Biology Curriculum
- Course descriptions
- General education requirements
- Entry prerequisites
- Core requirements
- Elective requirements
- Petitions
Course descriptions
Follow the links below for descriptions of each course. The biology major can use courses from several different disciplines:
- Biology (BBIO)
- Chemistry (BCHEM)
- Physics (BPHYS)
- Science & Technology Mathematics (STMATH)
- Environmental Science (BES)
- Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS)
- Science, Technology, and Society (BISSTS)
General education requirements
All UW students must complete a common set of general education requirements. As a Biology major, you will have already completed the Natural Science (NSc) and Reasoning (R) requirements by taking chemistry and biology classes, but make sure to plan for completion of the following:
- English Composition (C) – 5 credits
- Additional Writing (W) – 10 credits
- Diversity (DIV) – 5 credits (almost always also fulfills A&H or SSc; was only 3 credits prior to autumn 2023)
- Arts & Humanities (A&H) – 15 credits (cannot overlap with SSc)
- Social Sciences (SSc) – 15 credits (cannot overlap with A&H)
Entry prerequisites
Visit our Admissions page for information on prerequisite coursework.
Core requirements
Courses cannot apply to more than one requirement for the Biology major, meaning the same course cannot count towards both the core and elective requirements.
- Calculus (choose one course)
- Statistics (choose one course)
- BHLTH/BMATH 215: Health Statistics
- BIS 215: Understanding Statistics
- STMATH 341: Statistical Inference
- BBUS 215: Introduction to Business Statistics
- STAT 220: Statistical Reasoning
- MATH& 146: Introduction to Statistics from Washington Community Colleges
- Please reach out to the Biology advisor if you have completed and transferred in this course but it is not yet applying to the statistics requirement on your degree audit.
- Physics I and II (choose one series)
- Both BPHYS 114+117 and BPHYS 115+118: General Physics I and II + Labs
- Both BPHYS 121 and BPHYS 122: Calculus-based Physics I and II + Labs
- Note on Physics III: The third course in the above two series is BPHYS 116+119 (General Physics III + Lab) or BPHYS 123 (Calculus-based Physics III + Lab). These are not required for your Biology degree, but may be needed to apply to some graduate programs.
- Genetics
- Evolution
- Ecology (choose one course)
- Cell Biology (choose one course)
- BBIO 370: Microbiology I + lab
- BBIO 470: Microbiology II; also fulfills “Additional Writing” (W) general education requirement. BBIO 370 is the normal prerequisite, so this will not often be used for the Cell Biology requirement except in rare cases.
- BBIO 372: Stem Cells
- BBIO 380: Cell Biology; occasionally fulfills “Additional Writing” (W) general education requirement in spring quarters. See the course notes on the time schedule to check.
- Note on transfers: Many community college Microbiology courses are not accepted. Check our Admissions page for more information.
- Physiology (choose one course)
- BBIO 351: Anatomy and Physiology I + Lab
- BBIO 352: Anatomy and Physiology II + Lab
- Note on sequencing: We suggest taking BBIO 351 before BBIO 352, but it is not a prerequisite. You can take just one course, or both courses in either order.
- Note on transfers: Many community college Physiology courses are not accepted. Check our Admissions page for more information.
- Investigative Biology
- All Biology students must complete at least one biology-related research project.
- Visit the Investigative Biology page for information on the requirement, how to find research, and step-by-step instructions for making sure that your project fulfills the requirement.
- Plan EARLY: Start planning for this requirement at least 6 months in advance.
Elective requirements
Biology & Society
You must complete one (1) course for this requirement. This is flexible – if you find a course that seems related to both Biology and Society then you can submit a petition to request for it to count.
Many Biology and Society courses can also fulfill general education credit.
- BBIO 231 (Genes, Genomes, and Heredity); also fulfills SSc
- BBIO 233 (Cancer: Biology, Risk, and Treatment)
- BBIO 310 (Brain and Behavior)
- BBIO 335 (Salmon and Society); also fulfills SSc
- BES 485 (Conservation Biology)
- BIS 241 (Nature in the Northwest)
- BIS 243 (Intro to Environmental Issues); also fulfills SSc
- BIS 307 (Environmental Justice); also fulfills SSc
- BIS 356 (Ethics and Environment); also fulfills SSc
- BIS 369 (Indigenous Psychology and Health); also fulfills DIV
- BIS 380 (Bioethics); also fulfills SSc
- BIS 391 (Environmental History of Pacific Northwest Bioregion); also fulfills SSc
- BIS 405 (Environmental Education)
- BIS 408 (Critical Physical Geography); also fulfills DIV
- BIS 459 (Conservation and Sustainable Development); also fulfills SSc
- BISSTS 307 (Science, Technology, and Society); also fulfills SSc
- Special topics and seminar courses are often appropriate for this requirement, but topics vary. Double check with the Biology advisor to make sure these will count:
Upper division biology electives
You must complete 20 credits (usually four courses) of upper division (300-level or higher) biology elective coursework. You must choose your electives from at least two out of three of the following categories. Click the category titles to see lists of approved courses.
- BBIO 330 (Marine Biology)
- BBIO 335 (Salmon and Society)
- BBIO 370 (Microbiology I)
- BBIO 383 (Bioinformatics)
- BBIO 385 (Animal Behavior)
- BBIO 470 (Microbiology II)
- BBIO 471 (Plant Ecology)
- BES 312 (Ecology)
- BES 316 (Ecological Methods)
- BES 330 (Limnology)
- BES 362 (Restoration Ecology)
- BES 485 (Conservation Biology)
- BIS 306 (Marine Diversity and Conservation)
- BIS 342 (Geographic Information Systems)
- BBIO 340 (Computational Biology)
- BBIO/BCHEM 364 (Biochemistry I)
- BBIO/BCHEM 365 (Biochemistry II)
- BBIO/BCHEM 366 (Biochemistry Lab); only 3 credits
- BBIO 370 (Microbiology I)
- BBIO 372 (Stem Cells)
- BBIO/BCHEM 375 (Molecular Biology)
- BBIO 380 (Cell Biology); fulfills Additional Writing (W) if taken in spring quarter
- BBIO 383 (Bioinformatics)
- BBIO 460 (Developmental Biology)
- BBIO 470 (Microbiology II); fulfills Additional Writing (W)
- BBIO 310 (Brain & Behavior); no longer counts for the Neuroscience minor. If you are taking the Neuroscience minor, take BBIO 320 instead.
- BBIO 320 (Behavioral Neuroscience); cannot count for both Biology major and Neuroscience minor
- BBIO 351 (Anatomy and Physiology I + lab)
- BBIO 352 (Anatomy and Physiology II + lab)
- BBIO 355 (Behavioral Endocrinology)
- BBIO 385 (Animal Behavior)
- BBIO 390 (Diseases and Disorders of the Nervous System)
- BBIO 394 (Special Topics in Neuroscience)
- BBIO 480 (Neurobiology); cannot count for both Biology major and Neuroscience minor
Miscellaneous Electives
These courses can count as a Biology Elective, but usually do not count towards the “two out of three categories” requirement from above:
- BBIO 485 (Senior Seminar in Biology)
- BBIO 495 (Investigative Biology)
- BBIO 498 (Independent Study in Biology)
- BBIO 499 (Undergraduate Research in Biology)
- Maximum of 10 credits of BBIO 499 may apply to the Biology Electives requirement
Petitions
Biology-related courses that are not included on the core or elective requirements lists are considered on a case-by-case basis. If you have a syllabus, letter from the instructor, or other detailed description for the class you want to use as an elective, you can submit a petition to request for the course to count.
Some transfer courses never count for Biology major requirements. Visit our Admissions page for information on transfer coursework.