Science and Biotechnology Emphasis                               Our other concentrations within our Plant Science, Biotechnology & Horticulture Concentration Note: The plans are for this emphasis to be elevated to its own concentration by fall 2008 What is a concentration? What is a track or emphasis within a concentration? Employment opportunities in plant biotechnology: While a good research-based masters degree in biotechnology is still the golden ticket for employability as a research scientist in the agricultural biotechnology field, there are plenty of opportunities for the bachelor's degree graduate, too. The bachelor's graduate with research experience and skills is particularly employable. Both MS and BS graduates are competitive for lab bench positions, but the MS will facilitate promotions to supervisor and leadership positions. Examples of jobs obtained by our graduates There are several large agricultural biotechnology companies in the region, such as Syngenta at Greensboro NC and Research Triangle Park (RTP); BASF and Bayer also have research facilities at RTP. Monsanto is located in St. Louis, Pioneer-Hybred/DuPont in Iowa and Delaware, and Dow AgroSciences is located in Indianapolis. Thus, most of the worldwide 'players' in ag biotech are all within a day's drive of Knoxville. In addition to larger companies, there are many smaller companies and start-ups looking for recent biotechnology graduates. Skills in tissue culture and transformation, recombinant DNA and molecular biology, protein and nucleic acid biochemistry, genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics are particularly useful. Recent BS graduates can hope to win starting salaries at large companies in the mid-$30,000s range while MS graduates can expect to be hired at $40,000 per year. Curriculum (year-by-year listing of courses in this concentration for freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years) College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources section of the UT Undergraduate Catalog; the Department of Plant Sciences is the last department listed in this pdf document (scroll down). Thanks for visiting our website. Landscape Design & Construction | Public Horticulture | Turfgrass Science & Management Plant Science, Biotechnology & Horticulture