XXX3
    Chemistry
    Select one of the following:4
    CHEM 1031
    CHEM 1033
    General Chemistry I
    and General Chemistry Laboratory I
    CHEM 1951
    CHEM 1953
    Honors General Chemical Science I
    and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory I (F)
    Select one of the following:4
    CHEM 1032
    CHEM 1034
    General Chemistry II
    and General Chemistry Laboratory II
    CHEM 1952
    CHEM 1954
    Honors General Chemical Science II
    and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory II (S)
    Select one of the following:4
    CHEM 2201
    CHEM 2203
    Organic Chemistry I
    and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
    CHEM 2921
    CHEM 2923
    Organic Chemistry for Honors I
    and Organic Honors Laboratory I (F)
    Select one of the following:4
    CHEM 2202
    CHEM 2204
    Organic Chemistry II
    and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
    CHEM 2922
    CHEM 2924
    Organic Chemistry for Honors II
    and Organic Honors Laboratory II (S)
    College of Science and Technology
    SCTC 1013Elements of Data Science for the Physical and Life Sciences3
    Integrative Genetics and Genomics Electives
    Select four from the following: 3, 4, 512-16
    BIOL 2311
    Human Evolution
    BIOL 2812
    Fundamentals of Medical Genetics
    BIOL 3011
    Integrative Cell and Tissue Biology
    BIOL 3083
    Directed Readings (With Approval from Program Director)
    BIOL 3101
    Evolution
    BIOL 3112
    Fundamentals of Genomic Evolutionary Medicine
    BIOL 3114
    Evolutionary Ecology
    BIOL 3128
    Genomics and Infectious Disease Dynamics
    BIOL 3201
    Human Genetics
    BIOL 3212
    Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
    BIOL 3204
    Cell Structure and Function 2
    BIOL 3214
    Theoretical Population Genetics
    BIOL 3225
    Evolutionary Genetics and Phylogenetics
    BIOL 3232
    Behavioral Genetics
    BIOL 3241
    Genomics and Evolutionary Biology of Parasites and Other Dependent Species
    BIOL 3243
    Parasitology
    BIOL 3244
    Experimental Marine Biology
    BIOL 3245
    Marine Ecology
    BIOL 3254
    Animal Behavior
    BIOL 3265
    Developmental Biology
    BIOL 3268
    Fundamentals of Cell and Cancer Biology
    BIOL 3275
    Ecology of Invasive Species
    BIOL 3301
    Advanced Cell Biology
    BIOL 3307
    Conservation Biology
    BIOL 3312
    Biostatistics
    BIOL 3316
    Tropical Marine Biology
    BIOL 3317
    General Microbiology
    BIOL 3321
    Plant Community Ecology
    BIOL 3323
    Global Change Science: Analytics with R
    BIOL 3324
    Molecular Biology 2
    BIOL 3327
    Immunology
    BIOL 3328
    Virology
    BIOL 3329
    Developmental Genetics
    BIOL 3334
    Mammalian Physiology
    BIOL 3335
    Life at the Extremes - Polar Biology
    BIOL 3336
    Freshwater Ecology
    BIOL 3352
    Systems Neuroscience
    BIOL 3354
    Neural Basis of Animal Behavior
    BIOL 3356
    Organization and Development of the Nervous System
    BIOL 3358
    Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
    BIOL 3361
    Molecular Neuropharmacology
    BIOL 3363
    Mammalian Development
    BIOL 3364
    Theory and Applications of Cancer Biology
    BIOL 3365
    The New Neuroimmunology
    BIOL 3368
    Biology of Cancer
    BIOL 3369
    Approaches to Disease Modeling, Diagnosis and Therapy
    BIOL 3371
    Cell Proliferation
    BIOL 3372
    The Molecular Regulation of Cell Migration and Morphogenesis During Development and Disease
    BIOL 3373
    Cell Signaling
    BIOL 3379
    Biotechnology
    BIOL 3380
    Contemporary Biology (With Approval from Program Director)
    BIOL 3389
    Field Research in Community Ecology
    BIOL 4327
    Biological Impacts of Global Climate Change
    BIOL 4338
    Epigenetics
    BIOL 4341
    Genome Editing
    BIOL 4364
    Biochemistry of Embryogenesis
    BIOL 4365
    Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Evo-Devo
    BIOL 4366
    Stem Cell Biology
    BIOL 4370
    Advanced Special Topics in Biochemistry
    BIOL 4375
    General Biochemistry I 2
    BIOL 4376
    General Biochemistry II
    CHEM 3103
    Analytical Chemistry
    CHEM 3105
    Analytical Chemistry Lab
    CHEM 4201
    Organic Structure and Mechanisms
    CHEM 4202
    Organic Synthesis Methodology
    CHEM 4207
    Synthesis and Identification of Organic and Medicinal Compounds
    CIS 2033
    Computational Probability and Statistics
    CIS 2109
    Database Management Systems
    CIS 2166
    Mathematical Concepts in Computing II
    CIS 2168
    Data Structures
    CIS 2229
    Architecture, Operating Systems and Networking
    CIS 3203
    Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
    CIS 3207
    Introduction to Systems Programming and Operating Systems
    CIS 3217
    Computer Architecture
    CIS 3223
    Data Structures and Algorithms
    CIS 3715
    Principles of Data Science
    CIS 3755
    Introduction to Information Visualization
    CIS 4331
    Principles of Database Systems
    CIS 4372
    C++ Applications Programming
    CIS 4523
    Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
    CIS 4526
    Foundations of Machine Learning
    MATH 2031
    Probability and Statistics
    MATH 2101
    Linear Algebra
    MATH 3031
    Probability Theory I
    MATH 3032
    Mathematical Statistics
    Mathematics
    MATH 1041Calculus I4
    or MATH 1941 Honors Calculus I
    Select one of the following:4
    MATH 1042
    Calculus II
    or MATH 1942
    Honors Calculus II
    MATH 1044
    Introduction to Probability and Statistics for the Life Sciences
    Physics
    Select one of the following:4
    PHYS 1021
    Introduction to General Physics I
    PHYS 1061
    Elementary Classical Physics I
    or PHYS 1961
    Honors Elementary Classical Physics I
    PHYS 2021
    General Physics I
    or PHYS 2921
    Honors General Physics I
    Select one of the following:4
    PHYS 1022
    Introduction to General Physics II
    PHYS 1062
    Elementary Classical Physics II
    or PHYS 1962
    Honors Elementary Classical Physics II
    PHYS 2022
    General Physics II
    or PHYS 2922
    Honors General Physics II
    Total Credit Hours79-85
    (F) - Fall only course
    (S) - Spring only course
    1

    This course has a co-requisite of BIOL 2207.

    2

    Only one of these courses (BIOL 3204, BIOL 3324, or BIOL 4375) need be selected to meet the requirement of the major. If additional courses from this group are taken they may be used to fulfill the requirement for upper-level electives.

    3

    Up to one (1) Elective (3-4 s.h.) may be replaced by a Cognate elective selected from the following: MATH 1042/MATH 1942; or MATH 2043/MATH 2943 (but only one of these math courses, and MATH 1042/MATH 1942 may only count if MATH 1044 is used to satisfy the second math course requirement in the major); or PHYS 2511 and PHYS 3511.

    4

    Students may fulfill one upper-level elective by completing a total of 6 credits of research. A maximum of 3 credits may come from the junior level research course BIOL 3082 and the remaining 3 credits must come from a senior level (4000+) research course. Students may also complete all 6 credits using two semesters of the senior research course if they prefer. Consult with your departmental advisor to determine which course(s) are appropriate. Once completed, students must seek approval from a CST advisor to obtain the waiver for credit towards one upper-level elective.

    5

    Note that some of the upper-level elective choices in CIS require additional prerequisites that you may need to plan for. Please consult with a CST advisor if you are considering choosing electives from CIS.

    With the exception in footnote 4 above, the research and independent study courses shown below do not count as Integrative Genetics and Genomics electives, but they may count as free elective credits toward graduation. Most research courses can only be taken ONCE for a letter grade. Check individual course descriptions for details and/or exceptions.

    BIOL 2082Independent Research I1 to 4
    BIOL 3082Independent Research II1 to 4
    BIOL 3181Cooperative Research in Biochemistry3
    BIOL 3681Cooperative Studies2 to 4
    BIOL 3685Externship Studies3
    BIOL 4291Extradepartmental Research1 to 4
    BIOL 4391Accelerated Research in Biology1 to 4
    BIOL 4483Accelerated Research in Biochemistry3
    BIOL 4491Research in Biochemistry3
    BIOL 4591Research in Neuroscience1 to 4

    Note: Grades of C- or higher are required unless otherwise specified in all courses for the major, including course prerequisites. The College of Science and Technology requires that students have a GPA of at least 2.00 overall and at least 2.00 in the courses applicable to their major and/or minor GPA to graduate.

A total of one semester of Biology research courses numbered lower than 4000 (to include: BIOL 2082, BIOL 3082, BIOL 3181, and BIOL 3681) may be taken for a letter grade. Any additional semesters in research courses in this category can be taken only on a CR/NC basis.