Biosystems Engineering Major, MS

Five-Year BS-MS Program – Biosystems Engineering Major, MS

The department offers especially qualified students a Five-Year BS/MS program with a BS degree (major in biosystems engineering) and an MS degree (major in biosystems engineering). The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 6 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their BS and MS degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students who intend to complete their MS degree at the University of Tennessee, as other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the BS degree. Significant components of the program are as follows:

• Students must have an overall GPA of 3.4 in required coursework. Conditional admission to the five-year program may be granted after completion of 65 hours of coursework meeting requirements of the BS degree, with at least 24 hours in technical courses required for the major. Full admission may be granted after the completion of 96 hours of required coursework with a minimum GPA of 3.4 and at least 30 hours of technical coursework required by the major. Approval of such coursework is decided on by the BSE Undergraduate Program Coordinator.
• Admission must be approved by the department and the Graduate School. The approval process begins with application to the BSE Undergraduate Program Coordinator.
• Students must at least be conditionally admitted to the program prior to taking courses that receive credit for both the BS and MS degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the BSE Graduate Program Director. Students admitted to the program must also request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit, and must follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School within the BSE program.
• Students will not be eligible for assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.

 

Biosystems Engineering Major, MS - Requirements

The Master of Science degree, biosystems engineering major, has both thesis and non-thesis options. Students are required to choose between these options in their first semester of study, in consultation with their major professor. Once an option is selected, it may only be changed with written approval of both the major professor and department head.

Thesis Option

Applicants accepted into the program must complete at least 30 graduate credit hours to earn a degree. Of these 30 credit hours, 20 must be in courses numbered 500 or above (6 credit hours of thesis plus 14 credit hours of other courses). ESS 503  must be taken three times during the course of the program, the last of which must be in the student’s final semester before graduation. Other specific requirements for the 30 credit hours are

	Credit Hours
ESS 503  (3 times – 1 hour), BSE 519 , BSE 543 , and other major subject course work1	12
2Course work in computational methods	6
Program Electives	6
BSE 500 - Thesis	6
	Total 30
1Includes all BSET and BSE graduate courses. 2Mathematics, computer science, statistics, or any course containing appropriate computational components that may be approved by the department.

In addition to completing the 30 graduate credit hours, master’s students must pass a final oral examination covering the thesis, related areas, and graduate course work.

 

Non-Thesis Option

A non-thesis option in biosystems engineering is available to qualified students. Applicants accepted into the program must complete at least 33 graduate credit hours to earn a degree. Of these 33 credit hours, 22 must be in courses numbered above 500. ESS 503  must be taken three times during the course of the program, the last of which must be in the student’s final semester before graduation. Other specific requirements for the 33 credit hours are listed below.

	Credit Hours
ESS 503  (3 times – 1 credit hour), BSE 519 , BSE 543 , and other major subject course work1	12
2Course work in computational methods	6
Program Electives	6
Course work in special emphasis area	6
Capstone Experience (project and report, typically BSE 530 )	3
	Total 33
1Includes all BSET and BSE graduate courses. 2Mathematics, computer science, statistics, or any course containing appropriate computational components that may be approved by the department.

In addition to completing the 33 graduate credit hours, non-thesis students must pass a comprehensive written final examination covering the graduate program, including the capstone experience. At the discretion of the candidate’s committee, an oral examination may also be required.

The advisory committee approves the research problem. Satisfactory completion of this requirement requires a written, original research report that is acceptable to the student’s committee.