MSc Microbiology Syllabus

Microbiology is concerned with the study of those minuscule living organisms visible only under a microscope such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae etc. Through the study of these microbes, microbiologists can help develop medicines, vaccines, antibiotics etc., which are of immense importance in the present world. Students are getting increasingly attracted to the subject due to the huge number of job opportunities offered in this field. So, have you completed your BSc in Microbiology and are looking forward to continuing your studies by pursuing an MSc Microbiology? If yes, it is best to first familiarise yourself with the syllabus of the course. In this blog, we have provided an overview of the MSc Microbiology syllabus to help you understand the course.

Course Overview & Eligibility Criteria

MSc in Microbiology is a postgraduate course which is generally of two years duration. MSc Microbiology is divided into 4 semesters and students are also usually required to submit a research project during the last semester of the course. The minimum requirement for applying to this course is a BSc degree in Microbiology or a related subject. Many universities in India have their entrance exam for this course while for those aiming to pursue this course abroad, applicants need to provide GRE scores along with English proficiency scores of TOEFL, IELTS, etc. Additionally, you would need to provide Letters of Recommendation (LORs) and a Statement of Purpose (SOP) along with all other documents needed by the respective universities.

MSc Microbiology Semester-wise Syllabus

The MSc Microbiology course is divided into 4 semesters and universities encourage students to take part in research projects while pursuing the postgraduate program. Below is a semester-wise breakdown of the MSc Microbiology syllabus:

Semester 1	Biostatistics and Computer Applications Bioinstrumentation Bioenergetics and Molecular Enzymology Food and Dairy Microbiology
Semester 2	Microbial Physiology Molecular Immunology Recent trends in Virology Microbial diversity and Extremophiles
Semester 3	Microbial Genetics Bioprocess Engineering and Technology Enzyme Technology Environmental Microbial Technology
Semester 4	Fermentation Technology Pharmaceutical Microbiology Recombinant DNA Technology Bioinformatics, Microbial Genomics and Proteomics

Note: The aforementioned syllabus and list of subjects is for indicative purposes. The actual MSc Microbiology syllabus may vary according to the university as well as course.

MSc Microbiology Subjects

The MSc Microbiology course covers a wide range of topics in its syllabus to impart learners with an advanced-level understanding of this field. Some of the main topics covered in the MSc Microbiology syllabus include:

Environment Microbiology	Food Microbiology	Bioinformatics
Immunology	Industrial microbiology	Immunochemistry
Parasitology	Virology	Metabolic Engineering
Microbial and Molecular Genetics	Bacteriology	Mycology
Medical Microbiology	Bioanalytical techniques	Biochemistry

Now that you know the major subjects covered under this degree, below we have briefly summarized some of the important topics explored under the MSc Microbiology syllabus:

Food Microbiology

Food Microbiology is the study of microbes in relation to their effects on food. This includes the study of the microorganisms which contaminate or spoil food, as well as the usage of microorganisms for food production or enhancement.

Medical Microbiology

This is one of the most important subjects in the MSc Microbiology syllabus. It deals with the study of microbes to determine measures for the treatment, diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases. It is also concerned with researching the usage of different microbes for health benefits.

Environment Microbiology

Environmental Microbiology deals with the study of Microbes in the environment, including their structures and activities, interactions, population, genetics and evolution processes. In short, it focuses on all the interactions of the microbes with the environment.

Bacteriology

Bacteriology is an important subject in the MSc Microbiology syllabus which deals with the study of Bacteria. It is concerned with the process of classification, characterization and identification of different species of bacteria.

Virology

Virology is the study of viruses. It is concerned with identifying their structure, genetics, disease-causing potential, classification etc.

Top Universities Offering MSc Microbiology

There are an array of universities all around the world that offer specialised postgraduate degrees in Microbiology. Below is a list of some of the top global universities offering MSc Microbiology:

University	Country
Harvard University	United States
University of Oxford	United Kingdom
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
University of California–San Francisco	United States
Imperial College London	United Kingdom
University of Washington	United States
Stanford University	United States
Johns Hopkins University	United States

Top MSc Microbiology Colleges in India

Listed below are the top M.Sc Microbiology Colleges in India that offer admission to students for M.Sc Microbiology –

1. St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata
2. Fergusson College, Pune
3. St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai
4. Presidency University, Chennai
5. St.Joseph’s College, Mumbai
6. Amity University, Noida
7. Chandigarh University, Chandigarh

MSc Microbiology Entrance Exams

We have listed the top entrance exams conducted in India to offer admission to M.Sc Microbiology courses.

Exam	University	Date
BITSAT	BITS, Pilani	To be announced
DUET	Delhi University	To be announced
JNUEE	JNU	To be announced
BHU PET	Banaras Hindu University	To be announced

The syllabus for these exams includes important topics covered under the B.Sc Microbiology course. Some of the important topics are:

1. Bacteria
2. Fungi
3. Viruses
4. Fungi
5. Immune System
6. Enzyme Technology

MSc Microbiology DU Syllabus

MSc Microbiology offered by DU is one of the most prestigious courses of DU. Students must be aware of the semester wise syllabus of MSc Microbiology offered by DU.

Semester I	Semester II
Diversity of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Microbes	Enzyme and Technique in Biochemistry
Microbial Physiology and Metabolism	Environmental Microbiology
Virology	Plant-Pathogen Interaction
Immunology	Microbial Pathogenicity
Semester III	Semester IV
Molecular Biology	Introduction to Bioinformatics
Recombinant DNA Technology	Dissertation
Microbial Genetics	–
Industrial and Food Microbiology	–

MSc Microbiology Goa University Syllabus

Given below is the Goa University Syllabus for MSc Microbiology:

Semester I	Semester II
Microbial Genetic	Archaea- Ecology, Biochemistry and Genetics
Microbial Biochemistry	Industrial Microbiology
Microbial Taxonomy	Mycology
Techniques and Instrumentation in Microbiology	Molecular Biology
Biostatistics	Marine Microbiology I
Semester III	Semester IV
Medical Virology	Introduction to Bioinformatics
Immunology	Marine Microbiology II
Environmental Microbiology	Microbial Technology
Genetic Engineering	Food Microbiology
Extremophilic Microorganisms	Agricultural Microbiology

MSc Microbiology Books

Students pursuing MSc Microbiology can refer to the following books to help ease their exam preparations –

1. Biology of Microorganisms by Brock, Madigan and Martinko
2. Microbiology by Prescott, Harley, Klein
3. Principles of Biochemistry by Lehninger, Nelson and Cox
4. Genetics by Goodenough
5. Immunology by Richard Goldsby, Thomas Kindt, Barbara Osbourne, Janis Kuby
6. Food Microbiology by Frazier & Westhoff
7. Fundamentals of Bacteriology by A.J. Salle
8. Textbook of Microbiology by Ananthanarayan and Paniker
9. Industrial Microbiology by Casida
10. Fundamentals of Ecology by E. Odum

FAQs

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