This interdepartmental program focuses on molecular approaches and provides both scientific and business discipline-specific training. The Master of Biotechnology program provides graduates with advanced education, knowledge, technical and business expertise in the broad field of biotechnology. Courses promote effective communication of knowledge of the scientific discipline, as well as place it in a business context. It fosters academic and intellectual growth, as well as interactions between graduate students, faculty, the university, and the wider research community and the private sector. Students will be trained as highly competent, independent, and creative researchers/managers who are familiar with and able to integrate both the science and business environments. Furthermore, the program encourages the development of entrepreneurial activities in this area, which is crucial for the formation of new private sector companies. The ultimate goal of the program is to advance and encourage biotechnology research on campus, both amongst the graduate students enrolled in the program, as well as amongst and between faculty.

Administrative Staff

Director
Ian Tetlow (4471 Summerlee Science Complex, Ext. 52735)
itetlow@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Coordinator
Jaideep Mathur (4463 Summerlee Science Complex, Ext. 56636)
mcbgrad@uoguelph.ca
Course-Based Master's Program Coordinator
Emily Berzitis (4451 Science Complex, Ext. 56474)
mbiotech@uoguelph.ca

Graduate Faculty

This program is offered by the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, in partnership with the Departments of Food, Agriculture and Resource Economics, Food Science, Integrative Biology, Management, Pathobiology, Physics, and Plant Agriculture.

This list may include Regular Graduate Faculty, Associated Graduate Faculty and/or Graduate Faculty from other universities.

MBIOT Program

Admission Requirements

Students entering the program will normally have completed an Honours Bachelor’s degree with a minimum admission average of B (75% and higher) in one of the following fields: biology, molecular biology and genetics, biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, biophysics, food science, agriculture, food production systems, commerce with a strong science background. Anyone lacking the required background will be encouraged to complete them prior to commencing their studies in the new program (typically in the immediately preceding summer semester) or, if approved by the program counsellor, during their studies. Students whose first language is not English require a minimum TOEFL score of 93 with a minimum score of 22 in each of the four categories, or a minimum IELTS score of 7.0, with a minimum of at least 6.5 in each component. Applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree from institutions where the language of instruction was English may be exempt from ESL requirements, pending departmental approval.

All components of the application, including transcript(s), graduate certificate(s), grading scale(s), language test results and assessment forms must be uploaded no later than two months after an application is submitted through the OUAC portal. Applications that are incomplete after this time period will be closed.

Admissions Process

Graduate student applications to programs in the College of Biological Science are handled by the Office of the Associate Dean, Research (ADR). Before submitting an application, applicants are strongly encouraged to view the "Before you Apply" and "Admission Process" webpages on the ADR Future Student's site.

Space in this program will be limited and applicants are advised to ensure their applications are complete by the application deadline stated on the program website. Application details and the admissions deadline are posted on the program website.

Program Requirements

A total of 4.0 course credits are required to graduate, which must include:

An optional Semester 4 may be added, as a research project extension.

Duration of the Program

Students will normally take three courses per semester for two semesters (3.0 credits) and complete the Biotechnology Masters project (1.0) credit in semester 3. Therefore, the program normally takes 12 months of full-time study. There is, however, the option to continue the Biotechnology Masters project into a second fall semester, in which case the program will take 16 months of full-time study.

Courses

Electives

College of Biological Sciences

Bioinformatics

Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics

Ontario Agricultural College