Bioscience Program
MS Degree Program
The curriculum provides a strong introduction with courses on the biochemistry and biophysics of living matter. The program comprises a single track of courses consisting of lectures, seminars and laboratory classes. Each course is a self-contained module providing a complete review of the subject concerned.
For a student to graduate with an MS degree in Bioscience, they are required to complete 30 credit hours (with the average course worth three credit hours) of coursework and maintain an average GPAof 3.0 (B grade). Students must take two of the three core courses in their first semester. If a grade of B-or less is achieved in a core course, the course must be repeated.
One course (3 credit hours) is required in the general areas of mathematics or statistics. One cognate course is required in addition to the mathematics or statistics course, and can be satisfied by any course outside of Bioscience or Chemical and Biological Engineering.
The remaining course requirements are technical electives, directed research, and/or thesis.At least 24 units of formal coursework, exclusive of directed research or thesis, are required.Graduate seminars do not carry an award of credit hours and are not evaluated.
Core Courses:
Students are required to select two of the following three courses. Due to the limitation of space in laboratories, the student may not get his/her first choice. If the student can provide evidence that a subject has been studied and assessed at a high enough level, they are invited to apply for and may be awarded academic credit for a course.
- B 201 Biophysics
- B 208 Biochemistry
- B 224 Fundamentals of Cell Biology
Electives:
- B 202 Plant Biology
- B 204 Genomics
- B 205 Protein Structure and Function
- B 206 Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology
- B 207 Physiology and Metabolic Engineering
- B 209 Molecular Genetics
- B 239 Stem Cells
- B 297 Thesis
- B 298 Graduate Seminar
- B 299 Directed Research
Coursework or thesis options:
There are two general MS degree options: (i) coursework only or (ii) coursework and thesis option.
The coursework-only is set up for completion in 12 months with full-time course loads (12 credit hours per semester or, with advisor approval, a maximum of 15 credit hours) in the Fall and Spring semesters plus up to six units in the Summer. Both options require 24 credit hours of formal coursework (exclusive of directed research). Coursework-only students may take up to six credit hours of directed research or may focus exclusively on formal coursework.
Thesis-option students typically spend their Summer and a second Fall semester working on a research topic. a formal written thesis must be submitted and an oral defense is required, with a committee comprised of the faculty supervisor, plus two other KAUST faculty members.Atotal of six thesis credit hours must be earned, with the grade assigned being Pass/Fail. In most cases, the research period is an intense final six months (late Summer/Fall semester) without coursework, although the research can potentially be spread over a longer period.
PhD Degree Program
There are three possible entry points into the Bioscience PhD degree program: (i) students possessing a MS degree in Bioscience or related field (the normal entry point); (ii) KAUST students pursuing a seamless Bioscience MS/PhD; (iii) and students possessing a BSc degree (a more rare entry point). The seamless MS/PhD option is intended for MS students who decide, after their arrival at KAUST, to pursue a PhD. This option simply allows a student to begin to satisfy PhD requirements while completing their MS requirements. The only difference between the seamless MS option and the BSc entry is that the latter does not acquire an MS degree on the way to a PhD degree.
PhD students apply for and enter the Bioscience degree program.ABioscience faculty advisor is either immediately designated (in the case of a student being recruited by a specific faculty member) or temporarily assigned (in the case of KAUST fellowship students); in the latter case, the student is expected to identify a research advisor by (at the latest) the end of the first year.
There are two phases and associated milestones for PhD students: (i) a qualification phase with a candidacy milestone and (ii) a dissertation phase with a final defense milestone. Qualification and advancement to candidacy are contingent upon: (i) successfully passing PhD coursework, (ii) designating a research advisor, and (iii) preparing a written research proposal and orally defending it. The maximum time for advancement to candidacy for a student entering with an MS degree is two years, three years for the BSc-degree entry option.
Aminimum of six credit hours of actual PhD coursework (300 level) is required beyond the MS degree. For students who enter with a BSc degree, 24 additional units are required, equivalent to MS degree coursework, excluding a thesis. In the case of the MS degree being from another major/degree program, there may be additional deficiency courses specified by the advisor. Courses designated should be relevant to the dissertation topic, if defined, and/or proposed general area of research.Aminimum GPAof 3.5 must be achieved in two 300-level courses to fulfill doctoral coursework requirements.
Besides actual coursework (six or more credit hours), 60 units of dissertation research (B 397 Thesis) credit must be earned during the first and second phases.Afull-time workload for PhD students is considered to be 12 credit hours per semester (courses and B 397) and six credit hours in Summer (B 397). There is a minimum residency requirement (enrollment period at KAUST) of 2.5 years for students entering with an MS degree, 3.5 years for a BSc degree. The maximum enrollment period is five years, extendable upon approval of both the faculty research supervisor and division dean.
Achieving candidacy is contingent upon successfully meeting the following requirements. Firstly, the research supervisor must assess and approve of the research proposal. Secondly, the student must pass an oral examination of the research proposal successfully.
The research proposal committee shall consist of a minimum of three KAUST faculty members, one of who must be external to the Bioscience degree program. There are four possible outcomes: pass, conditional pass, failure with retake permitted, and failure. The student will have passed if all committee members accept the written research proposal and if the student receives no more than one negative vote from the proposal examination committee. If more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the oral defense is permitted if the entire committee agrees.Aconditional pass involves conditions (e.g., another course in a perceived area of weakness) imposed by the committee, with the conditional status removed when the conditions have been met. One constituted, the composition of the proposal examination committee can only be changed upon approval by both the faculty research advisor and the division dean.
The final (dissertation) phase involves acceptance of the written dissertation and an oral defense thereof. The dissertation defense committee shall consist of a minimum of four members, one of who should be a KAUST faculty member external to the Bioscience degree program and one of who should be external to KAUST (holding a faculty position or equivalent position at another institution, with approval by both the faculty research advisor and division dean). Passing the dissertation phase is achieved by acceptance of all committee members of the written dissertation, with the student receiving no more than one negative vote from any member of the committee. If more than one member casts a negative vote, one retake of the oral defense is permitted if the entire committee agrees. Afifth non-voting KAUST faculty member, appointed by the division dean, shall serve as a faculty monitor to ensure that the established protocol is followed, and the required forms are completed.
Students transferring from other PhD programs may receive some dissertation research and coursework credit, on a case-by-case basis, for related work performed at their original institution. However, such students must still satisfy the written and oral requirements for a research proposal (if this phase was passed at the original institute, the proposal may be the same, if approved by the research advisor). The minimum residency requirement for enrollment of such students at KAUST is two years.
Courses:
- B 303 Advanced Topics in Plant Development
- B 304 Advanced Topics in Sequencing Technology
- B 305 Advanced Topics in Evolution
- B 306 Pathogen Biology
- B 397 Thesis
- B 398 Graduate Seminar
- B 399 Directed Research
BIOSCIENCE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
B 201 Biophysics (3-0-3) Conservation of mass and momentum, physiological mass transport, membrane structure, carrier proteins and active membrane transport, ion channels, intracellular vesicular transport, diffusion in reacting systems, heat and mass transfer in bioreactors, culture aeration. Lectures and laboratory.
B 201 Biophysics Conservation of mass and momentum, physiological mass transport, membrane structure, carrier proteins and active membrane transport, ion channels, intracellular vesicular transport, diffusion in reacting systems, heat and mass transfer in bioreactors, culture aeration. Lectures and laboratory.
B 202/CBE 208 Plant Biology Prerequisite: degree in biological sciences or engineering or consent of instructor. Review of cellular structure function, diffusion and active transport limitations and benefits on plant cell systems. Membrane structures translocation and transport. Energy and primary metabolism, secondary metabolism in microbes and plants.
B 204/CBE 209 Genomics Prerequisite: degree in biological sciences or engineering or consent of instructor. Prokaryotic versus eukaryotic genome structure, conservation (gene order/sequence/structure, regulatory sequences), approaches to mapping/sequencing genomes, DNA sequencing, DNA sequencing technologies, approaches to genome annotation, SNPs, microarray technology, gene expression microarrays, antibodies, chromatin immuno-purification, high throughput perturbation studies. Problem-solving/data-handling/critical thinking/journal-club sessions. Possible interactions with Genomics Research Core facility.
B 205. Protein Structure and Function Prerequisite: degree in biological sciences or engineering or consent of instructor. Introduction to protein structure and technologies used to study protein structure, X-ray crystallography, protein NMR. Protein folding, post translational modification, protein sorting. Enzyme structure and function. Study of differential protein expression, proteomics. Protein interactions, methods to study the interactome. Problem-solving/data handling/critical-thinking/journal-club sessions. Possible interactions with Genomics Research Core facility.
B 206/CBE 206. Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology Prerequisite: degree in biological sciences or engineering or consent of instructor. Introduction to genetic circuits in natural systems; engineering principles in biology; BioBricks and standardization of biological components; numerical methods for systems analysis and design; fabrication of genetic systems in theory and practice; transformation and characterization; examples of engineered systems; hands-on experiments.
B 207/CBE207. Physiology and Metabolic Engineering Prerequisite: degree in biological sciences or engineering or consent of instructor. Introduction to regulation of metabolism and physiology of microbes and plants; hands-on analytical techniques for measuring metabolite and ion levels; mechanisms for homeostasis; influence of environmental changes, including nutrition, salt stress, temperature and drought; genetic pathways for stress response and adaptation in plant and microbial systems, crop improvement and biotechnology. Gene expression and cell-based expression systems for protein and small molecules; gene cloning and expression laboratory; gene over-expression strategies. Biocatalysis and metabolic engineering.
B 208 Biochemistry Origin of life on earth, cellular plans and advantages/limitations imposed by cell designs. Membranes and transport, specialized transport protein structures. Protein structure. Central metabolism, amino acid synthesis. Energy metabolism ATP, ATP hydrolase. DNA, proteins and the genetic code. Transcription and translation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
B 209 Molecular Genetics Essentials of Mendelian and molecular genetics as the basis for current models of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genetic exchange and gene expression. Introduction to molecular biology. Chromosome organization; mechanisms and consequences of recombination; gene organization, operons/regulons, control of transcription, translation and epigenetics. Data handling and problem solving; critical essays and discussion of literature.
B 224 Fundamentals of Cell Biology Types of microorganisms (e.g., viruses, microbes, yeast, mammalian and stem cells); cell physiology, structure and function; gene expression and protein synthesis; protein folding; post-translational modification; cell cycle; molecular biology techniques. Lectures and laboratory.
B 239/CBE 239. Stem Cells This course covers stem cell biology and therapeutics. It is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of current understanding of embryonic and adult stem cells, including their basic properties and interactions within organisms. Stem cell isolation methods, experimental models and potential biomedical therapeutic applications will be encountered through research of literature. It is a graduate level course that requires a basic background in biology.
B 297 Thesis MSc Thesis (6 units total) Master-level research leading to a formal written thesis and oral defense thereof.
B 298 Graduate Seminar Master-level seminar focusing on special topics within the field.
B 299 Directed Research Master-level supervised research.
B301/CBE301 Computational Biology Computational Biology is an advance and practical course, hands-on approach to the field of computational biology. The course is recommended for both molecular biologists and computer scientists desiring to understand the major issues concerning analysis of genomes, sequences and learns large scale modelling of complex systems. Various existing methods will be critically described and the strengths and limitations of each will be discussed. There will be practical assignments utilizing the tools described. Prerequisites include genomics I (B204/CBE209) and genomics II (B204). A final paper will be required for the course that critically and constructively analyzes any area of computational molecular biology, bioinformatics or genomics. The final project may also present a novel application of existing tools or the development of some new or improved method.
B 303 Advanced Topics in Plant Development This course will address the general developmental stages of Arabidopsis thaliana and other model systems. Students will review physical aspects of angiosperm development while focusing on the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying these processes. The primary focus of this course will be to provide students an environment to develop writing and presentation skills while focusing on critical analysis of primary literature.
B 304 Advanced Topics in Sequencing Technology Next generation sequencing technology has emerged as a major transformative tool in the field of genomics. This course consists of advanced topics, focusing on detailed description of the current and future sequencing technologies and several sequencers (for example, Roche 454, Life Technologies SOLiD, Illumina Solexa, and PacBio’s newly launched machine) as well as their data quality and processing tools. It also provides examples for various applications in genomics, transcriptomics, and epigenomics.
B 305 Advanced Topics in Evolution Given that the principle of evolution is a key to understanding modern biology, and in particular genomics, we will briefly cover some of the fundamentals as well as current research methods. The course will be centred around the study and discussion of the classical works by Darwin, Wallace and Lamarck as well as the contemporary literature. Each student will have to do a research project using literature studies and computational methods to critically discuss a biological argument in evolutionary biology.
B 306 Pathogen Biology (preferred title – Pathogen Genomics) Pre-requisite: A degree in biological sciences or consent of instructor. Knowledge in basic molecular biology is essential. Overview of global impact of pathogens on human, animal and plant health, basic concepts in microbial pathogenesis, overview of pathogen genome analysis and visualization tools, comparative genomics, hands-on training in pathogen genome analysis using popular tools such as Artemis and Artemis Comparison Tool (ACT), application of second-generation sequencing technologies in pathogen genomics, overview of web-based genomic resources for pathogen research.
B 397 Thesis PhD Dissertation (increments of 3 units): PhD-level research leading to a formal written dissertation and oral defense thereof.
B 398 Graduate Seminar Doctoral-level seminar focusing on special topics within the field.
B 399 Directed Research Doctoral-level supervised research.