Overview

Students with a B.S. degree may apply directly for either the M.S. or Ph.D. program. If your goal is a terminal Masters degree, you may want to consider applying for admission into our MS in Microbiology program. However, if you ultimately plan to pursue a PhD, it is strongly recommended that you apply directly to the PhD program.

The programme

There are several key differences between our MS and PhD programs. In order to be accepted into the MS in Microbiology program at UGA, you must first identify a faculty member in our program that is willing to serve as your MS thesis mentor. It is possible that some faculty members will be able to provide financial support in the form of research or teaching assistantships; however, financial support is not guaranteed for students that enter through the MS program.

In contrast, a tuition waiver and stipend support are guaranteed for all students that enter the PhD program. Please review the following items to learn more about our MS in Microbiology program.

There is a connecting thread to all the research in the Microbiology Graduate Program: the study of diverse microorganisms from the molecular level to the organismal and community levels in order to develop a complete picture of the role of microbial life in our biosphere. Since its formation, in 1953, the Department of Microbiology has enjoyed sustained growth and developed an international reputation in prokaryotic biology. Our faculty participate in several interdepartmental and multi-institutional research programs, including the Academy of the Environment, the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, and the Institute of Bioinformatics. Research in the department is well supported by external funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a number of private foundations and corporations.