Program Overview

School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

The School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in various fields, including biochemistry.

Biochemistry (B.S.)

The Biochemistry program at UT Dallas, administered through the Department of Chemistry, draws on faculty from the Departments of Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, and researchers from UT Southwestern Medical School to provide courses and research opportunities to its majors. The Biochemistry major bridges the gap between modern Chemistry and Biology.

Faculty

The faculty members for the Biochemistry program include:

• Chemistry:
  • Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry; Professor of Chemistry: Ray H. Baughman, Dennis Smith Jr.
  • Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Systems Biology; Professor of Chemistry: A. Dean Sherry
  • Distinguished Chair in Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Bruce M. Novak
  • Professors: Kenneth J. Balkus, Jr., Rockford K. Draper (Biology), John P. Ferraris, Bruce E. Gnade (Electrical Engineering), Inga H. Musselman
  • Associate Professors: Jung-Mo Ahn, Michael C. Biewer, Gregg R. Dieckmann, Warren J. Goux, Steven O. Nielsen, Paul Pantano, John W. Sibert IV
  • Assistant Professors: Mihaela C. Stefan, Jie Zheng
  • Affiliated Professors: Lee A. Bulla (Biology), Anvar A. Zakhidov (Physics)
  • Research Professors: Gary E. Kiefer, Duck Joo Yang
  • Emeritus Professor: Richard A. Caldwell
  • Senior Lecturers: Sergio Cortes, Sandhya R. Gavva, Claudia Taenzler
• Molecular and Cell Biology:
  • Professors: Lee A. Bulla, Santosh D'Mello, Rockford K. Draper, Juan E. González, Donald M. Gray, Steven D. Levene, Betty S. Pace, Lawrence J. Reitzer, Li Zhang, Michael Q. Zhang
  • Associate Professors: Gail A.M. Breen, John G. Burr, Jeff L. Delong, Ernest M. Hannig, Dennis L. Miller, Stephen Spiro
  • Assistant Professor: Tianbing Xia, Zhenyu Xuan
  • Senior Lecturers: Irina Borovkov, Mehmet Candas, Vincent P. Cirillo, Wenju Lin, Robert C. Marsh, Ruben Ramirez, Scott A. Rippel, Ilya Sapozhnikov, Wen-Ho Yu

UT Southwestern Medical School

UTD Biochemistry majors may perform their research in the laboratories of faculty members from the departments of Biochemistry, Internal Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology at UT Southwestern, as available.

Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry

Degree Requirements (129 hours)

The degree requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry include:

1. Core Curriculum Requirements: 42 hours

• Communication (6 hours)
  • 3 hours Communication (RHET 1302)
  • 3 hours Communication Elective (Satisfied by BIOL/CHEM 4390 or equivalent)
• Social and Behavioral Sciences (15 hours)
  • 6 hours Government (GOVT 2301 and GOVT 2302)
  • 6 hours American History
  • 3 hours Social and Behavioral Sciences Elective
• Humanities and Fine Arts (6 hours)
  • 3 hours Fine Arts (ARTS 1301)
  • 3 hours Humanities (HUMA 1301)
• Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (6 hours)
  • 6 hours Calculus (MATH 2413 and MATH 2414 or MATH 2417 and MATH 2419)
• Science (9 hours)
  • Introductory Chemistry (CHEM 1311/1111, 1312/1112, and CHEM 2401)

2. Major Requirements: 69 hours

• Major Preparatory Courses (29 hours beyond core curriculum)
  • BIOL 2111 Introduction to Modern Biology Workshop I
  • BIOL 2311 Introduction to Modern Biology I
  • CHEM 1111 General Chemistry Laboratory I
  • CHEM 1112 General Chemistry Laboratory II
  • CHEM 1311 General Chemistry I
  • CHEM 1312 General Chemistry II
  • CHEM 2123 Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
  • CHEM 2125 Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
  • CHEM 2323 Introductory Organic Chemistry I
  • CHEM 2325 Introductory Organic Chemistry II
  • CHEM 2401 Introductory Quantitative Methods in Chemistry
  • MATH Sequence (students may choose one of the following sequences)
    • I. MATH 2413 Differential Calculus, MATH 2414 Integral Calculus, and MATH 2415 Calculus of Several Variables
    • II. MATH 2417 Calculus I, MATH 2419 Calculus II, and MATH 2451 Multivariable Calculus with Applications
  • PHYS 2125 Physics Laboratory I
  • PHYS 2126 Physics Laboratory II
  • PHYS 2325 Mechanics
  • PHYS 2326 Electromagnetism and Waves
• Major Core Courses (40 hours beyond core curriculum)
  • BIOL 3101 Classical and Molecular Genetics Workshop
  • BIOL 3102 Eukaryotic Molecular and Cell Biology Workshop
  • BIOL 3161 Biochemistry Workshop I
  • BIOL 3162 Biochemistry Workshop II
  • BIOL 3301 Classical and Molecular Genetics
  • BIOL 3302 Eukaryotic Molecular and Cell Biology
  • BIOL 3380 Biochemistry Laboratory
  • BIOL/CHEM 3361 Biochemistry I
  • BIOL/CHEM 3362 Biochemistry II
  • BIOL 3V93 Undergraduate Research in Biochemistry
  • CHEM 3321 Physical Chemistry I
  • CHEM 3322 Physical Chemistry II
  • CHEM 3472 Instrumental Analysis
  • CHEM 4390 Research and Advanced Writing in Chemistry

3. Elective Requirements: 18 hours

• Advanced Electives (6 hours): These courses must be outside the major and be upper-division and/or have prerequisites.
• Free Electives (12 hours): The plan must include sufficient upper-division credit to total 51 upper-division credit hours.

Fast Track Baccalaureate/Master's Degrees

Undergraduate students at UT Dallas with strong academic records who intend to pursue the M.S. in Chemistry at UT Dallas may apply for a Fast Track plan of study, which involves taking selected graduate courses as an upper-level student. After admission to the graduate program, 15 hours of graduate courses with an earned grade of B or better can be used toward completion of the baccalaureate degree and to satisfy requirements for the master's degree. Interested students should contact the undergraduate advisor well in advance of the junior year to prepare a sequence permitting maximal advantage to be taken of the catalog's regulations regarding Undergraduate Registration for Graduate Courses.