The undergraduate curriculum for the Bachelor of Science in Biology degree is designed to prepare students for employment in academia, government, or industry; for graduate studies in the biological sciences or science teaching; or for admission to medical, dental, or veterinary schools. The theme of the curriculum is systems biology, employing a systems approach in solving biological problems. All students participate in research through undergraduate research courses. The School also offers the International Plan, Business Option, a minor in biology, and several certificates.

Contact Us

Georgia Tech has recently introduced an International Plan through the Office of International Education (www.oie.gatech.edu/). Successful completion of this plan earns students an international designation on their Georgia Tech degree. The primary purpose of the plan is to offer a challenging and coherent academic program for students to develop global competence within the context of a Biology degree. The requirements include: language proficiency equivalent to two years of college coursework (twelve hrs), one course in international relations (three hrs), global economy (three hrs), focused study of a region (three hrs), an integrative course synthesizing the international experience (three hrs), and two semesters (minimum of 26 weeks) in residence abroad. Georgia Tech biology courses are taught in Australia/New Zealand ( www.oie.gatech.edu/sa/programs/) and Spain (www.oie.gatech.edu/sa/programs/) as part of the Study Abroad program. In addition, many biology courses are available through Georgia Tech partner universities abroad (www.oie.gatech.edu/sa/programs/). Some of these universities teach biology courses in English, such as Hong Kong University, Tokyo Technological University, University of Victoria (New Zealand), National University of Singapore, University of Strathclyde (Scotland), and Bilkent University (Turkey).

This plan enables students to do nine credit hours of supervised research with a Biology faculty member over multiple semesters. With faculty guidance, students write a brief proposal, perform independent, original research, and write a thesis about their work. The thesis is evaluated by two Biology Faculty members. The first six credit hours of the research option are taken as BIOL 2699/4699 (research for credit) or BIOL 2698/4698 (research for pay). Students then take either BIOL 4690 (Independent Research Project; three hours) or BIOL 4910 (Honors Research Thesis; three hours) in their final semester and two, one credit-hour writing courses, LCC 4701 and 4702. These writing courses can be counted as Biology electives. Note that LCC 4701 should be taken in the semester prior to enrolling in BIOL 4910/4690. The student's research is presented in BIOL 4450 Senior Seminar.

Completing this program gives students a "Research Option in Biology" designation on their transcripts.