systematics, systems biology, synthetic biology, and theoretical/mathematical biology.
The department includes faculty members and research professionals with diverse interests; we study everything from molecules to ecosystems. Because of this, graduate school in our department offers an exciting opportunity to interact with life scientists from a wide range of biological disciplines. In addition, many of our students and faculty participate in interdisciplinary graduate programs that bring together labs from different departments. We believe that exposure to a wide range of topics sparks creativity, producing integrative, multi-disciplinary thinkers with the breadth necessary to ask big questions.
The current graduate student body includes over 100 MS, PSM, and PhD students, many of whom are supported by competitive national and international fellowships (e.g. NSF Graduate Student Research Fellowships, Fulbright Foreign Student Fellowships, and government fellowships from multiple foreign countries). The students’ research takes them to field sites and collaborating labs within Colorado, across the United States, and around the world. They present their work at national and international meetings, and they publish in top scientific journals.
The graduate students of the Biological Science program from Colorado State University are the heart and soul of many of our research programs, and they serve critical roles in undergraduate teaching through their roles as Graduate Teaching Assistants. Fostering the success of our graduate students — building their skills in research, teaching, and outreach — is a major goal of our department. Our students have gone on to careers at research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and both public and private high schools. They are research scientists and consultants in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and investigators at state and federal agencies. We celebrate our students’ hard-won successes!
Programme Structure
Courses include:
- Topics are rooted in both basic and applied research. Students work and study at sites within Colorado, across the United States, and around the world.
- Some general areas of investigation include anatomy/morphology, behavior, bioinformatics, biological science education, biotechnology, cell biology, conservation biology, developmental biology, disease biology, ecology, ecosystem science, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics, global change biology, molecular biology, neurobiology, physiology, systematics, systems biology, synthetic biology, and theoretical/mathematical biology.
Admission requirements
Academic requirements
English requirements
- Duolingo English Test: 120
- TOEFL iBT: 80
- PTE Academic: 58
- IELTS: 6.5
Other requirements
General requirements
- Admission to our graduate program requires a minimum undergraduate GPA above a 3.0, but our competitive applicants typically have higher grades. In addition, most of our competitive applicants have participated in undergraduate research or have had work experience in a research environment.
- Finally, our competitive applicants have demonstrated a passion and curiosity about biology and a willingness to work hard to achieve their goals. GRE scores are NOT required for admission to our graduate programs.
- For international students, we adhere to the Graduate School’s requirements for unconditional admission: TOEFL scores above 80 (internet) or 550 (paper), or IELTS scores above 6.5. Conditional admission for students with lower TOEFL/IELTS scores is a possibility for strong international applicants.
Tuition Fees
- International / Out-of-State: 45,308 AUD / year (≈ 31,556 USD / year)
- Domestic / In-State: 20,642 AUD / year (≈ 14,377 USD / year)
Living costs
Fort Collins, United States: 1,737–2,584 AUD / month
