MS in Biology

The Open Choice MS (OC-MS) program in biology is designed for students wishing to advance their careers in academia, industry, government, non-profits, and other sectors that employ biologists.

Unique aspects of the OC-MS program are:

• It is entirely course-based. There is no required thesis. Research opportunities are possible for highly qualified students, but neither required nor guaranteed.
• It is fully customized. Each student’s program of study is tailored to their specific career goals. There are no set course requirements.
• It leverages the entire Tufts ecosystem. Relevant courses can be selected from any department at Tufts University. Recent graduates have taken courses in biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, psychology, data analytics, environmental studies, entrepreneurship, and many other fields.
• It is suitable for full- or part-time study. Classes are mostly in-person but offered at a broad range of times to accommodate students who are currently working professionals. Full time students typically complete our program in two years or less.

Recent graduates of the OC-MS program have gone on to a wide range of jobs, including:

• Academia: Ph.D. programs at Brown, Emory, Penn, UC Berkeley, UConn, UMass, Vanderbilt, and Yale.
• Biotech and pharma: R&D, strategy, and other positions at Lonza Biologics, Pfizer, Sanofi, T2 Biosystems, and TCR Therapeutics, and TScan Therapeutics.
• Other for-profit: Various roles at AECOM, Health Catalyst, IQVIA, LabCorp, and Next Rung Technology.
• Government and non-profits: Research assistant, clinical research coordinator, and other roles at Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory National Primate Research Center, UPenn, USDA Forest Service, and USDA Human Nutrition Research Center.

The OC-MS curriculum

OC-MS students take 30 credits (~10 courses) of graduate-level classes of their choice (numbered 100 and above), selected in consultation with their faculty advisors. There is no set curriculum and there are no specific course requirements. A typical course of study spans biology and adjacent areas like biomedical engineering, chemistry, and environmental studies, but graduates have also taken upper-level courses in philosophy, anthropology, computer science, entrepreneurship, community health, and other departments that are relevant to their career goals. Within the biology department, students may elect to focus their studies in a specific area or explore topics broadly across multiple domains. Students with focused interests may may choose to concentrate in certain specific areas (marine science, bioinformatics).

 Full-time OC-MS students who do not pursue co-ops (see below) typically take 2-4 courses per semester and graduate in 3-4 terms, depending on their interests, career aspirations, timing constraints, and desire to pursue research (see below). See the OC-MS Student Handbook for more detailed information about the program, including courses that have been taken by recent students.

Career development for OC-MS students

Advising and career development are integral components of the OC-MS program. We connect OC-MS students with current biology PhD students, experienced staff members in Tufts Career Services, external career advisors and working professionals in various biology-related industries and settings for "informational interviews" and personalized guidance. And our “Career Skills for Biologists” seminar, offered each semester, helps students explore diverse biology-related careers, prepare for job applications and interviews, and succeed in the workplace.

Biotechnology opportunities for OC-MS students

All OC-MS students are co-advised by our Professor of the Practice of Biotechnology, who has over two decades of experience working in academic research, healthcare, the biopharmaceutical industry, and life sciences strategy consulting, where he remains active alongside his role at Tufts. He has written extensively on career development in the industry, including blog posts on how to learn about biotech and pharma and introductory resources for analyzing biotech clinical trials. 

OC-MS students interested in biopharma can access a wide range of courses relevant to entering and succeeding in various roles. Many biopharma-focused students complement their coursework in basic biology, physiology, and pathophysiology with biology classes in biostatistics, drug development, genomics, and bioinformatics, as well as courses in other departments on topics like tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, principles of controlled release and drug delivery, and drug product formulation. Past OC-MS students interested in science-adjacent careers in biopharma have also taken courses on entrepreneurship, program management, the U.S. health care system, qualitative research methods, and other topics relevant to their future professional aspirations.

Many OC-MS students interested in biotech join the Tufts Biotech Club, a group of graduate students and postdocs that hosts events and workshops related to the drug development and consulting industries. OC-MS students also frequently join the mailing lists of the biotech clubs at Harvard and MIT to partake of their public events like talks, workshops, hackathons, and career fairs.

OC-MS students interested in biotech are also strongly encouraged to apply for our Graduate Co-Op Program, which enables accepted students to pursue up to six months of real-world, paid, full-time work experience.

Finally, we get regular input from our OC-MS Advisory Board, made up of biotech and pharma industry professionals, into courses and skills relevant to drug development in order to continuously evaluate and expand our class offerings and better advise our students.

Research opportunities for OC-MS students

Qualified OC-MS students may apply for positions in research labs for one or more semesters. Through this experience, they gain technical skills and hands-on experience that help them prepare to apply for Ph.D. programs or become more competitive for full-time jobs. Past students have obtained research positions in labs within the biology department as well as other departments and schools at the Medford, Grafton, and Boston campuses. More information is available in our department’s “Guide to Finding Research,” located on the undergraduate research website. 

Note that research lab positions are not guaranteed, and there is no thesis component to the OC-MS program.

Degree Requirements

All MS candidates must complete 30 units of courses (100-level or higher) and pass with a letter grade of at least a B minus.

• Eight or more of those courses must be worth at least three units each.
• One of the 10 courses must be an advanced seminar course (100 or 200 level) that is driven by student readings, presentations, and discussion of papers from the primary literature.
• No more than three courses (up to nine units) of Independent Research or Study (Bio 193, 195) can be used towards the MS degree.
• No more than two qualified courses may be transferred from another institution.

Additional information about the OC-MS program can be found in the OC-MS Student Handbook. If you have additional questions that are not answered there or on this website, please contact us directly at biology@tufts.edu.