Biological Sciences Certificates

 

Quick Links:

 

Biological Sciences Certificates

The certificate programs below are available to all Biology majors. These certificates replace all previous Biological Sciences certificates as of Summer 2023.

Biological Sciences Certificates offer an option for Biology majors to focus their elective coursework around a specific biological subdiscipline. Certificate programs are offered in:

All Biological Sciences certificates are subject to the following requirements:

  • Minimum 12 credits from the list of approved courses for each certificate
  • Minimum 9 credits BIOS coursework
  • Minimum 9 credits of 3xxx or higher coursework
  • Maximum 6 credits of Special Topics
  • Maximum 3 credits Transfer Credit
  • Courses may not be double-counted toward more than one certificate or minor
  • Only courses fulfilling Biology electives or Free electives may be counted toward a certificate
  • Research (eg BIOS 4699), TA experiences (eg BIOS 4697), or Internships (eg BIOS 4695), may not be applied to certificates
     

To complete a certificate, select and complete at least 12 credits that correspond to the desired certificate from the list below. A completed Certificate Application form must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the end of your graduating semester. The Certificate Application may be accessed from the Biology Majors Portal site in Canvas. 

 

Certificate in Cellular and Molecular Biosciences

12 credits from:
Minimum 9 credits of BIOS coursework from the list below: 

BIOS 3380 Microbiology  
BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab*  
BIOS 4012 Protein Biology  
BIOS 4015 Cancer Biology & Biotechnology  
BIOS 4225 Molecular Evolution 
BIOS 4238 Ion Channels in Health and Disease  
BIOS 4340 Medical Microbiology  
BIOS 4418 Microbial Physiology  
BIOS 4464 Developmental Biology 
BIOS 4500 Drug Discovery  
BIOS 4505 Biological Programming 
BIOS 4510 Epigenetics  
BIOS 4530 Human Evolutionary Genomics  
BIOS 4545 Genetics of Complex Human Traits and Diseases  
BIOS 4550 Origin of Complex Life   
BIOS 4560 RNA Biology and Biotechnology 
BIOS 4570 Immunology 
BIOS 4607 Molecular Biology of Microbes  
BIOS 4620 Aquatic Chemical Ecology 
BIOS 4744 Microbial Symbiosis and Microbiomes  
BIOS 4746 Signaling Molecules 
BIOS 4803 Chromosome Biology & Human Disease
BIOS 4803 Proteomics: Technology & Applications 

Maximum 3 credits of non-BIOS coursework from the list below: 

CHEM 3511 Survey of Biochemistry 
CHEM 3521 Biochemistry I 
CHEM 3522 Biochemistry III 
NEUR 3001 Cell and Molecular Neuroscience

*note lab courses are 1 credit each

 

Certificate in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology

12 credits from:
Minimum 9 credits of BIOS coursework from the list below: 

BIOS 3100 Ecology & Evolution Australia 
BIOS 3380 Microbiology  
BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab* 
BIOS 4221 Biological Oceanography 
BIOS 4225 Molecular Evolution  
BIOS 4340 Medical Microbiology   
BIOS 4410 Microbial Ecology 
BIOS 4417 Marine Ecology  
BIOS 4418 Microbial Physiology   
BIOS 4428 Population Dynamics    
BIOS 4471 Behavioral Biology   
BIOS 4515 Community Ecology   
BIOS 4550 Origin of Complex Life   
BIOS 4620 Aquatic Chemical Ecology  
BIOS 4746 Signaling Molecules  
BIOS 4803 Conservation Biology 
BIOS 4813 Biodiversity on a Changing Planet  
BIOS 4813 Biology of Terrestrial Vertebrates 

Maximum 3 credits of non-BIOS coursework from the list below: 

EAS 4300 Oceanography
EAS 4305 Physical and Chemical Oceanography
EAS 4350 Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography
EAS 4410 Climate and Global Change
EAS 4420 Environmental Field Methods 
EAS 4602 Biogeochemical Cycles

*note lab courses are 1 credit each

 

Certificate in Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics

12 credits from:
Minimum 6 credits of BIOS coursework from the list below: 

BIOS 4015 Cancer Biology & Biotechnology 
BIOS 4150 Genomics and Applied Bioinformatics* 
BIOS 4505 Programing in Biological and Life Sciences 
BIOS 4510 Epigenetics  
BIOS 4530 Human Evolutionary Genomics  
BIOS 4545 Genetics of Complex Human Traits and Diseases  
BIOS 4560 RNA Biology and Biotechnology 
BIOS 4607 Molecular Biology of Microbes  
BIOS 4803 Proteomics: Technology & Applications

*The course fulfilling the Quantitative Requirement cannot be applied to the Certificate; the QR may be fulfilled by BIOS 3400 or BIOS 4401 for BIOS 4150 to be applied to the certificate

Maximum 3 credits of non-BIOS coursework from the list below: 
Note that a maximum of 3 credits may be at the 1xxx or 2xxx level 

BMED 4477 Bio Networks & Genomics 
CS 1301 Introduction to Computing+ 
CS 1371 Computing for Engineers+
CS 4400 Introduction to Database Systems
CS 4710 Intro to Computing Concepts in Bioinformatics Applied Combinatorics

+The course fulfilling the Computer Science requirement cannot be applied to the Certificate; additional course(s) beyond the CS requirement may be taken toward the certificate 

 

Certificate in Microbial Systems

12 credits from:
3 credits required coursework: 

BIOS 3380 Microbiology  

Minimum 9 credits from the list below: 

BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab*  
BIOS 4340 Medical Microbiology  
BIOS 4410 Microbial Ecology 
BIOS 4418 Microbial Physiology  
BIOS 4550 Origin of Complex Life   
BIOS 4570 Immunology  
BIOS 4607 Molecular Biology of Microbes   
BIOS Aquatic Chemical Ecology
BIOS 4744 Microbial Symbiosis and Microbiomes 

*note lab courses are 1 credit each

 

Certificate in Physiology and Biomedical Sciences

12 credits from:
6 credits required coursework: 

BIOS 3753 Human Anatomy 
BIOS 3755 Human Physiology 

Minimum 6 credits from the list below: 

BIOS 3380 Microbiology  
BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab*
BIOS 3754 Anatomy Lab*
BIOS 3756 Physiology Lab* 
BIOS 4015 Cancer Biology & Biotechnology   
BIOS 4100 Exercise Physiology 
BIOS 4200 Kinesiology 
BIOS 4238 Ion Channels in Health and Disease 
BIOS 4340 Medical Microbiology  
BIOS 4400 Human Neuroanatomy  
BIOS 4418 Microbial Physiology  
BIOS 4440 Human Pathology 
BIOS 4464 Developmental Biology  
BIOS 4500 Drug Discovery  
BIOS 4520 Health, Genes, and Society  
BIOS 4540 Human Motor Control 
BIOS 4570 Immunology  
BIOS 4651 Bioethics
BIOS 4803 Chromosome Biology & Human Disease
BIOS 4803 Neuromotor Physiology  
BIOS 4803 Integrative Physiology 

 *note lab courses are 1 credit each

 

Custom certificates: Special Studies in Biological Sciences

In addition to the certificates listed above, Biology undergraduates may propose their own custom certificate, subject to review and approval by the Biology Undergraduate Committee. Students are required to work with their Biology Academic Advisor in designing any customized certificate. The custom certificate must meet the following criteria to be considered by the committee:

  • The courses used to complete the certificate must be centered around a clear biological theme and/or subdiscipline
  • Students must propose an appropriate name for the certificate relevant to the theme, include justification for each proposed course in the certificate explaining how it relates to the theme, and explain why and how the proposed theme is sufficiently distinct from the above certificates
  • Minimum 12 credits, including minimum 9 credits of BIOS coursework and maximum 3 credits of non-BIOS coursework fitting within the proposed certificate theme
  • Minimum 9 credits of 3xxx or higher coursework
  • Maximum 6 credits of Special Topics
  • Maximum 3 credits Transfer Credit
  • Courses may not be double-counted toward more than one certificate or minor
  • Only courses fulfilling Biology electives or Free electives may be counted toward a certificate
  • Research (eg BIOS 4699), TA experiences (eg BIOS 4697), or Internships (eg BIOS 4695), may not be applied to certificates

Students must submit a petition for the proposed certificate to the Biology Undergraduate Committee no later than the end of the first week of the student’s graduating semester.  The committee will notify the student of its decision by email to the student and the Biology Undergraduate Academic Program Coordinator after grades are posted in the student’s graduating semester. The Biology Undergraduate Committee reserves the right to decline to review a petition in cases of excessive, repeated submissions of petitions from a single student. The Custom Certificate Petition Form can be accessed from the Biology Majors Portal in Canvas.

 

Biological Sciences Certificates prior to Summer 2023

The certificate programs below are available to students from any major who started at Georgia Tech prior to Summer 2023. 

For Biology majors, the Certificate program is a way of customizing your Biology Electives to focus on a particular concentration in biology. For other majors, a Biology or Physiology certificate is a way of enhancing your degree to include an emphasis in biological concepts. Each certificate requires 12 credit hours of approved courses from that certificate’s list, at least 9 of which must be at the 3000 level or higher. All courses counting toward the certificate must be taken on a letter-grade basis. A maximum of 3 credits of Transfer credit may be applied toward a certificate. Major electives can be counted toward certificates, but courses required by name and number in a student’s major program of study will not be counted toward certificates. While students may complete more than one certificate, they may not double-count courses towards more than one certificate or minor. Non-Biology majors are required to include at least 9 credits of BIOL coursework for their certificate, except in the case of the Physiology certificate. Further information is available from School of Biological Sciences advisors.

To declare a certificate in Biology, select 12 credits that correspond to the desired certificate. Approved courses are listed below by certificate title. Students must also complete and submit a certificate application two weeks prior to the end of their last term.

For non-Biology Majors

Additional courses that can count towards any of the above certificates (with exception of the Physiology certificate): BIOS 1107 + 1107L, BIOS 1108 + 1108L, BIOS 2300/2301, BIOS 2310/2311, BIOS 2600/2601, BIOS 2610/2611, BIOS 3450/3451 (as long as these courses are not required for their major program of study, and only up to 3 credits of courses at the 1xxx-2xxx level can count). At least 9 credits of BIOS coursework are required for each certificate.

New special topics courses may be added to relevant biology certificates with approval from the School of Biological Sciences. Contact the Director of the certificate program: Dr. Mirjana Milosevic Brockett (mirjana.brockett@biology.gatech.edu) for any questions.

Certificates are available in the following areas of concentration

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Biomedical Science

  • BIOS 3753 Human Anatomy
  • BIOS 3754 Anatomy Lab
  • BIOS 3755 Human Physiology
  • BIOS 3756 Physiology Lab
  • BIOS 4150 Genomics and Applied Bioinformatics
  • BIOS 4400 Human Neuroanatomy
  • BIOS 4340 Medical Microbiology
  • BIOS 4464 Developmental Biology
  • BIOS 4401 Experimental Design and Statistical Methods
  • BIOS 4464 Developmental Biology
  • BIOS 4570 Immunology
  • BIOS 4607 Molecular Microbiology
  • BIOS 4651 Bioethics
  • BIOS 4668 Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics
  • BIOS 4520 Health, Genes, and Society
  • NEUR 2001 Intro to Neuroscience
  • BMED 3100 Systems Physiology
  • BMED 3110 Quantitative Engineering Physiology Laboratory
  • BMED 4400 Neuroengineering Fundamentals
  • BMED 4500 Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory.
  • BIOS 4500 Drug Discovery
  • BIOS 4520 Health, Genes & Society
  • BIOS 4540 Human Motor Control
  • BIOS 4560 RNA Biology and Biotechnology
  • LMC 3219 Literature and Medicine.
  • PSYC 3020 Biopsychology
  • PSYC 4090 Cognitive Neuroscience

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Biomolecular Technology

  • BIOS 3380 Microbiology
  • BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab
  • BIOS 4012 Protein Biology
  • BIOS 4150 Genomics and Applied Bioinformatics
  • BIOS 4225 Molecular Evolution
  • BIOS 4607 Molecular Microbiology
  • BIOS 4668 Eukaryotic Mol Genetics
  • BIOS 4500 Drug Discovery
  • BIOS 4560 RNA Biology and Biotechnology
  • BIOS 4510 Epigenetics
  • BIOS 4744 Microbial Symbiosis & Microbiomes
  • CHEM 3511 Survey of Biochemistry
  • CHEM 3521 Biochemistry I (previously CHEM 4511)
  • CHEM 3522 Biochemistry II (previously CHEM 4512)
  • CHEM 4521 Biophysical Chemistry
  • CHEM 4803 Special Topics: Macromolecular Structure
  • CHBE 4760 Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering
  • BMED 3110 Quantitative Engineering Physiology Laboratory
  • BMED 4400 Neuroengineering Fundamentals
  • BMED 4500 Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Bio-Inspired Design (Students must take BIOS/ISyE/MSE/ME 4740-Bio-Inspired Design in addition to 9hrs from the list below)

  • BIOS 3753 Anatomy
  • BIOS 3755 Human Physiology
  • BIOS 4464 Developmental Biology
  • BIOS 4471 Behavioral Biology
  • BIOS 4803 Special Topics: Urban Ecology
  • BIOS 4803 Special Topics: Vertebrate Biology
  • BIOS/MSE 4802 Special Topics: Bioinspired Materials Design
  • ARCH 4411 Introduction to Visual Arts: Drawing on Nature
  • BMED 3100 Systems Physiology
  • BMED 3110 Quant Engr Physio Lab
  • BMED 4400 Neuroengineering Fund
  • BMED 4500 Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab
  • BMED 4752 Introduction to Neuroscience
  • AE/CHE/ME/BMED 4757 Biofluid Mechanics
  • AE/CHE/ME/BMED 4758 Biosolid Mechanics
  • CEE 3040 Fluid Mechanics
  • ME/MSE 4790 Materials Selection and Design

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Computational & Quantitative

  • BIOS 2400 Mathematical Models in Biology
  • BIOS 4150 Genomics & Appl Bioinformatics
  • BIOS 4225 Molecular Evolution
  • BIOS 4401 Experimental Design and Statistical Methods
  • BIOS 4410 Microbial Ecology
  • BIOS 4428 Population Dynamics
  • BIOS 4530 Human Evolutionary Genomics
  • BIOS 4545 Human Genetics
  • BMED 4477 Bio Networks & Genomics
  • CS 4400 Introduction to Database Systems
  • CS 4710 Intro to Computing Concepts in Bioinformatics Applied Combinatorics
  • MATH 3012 Probability & Statistics
  • MATH 3215 Introduction to Graph Theory
  • MATH 4022 CEE/ISYE/MATH 3770 Statistics & Applications

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Environmental Science

  • BIOS 2100 Biogeography of New Zealand
  • BIOS 3100 Ecology and Evolution of Australia
  • BIOS 3380 Microbiology
  • BIOS 3381 Microbiology Lab
  • BIOS 4221 Biological Oceanography
  • BIOS 4410 Microbial Ecology
  • BIOS 4417 Marine Ecology
  • BIOS 4418 Microbial Physiology
  • BIOS 4471 Behavior Biology
  • BIOS 4620 Aquatic Chemical Ecology
  • BIOS 4803 Special Topics: Biology in a Changing Environment
  • BIOS 4428 Population Dynamics
  • BIOS 4744 Microbial Symbiosis & Microbiomes
  • CEE 2300 Environmental Engineering Principles
  • CEE 3340 Environmental Engineering Laboratory
  • CEE 4300 Environmental Engineering Systems
  • CEE 4620 Environmental Impact Assessment
  • EAS 1600 Introduction to Environmental Science
  • EAS 1601 Habitable Planet
  • EAS 2420 Environmental Measures of Urban and Regional Change
  • EAS 2600 Earth Processes
  • EAS 2602 Earth Through Time
  • EAS 4110 Resources, Energy and the Environment
  • EAS 4300 Introduction to Physical and Chemical Oceanography
  • EAS 4350 Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography
  • EAS 4410 Climate and Global Change
  • EAS 4602 Biogeochemical Cycle

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Marine Science

  • BIOS 4221 Biological Oceanography
  • BIOS 4417 Marine Ecology
  • BIOS 4620 Aquatic Chemical Ecology
  • BIOS 3100 Ecology&Evol-Australia
  • BIOS 4410 Microbial Ecology
  • CEE 3040 Fluid Mechanics
  • CEE 4225 Introduction to Coastal Engineering
  • CEE 4310 Water Quality Engineering
  • EAS 4220 Environmental Geochemistry
  • EAS 4300 Introduction to Physical and Chemical Oceanography
  • EAS 4305 Physical and Chemical Oceanography
  • EAS 4410 Climate and Global Change

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites. Contact Dr. Mindy Millard-Stafford, (404) 894-6274, for further information and questions related to the Physiology certificate.

Applied Physiology

  • Required Courses (6 credit hours)
    • BIOS 3753 Fundamentals of Anatomy
    • BIOS 3755 Human Physiology
  • Other BIOS Physiology Courses (minimum 3 credit hours)
    • BIOS 2500 Introduction to Sport Science
    • BIOS 3000 Survey of Medicine
    • BIOS 3754 Anatomy Lab
    • BIOS 3756 Physiology Lab
    • BIOS 4100 Exercise Physiology
    • BIOS 4200 Kinesiology
    • BIOS 4238 Ion Channels
    • BIOS 4400 – Human Neuroanatomy
    • BIOS 2698-4699 Undergraduate Research in Physiology
  • Optional Elective Courses that fall outside BIOS Physiology classes (maximum 3 credit hours)
    • Optional Elective Courses outside BIOS Applied Physiology classes (maximum 3 credit hours)
    • BIOS 3450 – Cell Molecular Biology (Note Biology majors cannot count BIOL 3450
    • toward the Physiology certificate)
    • BIOS 3451 – Cell Molecular Biology Lab (Note Biology majors cannot count BIOS
    • 3451 toward the Physiology certificate if it is being used to fulfill the Biology core lab
    • requirement)
    • BIOS 4464 – Developmental Biology
    • BMED 3100 – Systems Physiology
    • ECE 4781 - Biomedical Instrumentation
    • ME 4757 - Biofluid Mechanic
    • ME 4758 - Biosolid Mechanics
    • PSYC 2230 - Abnormal Psychology
    • PSYC 3020 - Biopsychology
    • PSYC 4100 - Behavioral Pharmacology

Check the Georgia Tech course catalog to confirm credit hours and pre-requisites.

Integrative Biology

  • 12 credits chosen from courses represented in four of the other certificates above (e.g., 3 credits from each of 4 other certificates = 12 credits total).