Botany, Ph.D. - University of W

The Botany program at UW-Madison offers a comprehensive curriculum in natural sciences, with a focus on plant biology. Students can choose from four pathways: General Botany, Ecology, Evolution, or Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. The program emphasizes research and provides opportunities for students to engage in seminars and independent work. Graduates are prepared for careers in academia, research, and industry.

Program Outline

Outline:

Coursework:
A minimum of 51 credits in natural sciences (undergraduate and graduate program courses combined) is required.
A minimum of 6 credits in graduate-level botany courses must be completed at UW–Madison.
Seminars and research credits do not count toward the 6 credits in botany.
Courses may be required to address deficiencies in the following:
GENETICS 466 Principles of Genetics or equivalent
CHEM 103 General Chemistry I and CHEM 104 General Chemistry II or equivalent
CHEM 341 Elementary Organic Chemistry or equivalent
a physics course including electricity and light
one semester of statistics
one semester of calculus
Pathways:
Each graduate student in botany selects one of the following pathways:
General Botany Pathway:
Ph.D. students must have one course from each of the following:
genetics
biochemistry
cell or molecular biology
plant physiology or plant developmental biology
cryptogamic botany
plant anatomy or morphology
ecology
evolution or systematics
Ecology Pathway:
Ph.D. students must have a minimum of five courses as follows:
at least three courses (minimum of 9 credits) in ecology
one course in evolution
one course in any of the following: systematics; cryptogamic botany; biochemistry, cell or molecular biology; plant physiology or plant developmental biology; plant anatomy or morphology; or genetics
Evolution Pathway:
Ph.D. students must have a minimum of five courses, at least one from each of the following:
evolution
systematics or cryptogamic botany
population or quantitative genetics
ecology
one course in any of the following: biochemistry, cell or molecular biology; plant physiology or plant developmental biology; or plant anatomy or morphology
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Pathway:
Ph.D. and M.S.
plant anatomy or morphology
biochemistry
cell or molecular biology
plant physiology
plant developmental biology or genetics
one course in any of the following: ecology; systematics; evolution; or cryptogamic botany
Seminars:
Seminar Course Options:
BOTANY/ATM OCN/CIV ENGR/ENVIR ST/GEOSCI/ZOOLOGY 911 Limnology and Marine Science Seminar
BOTANY 920 Seminar in Algology: Fresh Water Algae
BOTANY/PL PATH 930 Seminar-Mycology
BOTANY 940 Seminar in Plant Systematics and Evolution
BOTANY 950 Seminar-Plant Ecology
BOTANY 960 Seminar-Plant Physiology
BOTANY/ATM OCN/ENVIR ST/F&W ECOL/GEOG/GEOSCI/ZOOLOGY 980 Earth System Science Seminar
ENTOM 601 Seminar in Methods of Scientific Oral Presentations
ENTOM 901 Seminar in Organismal Entomology
GENETICS 670 Seminar in Clinical Cytogenetics
GENETICS 672 Seminar in Laboratory Operations and Quality Control
GENETICS 673 Seminar in Clinical Cytology
GENETICS/AN SCI/DY SCI 951 Seminar in Animal Breeding
GENETICS/AGRONOMY/HORT 957 Seminar-Plant Breeding
GENETICS 993 Seminar in Genetics
GEOG 900 Seminar in Geography
GEOG 901 Seminar in Cultural Geography
GEOG 918 Seminar in Political Geography
GEOG 920 Seminar in Physical Geography
GEOG 930 Seminar in People-Environment Geography
GEOG/HISTORY 932 Seminar in American Environmental History
GEOG 970 Seminar in Geographic Information Science
GEOG/ATM OCN/BOTANY/ENVIR ST/F&W ECOL/GEOSCI/ZOOLOGY 980 Earth System Science Seminar
GEOG/A A E/ANTHRO/C&E SOC/HISTORY/LACIS/POLI SCI/PORTUG/SOC/SPANISH 982 Interdepartmental Seminar in the Latin-American Area
GEOG/AFRICAN/ANTHRO/ECON/HISTORY/POLI SCI 983 Interdepartmental Seminar in African Studies Topics
HORT 910 Seminar
HORT/AGRONOMY/GENETICS 957 Seminar-Plant Breeding
SOIL SCI 728 Graduate Seminar
ZOOLOGY/ATM OCN/BOTANY/CIV ENGR/ENVIR ST/GEOSCI 911 Limnology and Marine Science Seminar
ZOOLOGY/AN SCI/OBS&GYN 954 Seminar in Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology
ZOOLOGY 955 Seminar-Limnology
ZOOLOGY 956 Seminar-Ecology
ZOOLOGY 957 Seminar-Evolution
ZOOLOGY 958 Seminar-Biophysical and Physiological Ecology
ZOOLOGY 960 Seminar in Cellular Biology
ZOOLOGY/ATM OCN/BOTANY/ENVIR ST/F&W ECOL/GEOG/GEOSCI 980 Earth System Science Seminar
ENVIR ST/PUB AFFR/URB R PL 810 Energy Analysis and Policy Capstone
ENVIR ST 900 Seminar
ENVIR ST/URB R PL 923 Seminar-Land Problems: Institutional Development
ENVIR ST/ATM OCN 925 Seminar-Climatology
ENVIR ST 950 Environmental Monitoring Seminar
F&W ECOL/AGRONOMY/ATM OCN/BOTANY/ENTOM/ENVIR ST/GEOG/ZOOLOGY 953 Introduction to Ecology Research at UW-Madison
F&W ECOL 961 Wildlife Seminar
GEOSCI 920 Seminar in Glacial and Pleistocene Geology
GEOSCI 929 Seminar-Hydrogeology
GEOSCI 940 Seminar in Paleontology
GEOSCI 970 Seminar-Geochemistry
GEOSCI 991 Seminar: Geophysics
AGRONOMY 920 Seminar
AGRONOMY/GENETICS/HORT 957 Seminar-Plant Breeding
ATM OCN 900 Seminar-Meteorology
ATM OCN/ENVIR ST 925 Seminar-Climatology
ATM OCN 965 Seminar-Oceanography
M S & E 900 Materials Research Seminar
M&ENVTOX 800 Seminar
Research:
Research Course Options:
BOTANY 990 Research-Phycology
BOTANY 993 Research: Fungal Biology
BOTANY 994 Research-Plant Systematics
BOTANY 995 Research-Plant Ecology