Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology-Forestry (Master's) at Michigan State University

Programme overview

Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) is an interdepartmental program established in 1981 that grants MS and PhD degrees, drawing on faculty from Forestry, Horticulture, Plant Biology and Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. Students research agronomic, forest and horticultural species.

Faculty: College of Agriculture and Natural Resources | Department: Department of Forestry | Study mode: full-time | Location: East Lansing, MI, United States

What you will study

Research topics include applied breeding and genetics, molecular biology, disease, insect and herbicide resistance, abiotic stress, molecular mapping, quantitative genetics, and gene isolation and genomics.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Interdepartmental PBGB program (MS and PhD): bachelor's degree with a GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale (calculated on the last two academic years). Regular status requires at least one college introductory course each in advanced mathematics, biology and genetics and 15 credit hours in plant sciences; provisional admission is possible with no more than 8 collateral credits needed. Three letters of recommendation and official transcripts; a PBGB faculty member must agree to serve as major professor. International applicants: TOEFL minimum overall 80, no reading, listening or speaking subscore below 19. No fixed deadline; apply by December 1 for fellowship eligibility. Apply by selecting the PBGB option within the Crop and Soil Science, Horticulture or Plant Biology application.

Requirements published at program group level.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate applicants can start in fall (late August), spring (January) or summer (May) in the MPH programme; intake terms for other graduate programmes are set by each department or program.

The graduate application fee is $75 for domestic and international applicants, with one fee per application; applicants may submit up to two applications to different graduate majors per semester. Applications are reviewed by the department or program, which sets its own deadlines.

MPH application deadlines (SOPHAS completion): fall May 18, spring October 18, summer February 15; MSU supplemental application: fall June 1, spring November 1, summer March 1.

Apply through the official page: https://admissions.msu.edu/apply/graduate-students

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