| In addition to the graduate degree programs offered by individual departments within the university, Michigan State also offers many programs which combine the research facilities and faculty of different departments and colleges.
Please use the links below to locate interdisciplinary and cross-college programs which may be of interest to you.
Dual Majors | Established Programs
Dual Majors
Michigan State University offers doctoral students the exceptional opportunity to work in conjunction with faculty mentors to develop a dual major doctoral program. Such a program will reflect the required courses and standards for both of the departments with a single dissertation. Examples include Physics and an Engineering discipline, Agricultural Economics and Economics, and English and History. Faculty and students are currently exploring many other creative combinations.
The request for a dual major must be made early in your doctoral program, and requires approval by your faculty guidance committee, department chairs, Deans of the appropriate Colleges, and the Dean of The Graduate School. Please contact your department faculty for more information.
Established Programs
Cell and Molecular Biology (Ph.D. only) An interdepartmental program, with more than fifty participating faculty from twelve different departments and administrative units. The research interests of these faculty members are diverse, with most areas of molecular and cell biology being represented. This diversity exposes students to a variety of scientific areas and gives them a wide choice of laboratories in which to carry out their thesis research.
Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology A single application provides access to over 170 research laboratories through 6 different graduate training programs.
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Cognitive Science Program The Cognitive Science Program includes approximately 30 faculty members from across campus and focuses on four research themes: perception and action; language and communication; learning, memory, and problem solving; and cognitive neuroscience. The Interdepartmental Graduate Specializations in Cognitive Science are available to students who are enrolled in masters and doctoral degree programs in one of the eleven participating departments from the colleges of Arts and Letters, Communication Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Natural Science, and Social Science.
Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology The Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology Graduate Program in the College of Veterinary Medicine offers a program of study for MS and PhD students to gain an understanding of how molecular and cellular events integrate into whole-animal systems, knowledge of how appropriate animal models can be used to study human and animal disease, and an understanding of how species differences and similarities can be used to investigate basic biology and disease while providing opportunities for contributions to these areas through research.
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Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior A new interdisciplinary program built on the premise that in the next several decades the major research breakthroughs in the field of ecology and evolution will be made by experts trained with a synthetic view of ecology and evolution.
Environmental and Resource Economics A field in environmental and resource economics allows a Ph.D. candidate to develop expertise in the application of economics to problems of environmental and natural resource use and policy. Boundaries of the field are sufficiently flexible to enable the student to achieve depth in theory, analytical techniques or subject matter. In completing the requirements of the field, a student is expected to acquire an understanding of the historical and institutional components of environmental and resource economics, a working knowledge of contemporary natural resource and environmental policy, and an expertise in the elements of economic theory that are particularly relevant to natural resource and environmental issues.
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Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences
The Center for Integrative Toxicology at MSU offers a multidisciplinary training program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences (EITS) that provides masters, doctoral and postdoctoral students with extensive research training in a basic science discipline as well as toxicology. The training prepares students to interact with the multidisciplinary teams necessary for solving current and preventing future threats to human, animal, and environmental health. The interdisciplinary approach allows students great flexibility in selecting areas for study. Fifteen departments and 48 faculty cooperate.
Genetics (Ph.D. only) The strength and uniqueness of the Genetics Program (launched in 1970) lies in its interdisciplinary nature, allowing graduate students a great deal of flexibility in designing their individualized programs of research and study, while maintaining a core graduate program and strong interaction with faculty.
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Health Communication (M.A. only) The M.A. program in health communication is designed to prepare students for careers in designing, implementing, and evaluating health communication programs for federal, state and local organizations. It draws on the resources of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Medicine to offer an interdisciplinary approach to health communication.
Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science: Global Applications (M.A. only) A new, intensive, international Master of Arts degree program designed for international mid-career managers and executives, offered by the Michigan State University College of Social Science in cooperation with the faculty of the School of Social Work, the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, and the Urban and Regional Planning Program.
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Media and Information Studies (Ph.D. only) The Media and Information Studies program prepares students to become active scholars, teachers and/or leaders in the communication industry.
Neuroscience (Ph.D. only) The interdepartmental Neuroscience Program provides an opportunity for interdisciplinary training and research leading to a Ph.D. degree in neuroscience. There are approximately forty participating faculty who share interests in the functioning and malfunctioning of the nervous system. Research areas currently represented include autonomic nervous system function, neural development and plasticity, neural imaging, neural mechanisms of behavior, neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disease, neurochemistry and neuropharmacology, neuroendocrinology, sensory and motor systems, and synaptic transmission and signal transduction.
Plant Breeding and Genetics The Plant Breeding and Genetics Program is an Interdepartmental Graduate Program with the departments of Botany and Plant Pathology, Crop and Soil Sciences, Forestry, and Horticulture participating. The unique feature of the PBG Program is the interdisciplinary manner in which graduate students carry out their educational curriculum, teaching assistance, and research experiences with faculty and fellow students. Most students will be associated with faculty programs that integrate breeding-selection, cellular and molecular techniques in designing plants for future agro-ecosystems.
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Plant Science The Plant Science Fellowship provides an opportunity for selected prospective students to become better acquainted with what MSU has to offer for those interested in graduate training in the various plant science disciplines. In addition to the strength of the individual programs, all are enhanced by the range of complementary plant science research areas distributed through ten departments or graduate programs in both the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Natural Science.
Plant Research Laboratory The MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, the "PRL", is a research institute located on the Michigan State University campus. Students pursuing thesis work in PRL laboratories normally obtain their Ph.D. degrees in the academic department or program of their thesis advisors. In addition, the PRL administers a program of studies in experimental plant biology in which all PRL students participate.
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Program in Bioethics, Humanities, and Society Bioethical decision making, cross-cultural medical care delivery, and evolving demands on health care providers are health issues that transcend traditional boundaries between academic disciplines. To understand the complexity of these problems and to respond to them wisely, students require a range of training, both within and across disciplines. MSU's Master of Arts Program in Bioethics, Humanities, and Society is designed to meet this need.
Last Updated: 02/27/2007
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