There may be something available outside the U.S. but graduate work in the U.S. in biology is hard to come by. This is true for most of the sciences in the U.S. This does not mean that all DL paths in biology are closed off. If you really want to do graduate work by DL in biology you may want to look into a good interdisciplinary/individualized program. Here you design your own degree plan in consultation with professors (who can be of your choosing and willing to work with you) who can plan a degree program similar to your study concentration. You also need to identify appropriate academic resources that may be available to you to complete the degree. If you want to pursue this option you may want to look into the Antioch University McGregor School's IMA (Individualized Master of Arts) program. The degree awarded is the MA. Back in the 80's when I undertook this program I remember seeing several student theses that were biology/life science focused. I completed my MA from Antioch with a concentration in historical astronomy. I was able to work with some great professors in physics and history. The degree opened the door for doctoral study and I was able to get advanced standing in the University of Western Sydney online master of astronomy program that I am currently taking to update my knowledge of astronomy. Go to: http://www.mcgregor.edu and http://www.antioch.edu Essentially, by undertaking an individualized master degree and with careful design the degree can serve as a side door to step into a career or future graduate study. Some of the other individualized programs at the masters level our there are: Goddard College: http://www.goddard.edu/indexoffcampus.htm or, the University of Oklahoma, MLS program: http://www.ou.edu/cls More pertinent to the self-design option is: http://www.ou.edu/cls/mlsinquirer/selfdesign.html John
University of Nebraska - Lincoln offers a distance-based M.S. in Entomology. This non-thesis program is designed for students who do not intend to pursue a doctorate. http://entomology.unl.edu/educatn/distancems.htm Michael Barger [email protected]
I think Lehigh University offers an online M.S. of some kind in molecular biology; beyond that, I'd recommend checking out some of the Australian schools (Monash, University of New England, etc); Monash even has a Master of Bioethics. Good luck! Peace, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net
You may also want to look at the University of Maryland University Campus. They offer an MS in Biotechnology Studies via DL. http://www.umuc.edu/prog/gsmt/gsmtdist/oldg.html
whitely7, There have been some good links provided on DL related biology programs. When you say "the like" what others areas are you looking into? This may help provide some additional options. John
wow you guys are great! Thank you very much. These lead pretty much cover what I was looking for. I also found a MSc (Masters?) offer by the University of Manchester in Bioinformatics which looks very interesting. Any info. on this university would be appreciated. I couldn't find anything about accredidation on the web site. thanks again..
I looked into the Manchester MSc (Master of Science) program recently, and it seems to be a solid set of courses. It is apparently a popular program- the courses fill up rapidly. If you are interested in bioinformatics (focusing on protein structure), you might also check out the MSc in structural biology offered by Birkbeck College of the University of London. It is not part of the External Programme, but is nonetheless available totally on-line. If your interests run to public health areas of biology, check out the MSc programs in epidemiology and infectious diseases offered through the External Programme of the University of London. The programs mentioned above are course-based. Are you more interested in a taught master's or a research master's? Unless you truly have no other alternative, I would avoid the individualized master's programs if you are thinking of going into biology. They may be academically sound, but unless you end up publishing your thesis work quickly you will have more explaining to do than with a more traditional degree title. Alex
Not a degree program (yet) but a very recent new development in online bioinformatics education is S-Star.org (http://s-star.org/main.htm). This is a collaborative effort between 6 institutions (on 5 continents). Was discussed briefly in current (31 May 2001) issue of Nature.
