Undergraduate Degree Requirements for Microbiology

The undergraduate microbiology major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is offered through both the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR).

There are four different areas of specialization within the major, so you can focus on the particular areas of microbiology that most interest you and are the best fit for your career path.

Areas of Specialization

  • Clinical and veterinary microbiology (including medical, dental, and other health related areas)
  • Food microbiology
  • Biotechnology and industrial microbiology
  • Applied and environmental microbiology

The required courses are listed below. View the CASNR course catalog or the CAS course catalog for complete descriptions of all classes for the microbiology major.

Required Courses

College Integrative Course (CASNR only)

SCIL 101 Science & Decision Making for a Complex World

Core Requirements

MBIO 101 Introduction to the Microbiology Major
BIOS 312 Microbiology
BIOS 313 Molecular Microbiology Lab or BIOS 314 Microbiology Lab
MBIO 420 Molecular Genetics (BIOS 420)
MBIO 440 Microbial Physiology (BIOS 440)
MBIO 443 Immunology (BIOS 443)

Biological Sciences

LIFE 120 Fundamentals of Biology I
LIFE 120L Fundamentals of Biology I Lab
LIFE 121 Fundamentals of Biology II
LIFE 121L Fundamentals of Biology II Lab
BIOS 206 General Genetics

Chemistry

CHEM 109 & CHEM 110 General Chemistry I & II
or
CHEM 113 & CHEM 114 Fundamental Chemistry I & II & CHEM 221 Elementary Quantitative Analysis

Organic Chemistry

If you plan to take BIOC 401 and BIOC 401L, select one sequence from:
    CHEM 251 & CHEM 253 Organic Chemistry I & Lab
    CHEM 261 & CHEM 263 Organic Chemistry & Lab
    CHEM 255 & CHEM 257 Introduction to Organic Chemistry & Lab

If you plan to take BIOC 431 (BIOS 431, CHEM 431), select one sequence from:
    CHEM 251 & CHEM 253 Organic Chemistry I & Lab & CHEM 252 Organic Chemistry I
    CHEM 261 & CHEM 263 Organic Chemistry & Lab & CHEM 262 Organic Chemistry

Physics

PHYS 141 & PHYS 142 Elementary General Physics I and II
or
PHYS 211 & PHYS 221 General Physics I & Lab & PHYS 212 & PHYS 222 General Physics II & Lab

Biological Chemistry

BIOC 401 & BIOC 401L Elements of Biochemistry & Lab
or
BIOC 431 Biomolecules and Metabolism (BIOS 431, CHEM 431)

Mathematics and Statistics

MATH 106 Analytical Geometry & Calculus I & Medicine
STAT 218 Intro to Statistics (or EDPS 459 Statistical Methods, ECON 215 Statistics, STAT 380 Statistics & Applications)

Elective Courses

AGRO 460 - Soil Microbiology (BIOS 460, NRES 460, SOIL 460) (3 cr)
BIOC 432 - Gene Expression & Replication (BIOS 432, CHEM 432) (3 cr)
BIOC 433 - Biochemistry Lab (BIOS 433, CHEM 433)(2 cr)
BIOC 437 - Research Techniques in Biochemistry (BIOS 437) (4 cr)
BIOS 302 - Cell Biology (3 cr)
BIOS 303 - Molecular Biology (3 cr)
BIOS 326 - Biology of Viruses (3 cr)
BIOS 402 - Cancer Biology (3 cr)
BIOS 407 - Biology of Cells & Organelles (3 cr)
BIOS 426 - Systems Biology (3 cr)
BIOS 441 - Pathogenic Microbiology (VBMS 441 VBMS 441H) (3 cr)
BIOS 444 - Earth & Environmental Microbiology (GEOL 444) (3 cr)
BIOS 445 - Food Microbiology (FDST 405) (3 cr)
BIOS 446 - Food Microbiology Lab (FDST 406) (2 cr)
BIOS 477 - Bioinformatics & Molecular Evolution (3 cr)
BIOS 487 - Field Parasitology (4 cr)
FDST 415 - Molds & Mycotoxins (3 cr)
FDST 455 - Microbiology of Fermented Foods (2 cr)
FDST 455L - Microbiology of Fermented Foods Lab (1 cr)
PLPT 369 - Introductory Plant Pathology (BIOS 369) (3 cr)
PLPT 369L - Introductory Plant Pathology Lab (1 cr)
PLPT 370 - Biology of Fungi (AGRO 370/HORT 370) (3 cr)
STAT 442 - Computational Biology (BIOC 442) (3 cr)
VBMS 303 - Principles and Prevention of Livestock Diseases (3 cr)
VBMS 408 - Functional Histology (BIOS 408) (4 cr)
VBMS 424 - Basic Molecular Infectious Diseases (3 cr)

Within the same subject matter area, students may request substitution for an elective course at the 300 level or above.