Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Biological Science

Microbiology programs are designed to give students a good understanding of microorganisms, including diversity, ecology, physiology, molecular genetics, current approaches in bacterial genomics/proteomics, and microbial associations with animal hosts and the environments. Such knowledge will provide the basis for further work with microbes in medicine, agricultural industries (including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage) and the environment (surveillance and bioremediation).

Program Requirements

The Co-op program in Microbiology is a five year program, including four work terms. Students must follow the academic work schedule as outlined below (also found on the Co-operative Education website: https://www.recruitguelph.ca/cecs/). 

Microbiology Academic and Co-op Work Term Schedule

Co-op Information

Year	Fall	Winter	Summer
1	Academic Semester 1	Academic Semester 2	Off
2	Academic Semester 3 COOP*1100	Academic Semester 4	COOP*1000 Work Term I
3	Academic Semester 5	Academic Semester 6	COOP*2000 Work Term II
4	COOP*3000 Work Term III	COOP*4000 Work Term IV	Off
5	Academic Semester 7	Academic Semester 8	N/A

Please refer to the Co-operative Education program policy with respect to work term performance grading, work term report grading and program completion requirements.

For additional program information students should consult with their Co-op Co-ordinator and Co-op Faculty Advisor, listed on the Co-operative Education web site.

Credit Summary

(22.00 Total Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
First year science required		4.00
Required science courses semesters 3 - 8		6.50
Restricted electives (#2 in restricted electives list)		3.50
Approved Science Electives		2.00
Liberal Education Electives (#1 in restricted electives list)		2.00
Free Electives - any approved electives for B.Sc. students		2.00
Co-op Work Terms		2.00
Total Credits		22

Of the total credits required, students are required to complete 16.00 credits in science of which a minimum of 2.00 credits must be at the 4000 level and an additional 4.00 credits must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.

The recommended program sequence is outlined below.

Major (Honours Program)

Students lacking Grade 12 or 4U Biology, Chemistry or Physics should follow the revised schedule of study for this major found at https://www.uoguelph.ca/bsc/revised_SS/.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Semester 1 - Fall
BIOL*1090	Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology	0.50
CHEM*1040	General Chemistry I	0.50
MATH*1080	Elements of Calculus I	0.50
PHYS*1080	Physics for Life Sciences	0.50
0.50 Liberal Education electives		0.50
Semester 2 - Winter
BIOL*1070	Discovering Biodiversity	0.50
BIOL*1080	Biological Concepts of Health	0.50
CHEM*1050	General Chemistry II	0.50
PHYS*1070	Physics for Life Sciences II	0.50
0.50 Liberal Education electives		0.50
Summer Semester
No academic semester or work term
Semester 3 - Fall
BIOC*2580	Introduction to Biochemistry	0.50
COOP*1100	Introduction to Co-operative Education	0.00
MBG*2040	Foundations in Molecular Biology and Genetics	0.50
MICR*2420	Introduction to Microbiology	0.50
STAT*2040	Statistics I	0.50
0.50 Liberal Education electives		0.50
Semester 4 - Winter
BIOC*3560	Structure and Function in Biochemistry	0.50
MCB*2050	Molecular Biology of the Cell	0.50
MICR*2430	Methods in Microbial Culture and Physiology	0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
0.50 Liberal Education electives		0.50
Summer Semester
COOP*1000	Co-op Work Term I	0.50
Semester 5 - Fall
MICR*3240	Microbial Physiology and Genetics	0.50
MICR*3280	Microbial Cell Biology	0.50
MICR*3420	Microbial Diversity and Ecology	0.50
1.00 electives or restricted electives		1.00
Semester 6 - Winter
MBG*3350	Laboratory Methods in Molecular Biology	0.75
MICR*3430	Advanced Methods in Microbiology	0.75
A minimum of 1.00 electives or restricted electives		1.00
Summer Semester
COOP*2000	Co-op Work Term II	0.50
Fall Semester
COOP*3000	Co-op Work Term III	0.50
Winter Semester
COOP*4000	Co-op Work Term IV	0.50
Semester 7 - Fall
2.00 electives or restricted electives 2		2.50
Semester 8 - Winter
2.00 electives or restricted electives 3		2.50

²

Can include MCB*4500 Research Project in Molecular and Cellular Biology I

³

Can include MCB*4510 Research Project in Molecular and Cellular Biology

Restricted Electives

1. A minimum of 2.00 credits of Liberal Education electives is required. The list of Liberal Education electives for B.Sc. students can be found at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/bsc/
2. 3.50 restricted elective credits of which 1.00 credits must be at the 4000 level.

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credits
   BIOC*4540	Enzymology	0.75
   BIOC*4580	Membrane Biochemistry	0.50
   ENVS*3290	Waterborne Disease Ecology	0.50
   FOOD*3230	Food Microbiology	0.75
   FOOD*3240	Food Microbiology	0.50
   FOOD*3260	Industrial Microbiology	0.50
   FOOD*3270	Industrial Microbiology	0.50
   FOOD*4400	Dairy Processing	0.50
   MBG*3040	Molecular Biology of the Gene	0.50
   MBG*4040	Genetics and Molecular Biology of Development	0.50
   MBG*4110	Epigenetics	0.50
   MBG*4240	Applied Molecular Genetics in Medicine and Biotechnology	0.50
   MCB*3010	Dynamics of Cell Function and Signaling	0.50
   MCB*4500	Research Project in Molecular and Cellular Biology I	1.00
   MCB*4510	Research Project in Molecular and Cellular Biology	1.00
   MCB*4600	Topics in Molecular and Cellular Biology	0.50
   MICR*3090	Mycology	0.50
   MICR*3220	Plant Microbiology	0.50
   MICR*3230	Immunology	0.50
   MICR*3330	World of Viruses	0.50
   MICR*4010	Pathogenic Microbiology	0.50
   MICR*4330	Molecular Virology	0.50
   MICR*4430	Medical Virology	0.50
   MICR*4530	Immunology II	0.50
   PATH*3040	Principles of Parasitology	0.50