Prospective Students

Admissions Overview

Thank you for your interest in the UWM Biological Sciences graduate program! UWM is a top-tier R1 Research University and the Biological Sciences Graduate Program consists of faculty and staff dedicated to help you succeed in your scientific career. We encourage you to explore each of our faculty member’s research projects and reach out to a few faculty to discuss your interests. You can find which faculty are accepting students into their labs below. Then, you can list these faculty names with your application to indicate a potential advisor.

Students entering the program have completed an undergraduate major in biological sciences and have taken a significant number of college-level courses in chemistry, physics, and mathematics. However, we will consider applicants with other backgrounds who have adequate preparation for advanced studies in the field of biology, which generally means at least 30 undergraduate credits in biology or biology-related coursework.

Most entering students have a minimum 3.0 GPA and GRE general test scores at the 50th percentile or above, if GRE scores are submitted.

Doctoral and Thesis Track Masters students are admitted to begin in the fall semester only, and the application deadline is December 1 prior to the fall of desired entry.

Non-thesis Track Masters students are admitted to both fall and spring semesters. The application deadline for fall semester admission is May 1; the application deadline for spring semester admission is October 1.

For more information on the graduate program please see the MS (Non-thesis Track), MS (Thesis Track), and PhD guidelines.

On admission, all thesis students are guaranteed a teaching assistantship, which makes you eligible for tuition remission, health insurance and a monthly stipend. We encourage you to explore what our graduate program has to offer. For information on how to apply, please visit our application information page.

Past students from the Biological Sciences Non-Thesis program have graduated
with excellent skills that helped them to succeed in their career goals, and past Biological Sciences Master’s Thesis and PhD students have graduated with excellent research experience that set them up for success in their future work in research, industry and academia. You can read about a few of our current/past graduate students here, here and here.

Milwaukee is such a fun city to live in! Explore why we love Milwaukee here.

Watch this short video to learn a bit about the department, from the perspective of a few graduate students:


The following faculty members are planning to accept students into their lab for the 2024-2025 academic year:

Cellular and Molecular Biology

Ecology, Evolution and Behavior

Microbiology