Departmental Guidelines for Master's Degree Studies in Life Sciences | Bar-Ilan University | The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences

Master’s Degree Programs in Life Sciences – All Tracks 2025–2026

The Faculty of Life Sciences welcomes you to your master's degree studies and wishes you every success in the upcoming academic year.

The university provides the tools for managing your studies, but it is the student’s responsibility to plan, register, and track their program. Students manage their studies independently, primarily through the In-Bar Personal Information (Student).

Details of program requirements can be found in In-Bar registration and on the Faculty of Life Sciences website under: Master’s Degree. The website includes the course catalog, weekly schedule, seminars, and other relevant information.

The most up-to-date and reliable information is available at the time of registration in the virtual advisory system.

Departmental Guidelines for Master's Degree Studies in Gerontology Program: Aging Sciences and Elder Care Track

Summary of Requirements for the Master’s Degree in Life Sciences with Thesis (80401)

Includes the Environmental Biology Track (80405)

The Life Sciences program includes various specializations, which are selected when submitting the research proposal.
The Environmental Biology track is offered in collaboration with the Volcani Institute.

Students must complete a total of 40 credit points: 24 credits of coursework and 16 credits for the thesis.

Courses	Credits	Notes
2 regular seminars from the faculty’s proposed list (In Hebrew)	2
Biostatistics and Introduction to Clinical Trials (80534)	3	Students granted exemptions based on recognition of prior studies will replace the 3 credit points with elective courses. Exemptions may be granted for an advanced statistics course.
Principles of Scientific Instrumentation and Data Analysis (80801)	1	Required in the First Year
Additional electives to complete 24 credits	18	21 those who receive an exemption from Biostatistics
MSc Thesis (803000)	16	Required in the Second Year
Colloquium (Faculty Seminar) (809000-01)	0	Students must register every year. Environmental Biology: The faculty seminar is offered at the institute, but students must also register for course code 809000 on the Bar-Ilan system.
Jewish Studies and General Education Courses	4-8	These courses do not count toward the degree credit total. 4 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at Bar-Ilan University 8 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at another institution Non-Jewish students take general courses

Summary of Requirements for the Biotechnology Track (80422)

Students must complete 24 credits of coursework and 16 credits for the thesis.

Courses	Credits	Notes
2 regular seminars from the faculty’s proposed list (In Hebrew)	2
Biostatistics and Introduction to Clinical Trials (80534)	3	Students granted exemptions based on recognition of prior studies will replace the 3 credit points with elective courses. Exemptions may be granted for an advanced statistics course.
Principles of Scientific Instrumentation and Data Analysis (80801)	1	Required in the First Year
Introduction to Biotechnology 80501	4	Students who completed a Biotechnology undergraduate degree at Bar-Ilan University will take elective courses instead of these courses. Students who completed a Biotechnology degree at another institution may request to replace these courses with electives if they have completed similar courses during their undergraduate studies.
Introduction to Biotechnology Laboratory 80502	3
Protein Purification and Analytical Processes 80510	2
Bioinformatics 80513	4
Additional electives to complete 24 credits	18	21 those who receive an exemption from Biostatistics
MSc Thesis (803000)	16	Required in the Second Year
Colloquium (Faculty Seminar) (809000-01)	0	Students must register every year.
Jewish Studies and General Education Courses	4-8	These courses do not count toward the degree credit total. 4 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at Bar-Ilan University 8 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at another institution Non-Jewish students take general courses

Summary of Requirements for the Computational Biology Track (80423)

Students must complete 24 credits of coursework and 16 credits for the thesis.

Courses	Credits	Notes
2 regular seminars from the faculty’s proposed list (In Hebrew)	2
Two courses from the list provided in the link	Varies according to the courses
Additional electives to complete 24 credits	In accordance with the other courses
MSc Thesis (803000)	16	Required in the Second Year
Colloquium (Faculty Seminar) (809000-01)	0	Students must register every year.
Jewish Studies and General Education Courses	4-8	These courses do not count toward the degree credit total. 4 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at Bar-Ilan University 8 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at another institution Non-Jewish students take general courses

Nanotechnology Track (80430)

This track is only open to advisors authorized for this program and includes track-specific course requirements. For inquiries, please contact the Nanotechnology Office.

Summary of Requirements for the Master’s Degree in Life Sciences – Non-Thesis Tracks (80501, 80524)

For Medical Laboratory Staff: Please ensure that your specialisation is defined with the Graduate Office so that you can view the relevant course clusters during registration. The specialisation only determines the course clusters; the degree certificate will, in all cases, be awarded as a Master of Life Sciences.

Students must complete a total of 40 credit points, all from coursework.

Courses	Credits	Notes
Seminar for Non-Thesis Master’s Degree	2	Presentation of a Scientific Paper (Oral)
Seminar Paper for the Non-Thesis Master’s Degree	2	Oral Presentation and Written Paper
Electives courses	36
Jewish Studies and General Education Courses	4-8	These courses do not count toward the degree credit total. 4 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at Bar-Ilan University 8 credit points – for students who completed their undergraduate degree at another institution Non-Jewish students take general courses

Elective Courses

Students may choose electives from the faculty’s course (In Hebrew) offerings according to their research area and supervisor approval.

Additionally, students may participate in courses offered by the Inter-University Institute in Eilat.

For details and registration: I nter-University Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat
After approval by the institute, registration must be completed through the Faculty Secretariat.

English Requirement

A course in English may appear in your timetable, but registration is not mandatory.

Please Note

A total of 40 credit points must be completed for the degree (excluding Jewish Studies courses).

Tuition coverage is provided only up to this credit limit and applies to research degrees only. Any excess credits—due to exemptions, late opening of the academic year, or other administrative reasons—will be borne by the student.

Upon completion of registration, students must generate a “Curriculum Balance” report from the In-Bar system and verify that they are registered for all required courses in accordance with the program guidelines.

Contact Information

Graduate Studies Office: Ls.Graduates@biu.ac.il

Graduate Studies Advisor: Dr. Hila Elifantz

Technical Support: Student Services Unit
Tel: 03-531-7000 or *9392

Sincerely,

Dr. Hila Elifantz

Academic Advisor for Graduate Degrees