2012-2013 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Professional Science Master's - Program Description
For additional information about opportunities your college offers, please refer to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of this catalog.
Coordinator: Elrod. Biostatistics Program Director: Downer; Cell and Molecular Biology: Biotechnology Emphasis Program Director: Staves; Medical and Bioinformatics Program Director: Leidig. Faculty drawn from Departments of Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Cell & Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Statistics, and the School of Computing and Information Systems.
Website: www.gvsu.edu/psm
Degrees Offered
Master of Science in medical and bioinformatics; Master of Science in cell and molecular biology: biotechnology emphasis; Master of Science in biostatistics.
The Professional Science Masters (PSM) degree is characterized as post-graduate educational preparation that is more practical, applied, and focused on specific workforce needs than is a traditional masters degree. Currently 175 PSM degree programs exist at 89 universities in the United States and Canada (www.sciencemasters.com).
The professional science masters (PSM) degree is an innovative new 2-year graduate degree that offers advanced technical training while developing workplace skills - business, communications, teamwork, ethics - that employers are demanding.
A degree has specific characteristics:
- complete within itself, rather than a pathway to a Ph.D.
- interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary in nature
- closely tied to the scientific workforce needs of business/industry
- includes an intensive internship experience.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of GVSU's three PSM programs are currently working in biotechnology companies, research institutes, non-profit organizations, pharmaceutical companies, university research centers and research institutes, medical school research groups, hospitals, contact research organizations, consulting companies and in government. The employers of GVSU's PSM graduates work for Fortune 100 companies and for startups in Michigan and from Maryland to Tennessee to Illinois to Washington state.
The following program is available: