Biochemistry

Part of the Natural Sciences Division

The Major in Biochemistry consists of 55 hours in chemistry, biology and related fields and provides an interdisciplinary curriculum for students planning careers expected to have significant biochemical emphases. With careful elective choice students may pursue careers as professional chemists, enter graduate school programs that lead to a variety of research-oriented careers, or they may enter medical school or other health-related programs.

Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing the program of study will have achieved:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of basic chemical terminology and important concepts and historical developments in the physical sciences necessary to articulate chemical information accurately, confidently, and coherently, in verbal as well as written, graphical, and electronic formats
  2. Summarize and interpret the primary chemical literature
  3. Acquire and apply a set of basic laboratory data acquisition skills recognizing the theory, practice and limitations of modern chemical methods and instrumentation
  4. Interpret and use quantitative and graphical information for the solution of chemical and physical scientific/technical problems
  5. Integrate knowledge gained from various courses and experiences and apply them in a comprehensive way
  6. Formulate scientifically significant questions and work independently and collaboratively toward their resolution using traditional laboratory methodologies as well as modern instrumentation and computational techniques
  7. Design and execute an in-depth research project and successfully communicate the results formally in both verbal and written forms

Required coursework includes:

    CHM121: Principles of Chemistry I (4 hrs.)
    CHM122: Principles of Chemistry II (4 hrs.)
    CHM223: Organic Chemistry I (4 hrs.)
    CHM224: Organic Chemistry II (4 hrs.)
    CHM316: Fundamentals of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (4 hrs.)
    CHM351-352: Senior Research Project (6 hrs.)
    CHM399: Research Seminar (1 hr.)
    BIO115: Principles of Cellular Biology (4 hrs.)
    BIO221: Genetics (4 hrs.)
    CHM/BIO416: Advanced Topics in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (4 hrs.)
    MTH125: Pre-Calculus Mathematics (4 hrs.)
    MTH225: Calculus I (4 hrs.)
    Either of the following courses:
        PHY 101 and 102: College Physics I & II (4 hrs. each)
        or
        PHY 201 and 202: General Physics I & II (4 hrs. each)

Specific requirements of particular post-graduate institutions should be determined early in the undergraduate program since these requirements may require courses for admission beyond the minimum required for the biochemistry major. An adviser on Health-Related Professions is available to assist students planning careers in medicine and other health professions. Suggested languages are Spanish, German and French.

The Minor in Biology is not open to students majoring in Biochemistry.

Core Curriculum Requirements

Each student must satisfy the core requirements and requirements for individual programs of study.