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General Information on Undergraduate Program
The Biology Program offers courses on the biological, chemical, physical, and mathematical principles governing the behavior of living matter at the molecular, cellular, organism, and population levels. Fundamental subjects such as molecular and cellular biology, genetics, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, plant biology, and ecology are supplemented by a wide variety of elective courses to prepare the students for careers in research and teaching in university, and for various positions in food and drug industry, agriculture, forestry, and public health. The Biology program allows students to choose an option among molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, and environmental biology fields in their junior year.
Elective Courses
There are two types of elective courses in our program,
1. Technical Elective (11 courses)
A MINIMUM of 4 of these 11 must be chosen from BIO or GENE programs.
A MAXIMUM of 7 technical electives may be chosen from other science and engineering departments of METU, in addition to BIO or GENE program courses. These include courses offered by the Departments of Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry, and Physics, as well as by the Faculty of Engineering and the Graduate Schools of Informatics or Marine Sciences.
2. Nontechnical Elective (2 courses)
These include courses offered by the Art Departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (e.g., Psychology or Philosophy) and faculties or graduate schools OTHER THAN Engineering and Informatics.
Course Lists and Prerequisites
Please visit the academic catalog for information on courses offered by the BIO and GENE programs of our department. For information on course prerequisites please click here.
The Special Project course (BIOL460) is only offered to 4th-year students with CPGA >2.75.
Undergraduate Curriculum
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL101 | General Biology I | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL115 | General Biology Laboratory I | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3.0 |
CHEM101 | General Chemistry I | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
ENG101 | English for Academic Purposes I | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6.0 |
MATH117 | Calculus I | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
OHS101 | Occupational Health and Safety I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BA100 | Career Planning | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 |
BIOL102 | General Biology II | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL116 | General Biology Laboratory II | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3.0 |
CHEM102 | General Chemistry II | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
ENG102 | English for Academic Purposes II | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6.0 |
IS100 | Introduction to Information Technologies and Applications | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 |
MATH118 | Calculus II | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL203 | Cell Biology | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL206 | Ecology | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5.5 |
BIOL251 | Cell Biology Laboratory | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 |
CHEM231 | Organic Chemistry | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7.0 |
HIST2201* | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | |
PHYS111 | Physics I (Mechanics) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL220 | Introduction to Biometry | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6.0 |
BIOL252 | Physiology | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7.0 |
ENG211 | Academic Oral Presentation Skills | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4.0 |
HIST2202* | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | |
PHYS112 | Physics II (Electricity and Magnetism) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7.5 |
Technical Elective | |||||
Nontechnical Elective |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL303 | Microbiology | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL351 | Introduction to Genetics | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL353 | Biochemistry | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 |
BIOL355 | Microbiology Laboratory | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 |
OHS301 | Occupational Health and Safety II | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 |
TURK303* | Turkish I | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 |
Technical Elective |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL310 | Biochemistry Laboratory | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 |
BIOL352 | Genetics Laboratory | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.0 |
BIOL356 | Plant Biology | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7.0 |
TURK304* | Turkish II | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.0 |
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective | |||||
Nontechnical Elective |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL404 | Evolution | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7.0 |
GENE479 | Current Research in Biological Sciences | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 |
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective |
Course Code | Course Name | METU Credit | Contact (h/w) | Laboratory (h/w) | ECTS Credit |
BIOL360* | Summer Practice | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.0 |
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective | |||||
Technical Elective |
* Students who did their internship with the Erasmus Summer Practice Mobility Program must take the BIOL361 course instead of BIOL360.
h/w: hours per week