Undergraduate

B.S. in Microbiology

scientist working with petri dish

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MICROBIOLOGY B.S. DEGREE (MIC)

Offered at the Tampa Campus.
 
This degree specializes in the study of bacteria and other microbes, primarily at the cell and molecular level, and focuses on disease-causing microbes. The Microbiology core and elective requirements include specialized microbiology courses necessary to qualify for certification by the National Registry of Microbiologists, American Society of Microbiology, and employment in microbiology and related fields. Many microbiology majors plan to apply to medical or dental school, while others plan careers as professional microbiologists in industry and government. Others become teachers or aspire to graduate training in microbiology.


The Microbiology degree includes a broad background and education in the sciences, including chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics as well as specific, focused training in the field of microbiology. Much of the advanced coursework displays an integrated approach to the study of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms with a major emphasis in microbial pathogenesis. This includes an analysis of virulence factors, bacterial toxins, lipopolysaccharides, and outer membrane proteins, interactions of pathogens and their products with eukaryotic host cells (cellular microbiology), antigenic variation, contemporary vaccine strategies, bacterial gene regulation (osmoregulation, quorum sensing), bacterial export and secretion, and genetic regulation of bacterial virulence expression.