The minimum requirement for admission to the MSc program is a baccalaureate in an honours science program, or the equivalent, from a recognized university or college. The applicant should have achieved an average standing of at least second class honours ('B' or 73%) during the last two undergraduate years. Admission to the program is not restricted to those holding an honours baccalaureate degree in microbiology.

Students must complete at least the minimum university course credit requirements including the departmental seminar requirements. The MSc thesis is intended to give the student training and experience in:

• a comprehensive library search on a specific topic related to the research;

• research techniques;

• the design of experiments in collaboration with the research advisor;

• the interpretation of data, and

• writing for scientific publication.

The thesis research should involve experimentation not previously reported in the literature and should lead to a complete study. Whenever possible, the results should yield publishable data, but this is not an absolute requirement for the completion of an MSc program.

In the case of a student considering transfer from the MSc program to the PhD program, it is important that the research project be one which can be expanded in scope and challenge if the transfer is approved.