Overview
Fordham University, founded in 1841, consists of ten colleges and schools. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers a wide range of master’s and doctoral degree programs and participates in the New York City Doctoral Consortium.

The Department of Biological Sciences maintains an atmosphere that is demanding, yet friendly and human. It sponsors weekly seminars by outside speakers, and students have many opportunities to participate in journal clubs and other forms of scientific discussion. The Louis Calder Conservation and Ecology Center, with its conference center, provides an outstanding resource for urban ecological research and departmental events.

The total enrollment of Fordham University is approximately 12,000 students. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has an enrollment of approximately 1,150 students. Sixty graduate students are enrolled in the Department of Biological Sciences. These students have diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Most graduates of the program are engaged in teaching, research, or both.

The Location and Community
The department is housed in Larkin Hall on the Rose Hill campus, which is in the North Bronx, adjacent to the New York Botanical Gardens and the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo). The 85-acre wooded and picturesque campus is conveniently near public transportation and parkways. The Louis Calder Conservation and Ecology Center is located 25 miles north of the campus in suburban Armonk, New York. Opportunities for cultural and social enrichment in New York are virtually unlimited.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Department of Biological Sciences at Fordham University offers programs of study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Requirements for the M.S. are 30 credits beyond the B.S. or B.A., knowledge of a foreign language or computer language, and a comprehensive examination. A student may elect to earn 6 credits by writing a thesis. Opportunities for part-time students are also available. Requirements for the Ph.D. are 30 credits beyond the M.S., completion of a program of study and research as recommended by a committee, knowledge of a foreign or computer language, a comprehensive examination, and a dissertation based on original research. Upon registration, students are assigned an interim adviser. Comprehensive exams are usually taken before the end of the second year.

Areas of specialization are cell and molecular biology and ecology. Research areas in cell and molecular biology include immunomodulators and cancer immunology; eukaryotic gene expression; ion channel physiology; genetic basis of aging; genetic toxicology; cytogenetic and molecular analysis of chromosomes; spermatogenesis and early development; cellular differentiation; regeneration in invertebrates; neuronal differentiation; electron microscopy and trace-element analysis; neurophysiology; and growth factors. Research areas in ecology include population and community ecology; conservation biology; microbial ecology and physiological ecology of plants, terrestrial insects, and aquatic organisms; and thermal biology. Emphases include insect-parasitoid interactions, paleoecology, trace-element biogeochemistry, freshwater ecology, systematics and evolution of mammals and insects, behavioral ecology of mammals, and extinction dynamics. Opportunities are available for collaborative research projects at the nearby Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo) and New York Botanical Gardens.

Facilities & Resources
The Department of Biological Sciences is housed in a renovated 27,000-square-foot building containing sixteen modern laboratories and a central animal-care facility. The laboratories are equipped for broad-based research employing modern technologies. Items of particular interest for graduate research are tissue culture facilities, microorganism culture facilities, transmission and scanning electron microscopes, fluorescence microscopes, microinjection equipment, ultracentrifuges, a fluorometer, high-performance liquid chromatography equipment, scintillation counters, a video densitometer, DNA sequencing equipment, and an oligonucleotide synthesizer. The department also maintains the Louis Calder Conservation and Ecology Center, a research, teaching, and conference facility comprising 113 wooded acres, a 10-acre lake, wetlands, research labs, a greenhouse, animal facilities, a conference center, and student housing. Research at the center concentrates on applied environmental sciences, basic ecological research (with emphasis on aquatic studies), and conservation biology. The University maintains a computing center and a separate science library.

Expenses and Aid
Tuition is $975 per credit. The general activities fee was $179 per semester. The technology fee was $80 per semester.

Financial Aid:
Financial support in the form of assistantships and teaching fellowships is available for full-time graduate students. Tuition remission scholarships are usually held jointly with these awards. Stipends range from $17,000 to $28,000. Opportunities for support in the form of research assistantships are also available.

Housing/Living Expenses:
On-campus housing is available for unmarried students at approximately $9000 per twelve-month lease. Most students live in off-campus housing near the University or elsewhere in the New York City area. Rents vary widely.

How to Apply
Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree in the biological sciences or the equivalent, have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), submit GRE scores (including the Subject Test in biology), and arrange for official transcripts and two letters of recommendation to be sent to the University. TOEFL scores are required of most international students. Early application is encouraged. The fee for a paper application is $95; the fee for an online application is $75.

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