Program Overview

Biochemistry Graduate Certificate

Program Overview

The graduate Certificate in Biochemistry is a 12-credit-hour program that provides skills and training necessary to advance in the area of biochemistry. Biochemistry deals with the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems, including bioorganic, bioinorganic, and biophysical chemistry.

Program Requirements

The Certificate requires three biochemistry lecture courses (each three credits) and three credits of elective courses. All students must take these three required courses and three credits of elective course, subject to the Graduate School regulations. A minimum of three of the courses must be taken at UMSL. Research credits must be taken at UMSL. Courses may be substituted with the permission of the Certificate coordinator.

• Required Courses:
  • CHEM 5722: Advanced Graduate Biochemistry (3 credits)
  • CHEM 5772: Advanced Physical Biochemistry (3 credits)
  • CHEM 5774: Bioinformatics (3 credits)
• Elective Courses: Choose a total of 3 credit hours from the following:
  • CHEM 5794: Special Topics in Biochemistry
  • CHEM 4733: Biochemistry Laboratory
  • CHEM 6787: Problem Seminar in Biochemistry
  • CHEM 6905: Graduate Research in Chemistry 1 (if chosen, the research project must be in biochemistry)

Admission Criteria

Certificate applicants must meet the general University of Missouri-St. Louis Graduate School admissions requirements to be admitted to the Certificate program. Students admitted to the Chemistry M.S. program are automatically eligible to pursue the Certificate; however, they must apply separately to the Certificate program.

Program Details

Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to remain in the Certificate program. The certificate is awarded after completion of the 12 credit hours of courses listed above. Students must apply to be awarded the Certificate. Courses taken while enrolled as an undergraduate may not be repeated nor will they count towards the Certificate. This 12-credit-hour certificate program also counts toward the 30-credit-hour Master of Science in Chemistry degree program requirements. Students may choose to combine this certificate with other courses and/or certificates to obtain the Master of Science in Chemistry degree.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, certificate earners will be able to:

• Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge in protein, nucleic acid, and membrane biochemistry, as well as biophysical chemistry or computational biology.
• Take responsibility for the success of projects associated with biochemistry.