Field(s) of Specialization
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Ecology and Evolution
- Neurobiology and Physiology
- Plant Sciences and Oenology and Viticulture
Faculty and Administration
Dean
Peter Berg
Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences
Associate Dean
Melanie Pilkington
Faculty of Mathematics and Science
Core Faculty
Professors
Michael Bidochka, Deborah Inglis, Fiona F. Hunter, Ping Liang, Gary Pickering, Miriam H. Richards, Gaynor Spencer, Glenn J. Tattersall, Liette Vasseur
Associate Professors
Charles Després, Adonis Skandalis, Jeff Stuart
Assistant Professors
Alonso de Cordova, Kiyoko Gotanda, Stephen Glasgow, Yifeng Li (Biological Sciences, joint appointment with Computer Science), Aleksandar Necakov, Ian Patterson, James Willwerth
Participating Graduate Faculty
Associate Members
Francine M.G. McCarthy (Earth Sciences), Cheryl McCormick (Psychology), Michael Pisaric (Geography & Tourism Studies), Charlis Raineki (Psychology), Kevin Turner (Geography & Tourism Studies)
Adjunct Professors
Ralph Brown (University of Guelph), Wangxue Chen (National Research Council, Ottawa), Qualid Ellouz (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station), Jonathan Griffiths (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station), Frederique Guinel (Wilfrid Laurier University), Belinda Kemp (CCOVI), Janet Koprivnikar (Ryerson University), David Liscombe (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station), Wendy McFadden-Smith (McSmith Agricultural Research Services), Sudarsana Poojari (CCOVI), Justin Renkema (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Tahera Sultana (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station), Antonet Svircev (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station)
Professors Emeriti
A. Joffre Mercier, Douglas H. Bruce, Robert L. Carlone, Alan Castle, Vincenzo De Luca
Graduate Program Director
Jeff Stuart
jstuart@brocku.ca
Graduate Administrative Coordinator
Elena Genkin
905-688-5550, extension 3115
Mackenzie Chown, D473
fmsgradoffice@brocku.ca
Program Description
The department offers research-based graduate programs leading to MSc and PhD degrees in Biological Sciences in the following fields: Cell and Molecular Biology; Ecology and Evolution; Neurobiology and Physiology; Plant Sciences, Oenology and Viticulture.
Facilities
The department is well equipped with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment for all fields of biology research. A greenhouse, plant growth chamber, a farm, and facilities for the growth and maintenance of terrestrial and aquatic animals are available to students. Also available are facilities for culture of animal, yeast and bacterial cells; a walk-in plant tissue culture room and associated tissue culture facility; and laminar flow tanks for aquatic animal research. The department’s specialized equipment holdings include spectrophotometers, a fluorescence spectrometer; a phosphorimager scanner; a scanning electron microscope; fluorescence microscopes and state of the art computer imaging systems; a confocal microscope; a laser capture microscope, a two-photon laser scanning microscope; computer controlled electrophysiological research stations for stimulation and recording of muscle, nerve and whole animal electrical activity; microplate readers; fluorescence imagers; real-time PCR machines; biophysical spectrometers for high sensitivity absorbance, linear dichroism, circular dichroism, photoacoustic and picosecond time-resolved fluorescence; and a parallel computing PC cluster for mathematical modeling of biological systems. Through the University, we also have free access to the state-of-the-art high performance computing facility at Compute Canada.
Associated with the Department of Biological Sciences, the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) is housed in Inniskillin Hall. The CCOVI research facilities include a biotechnology laboratory, viticulture laboratory, a state-of-the-art sensory evaluation laboratory, pilot winery and a 43,000 bottle wine cellar which includes the Canadian Wine Library
Admission Requirements
Successful completion of an Honours Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, normally with an average of not less than 82% (in years 3 and 4) and having sufficient concentration in the life sciences, physical sciences or mathematics.
- Agreement from a faculty supervisor to supervise the student is required for admission to the program.
- Those lacking sufficient background preparation may be accepted with condition(s), which may include taking one or more undergraduate courses in the first year achieving a specified minimum grade.
- For students who are required to provide proof of English Language Proficiency, a full listing of accepted English Language Proficiency tests is available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs English Language Proficiency webpage.
- The Graduate Committee will review applications and recommend admission for a limited number of candidates.
- Students may be admitted on either a part-time or full-time basis.
Program Notes
- Students registered as full-time will normally complete all degree requirements within two years. Students registered as part-time will normally complete all degree requirements within four years.
- All students must complete a research project that culminates in a thesis and demonstrates a capacity for independent thought and work. There will be an oral defence of the written thesis.
- Courses are chosen in consultation with the Supervisory Committee.
- The thesis supervisor may not instruct all the courses in a candidate’s program.
- Additional credits may be required of candidates with insufficient preparation in the area of research specialization.
- In addition to the above coursework, students will participate in the running of undergraduate courses in the Department of Biological Sciences at Brock University as teaching assistants for a minimum of one term (for which a graduate teaching stipend will be received).
- Students who wish to transfer to the PhD program must complete one year (12 months) of full-time study as MSc students and then must successfully complete the predoctoral exam (see Program Requirements for PhD in Biological Sciences ).
- All students must complete a research project that culminates in a thesis and demonstrates a capacity for independent thought and work. There will be an oral defence of the written thesis.
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