Master’s Degree Studies Regulations, The Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology (July 2022)

These regulations define the rules and procedures of the studies towards a Master’s degree (M.Sc.) in the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa. These regulations are binding on the candidates, students, supervisors, the department secretary and the departmental Master’s Committee. The regulations were written in consultation with the Graduate Studies Authority at the University of Haifa, which allows departments to establish internal regulations, provided they don’t violate the regulations of the Graduate Studies Authority. These regulations remain in effect unless replaced by newer regulations.

Conditions for enrolling to the Master’s degree program in the department:
An average of at least 83 and above in a B.Sc. degree in Life Sciences from a recognized university or college in Israel or abroad. Submission of required documents (see list below) and a personal interview. For the Bioinformatics track, a B.Sc. degree in computer science, mathematics, physics or engineering is also acceptable, with a grades average of at least 83 and at least 85 in the mathematical courses (mathematics, statistics, chemistry, and physics). Regarding the conditions for admission to the direct Ph.D. track, please consult the regulations for doctoral studies in the department.

Application steps:
1. Contacting a supervisor.
The candidate must obtain the consent of a faculty member to supervise her/him. The main supervisor can be either a senior faculty member of the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology on the Haifa Campus or a faculty member of the Department of Biology and the Environment on the Oranim Campus only. An emeritus of the department may be the main supervisor if approved by the Master Committee.
2. Submitting all the required documents to the department Master’s Committee, through the department secretary. The list includes:
1. Updated CV.
2. Proof of graduate studies (a scan of the M.Sc. diploma and a printout of courses and grades, both original/certified copy, i.e., signed by the institution), and any other relevant certificate, for example: teaching, professional experience and the like.
3. Two recommendation letters from faculty members, advisors or any other senior staff who can provide a comprehensive evaluation of the candidate.
4. A supervisor’s recommendation that includes the topic of the candidate’s proposed research, how the research will be conducted (if there are several supervisors, indicate how the research will be divided between the various laboratories), and any information deemed relevant for the discussion about the candidacy in the Master’s committee (in case of joint supervision, the two supervisors must sign the letter). In case that the supervisors find that the candidate must complete specific courses to improve her/his proficiencies, this should be noted at the end of this letter, separately from the recommendation itself. In addition, at the end of the letter, the supervisors must declare that they commit to pay the subsistence scholarship (see section 6 below).
5. A Letter of intent: the candidate will write a short letter (up to one page) to tell a little about themselves, describe the research topic and its importance, the proposed methodology, as well as motivations, aspirations and future plans, to the extent possible. An approval of the supervisors (confirmation statement and signatures of the supervisors) must be added at the bottom of the page. In the case of a joint supervision, both supervisors must approve and sign the letter.

Research Scholarship
The main supervisor must commit to supply a subsistence scholarship of at least 1,500 NIS per month) for at least two years, in case the student commits its full time for the studies and research.

Research Scholarship 
 The supervisor must also commit to funding the costs of the research itself.
1. Registration for Master’s degree studies in the department. Registration must be done before the start of the semester (winter or spring).
2. A personal interview with the department Master’s committee representatives.

Exceptions to the admission conditions:
Candidates who come from other fields or whose B.Sc. average grade does not meet the department admission requirements, can contact the departmental Master’s Committee to request special consideration, as detailed below:
1. Candidates with a B.Sc. degree in Life Sciences, with an average of 80-83, will be able to be admitted “on probation” with the approval of the chair of the departmental Master’s Committee. Students admitted in this track will be required to have an average grade of at least 80 by the end of the first year of their studies as a condition for transitioning to their second year, and are required to study at least half of the elective and compulsory courses of the Sc. program during this year.

1. Graduates of fields other than Life Sciences, holding a B.A. with an average grade of at least 83 or holding a B.Sc. with an average grade of at least 80, who have received the consent of a supervisor to supervise them during their studies towards M.Sc. degree, will be able to enroll to M.Sc. studies while completing courses of up to 16 credit points from a B.Sc. degree in biology, in parallel to studying towards their M.Sc. degree. Those holding a B.Sc. with an average of 80-83 will also be accepted “on probation” upon approval by the chairperson of the departmental Master’s Committee. Students admitted in this track will be required to have an average grade of at least 80 by the end of the first year of their studies as a condition for transitioning to their second year, and are required to study at least half of the elective and compulsory courses of Sc. program during this year.
2. Other graduates, who don’t meet the above criteria, but have an average grade of at least 76 will be required to complete their studies before being able to enroll to M.Sc. studies in the department. The courses that they must complete will be determined by the departmental Master’s Committee according to the supervisors’ recommendations. These candidates will be required to complete courses amounting to about 20 credit points, to be completed during a year, achieving an average of at least 83, as a precondition for applying for studies towards M.Sc. degree in the department.

Teaching language:
Teaching in the department is conducted in Hebrew and English. English proficiency at a level appropriate for graduate studies is essential. The departmental seminar will be given in English. The rest of the courses will be given in English or Hebrew according to the lecturer’s decision. If a student who doesn’t speak Hebrew is present in the course, the language of the course will be English. The presentation of the research proposal and the research results at the end of the degree as part of the “Graduate Students’ Forum” course will be given in English. In special cases, the candidate may request to present her/his work in Hebrew, but the presentation will be in English in any case.

Structure of studies:
The studies in the department are track A only, which includes writing a thesis. The duration of studies, including the submission of the thesis, is two years. In exceptional cases, following an approval of the departmental Master’s Committee following recommendation by the supervisors, it will be possible to extend the study for a limited duration of up to one year for the completion of the thesis. Students are required to complete courses of at least 28 credit points, as well as non-credit advanced training (see below) and will also be credited for their thesis by additional 8 credit points (total credit points required for completing the program is 36 credit points). In addition to courses, the studies include the submission of a thesis that will summarize an original study that will be undertaken by the student. The student is also required to present her/his research proposal and the results of her/his research in the “Graduate Students’ Forum” after its completion.

Compulsory courses amounting to 14 credits:

* It is obligatory to attend at least 80% of the Forum meetings for four semesters (two years). Students are required to present their research proposal at the forum at the end of the first year of their studies. In addition, upon completion of their thesis, students are required to present at the forum the results of their research.

Elective courses of 14 credits from the following list:

*  There may be changes in the elective course catalogue. Some courses will be offered every other year.

Non-credit courses / advanced training (compulsory participation):

Departmental seminar:
the departmental seminar is a stage for various researchers, especially from outside the department, to present their latest research. The department ascribes great importance to the participation of all of its students in the departmental seminar. Listening to lectures, asking questions and suggesting ideas at the end of the lecture contributes greatly to both the lecturer and the development of creative and critical scientific thinking among the students. Students will be eligible for a “completed” grade based on course attendance (compulsory attendance at 40 sessions during the degree). Attendance forms must be filled at each session. If the seminars are not delivered over zoom, students conducting their research on a campus other than the University of Haifa will be required to attend at least 20 departmental (The Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology) seminars, while attendance at the other 20 seminars can be substituted for attendance of seminars at another recognized academic institutions (for example, Oranim or Tel Hai), provided that the department secretariat receives a certificate of participation signed by the head of the seminars at the relevant institution.

Lab safety: This training (only for relevant students whose work is undertaken in a lab) must be completed at the beginning of each year during the degree.

Animal research certification: This training (only for relevant students whose work includes animal research) must be completed at the beginning of the first academic year of the degree.

Recognition in external courses:
Recognition in courses that are not taught in the department is possible, as detailed below. This refers to both surplus undergraduate courses (provided that they are defined in the first place as eligible M.Sc. courses), and to courses that will be taken during the M.Sc. studies. An application for recognition in external courses must be submitted at least one month prior to the start of the course to the Master’s Committee. The application will include: (a) student application, (b) a supervisor’s recommendation emphasizing the importance of the course, (c) a detailed syllabus that includes: lecturer name, topics, hours, credit points, course type and level (credit can be obtained only when the course is defined as a graduate degree course). In the case of a course that was taken during the student’s undergraduate studies, a request to recognize these courses within the M.Sc. must also include a formal document stating that these courses were not considered for the student’s B.Sc. degree. Additionally, these courses must be eligible M.Sc. courses.

Recognition in external courses is up to a total of 6 credit points. It is possible to receive exceptional recognition in an additional quantitative course (one course of either signal processing, machine learning, or programming), given by other departments in the University of Haifa. Recognition of courses approved by the departmental Master’s Committee will be done only after approval of the courses by the Graduate Studies Authority.

Passing conditions:

• Courses passing grade is 66.
• Students who fail a compulsory course will have to repeat it the following year. If they fail again, they won’t be able to continue their studies in the department.
• Students who have failed two or more compulsory courses will not be able to continue their studies in the department. In this case, it will not be possible to repeat the courses.
• To continue the studies after the end of the first year, a student must have an average grade of at least 76. Otherwise its studies will be terminated.
• Each student must submit a short progress report (up to one page long) signed by the supervisor to the departmental Master’s Committee at the beginning of each semester.

Research proposal:
Students will submit a research proposal at the end of the first year of their studies. Full instructions regarding the research proposal can be found on the department’s website. The language of the proposal is English. The chair of the departmental Master’s Committee may approve the submission of a proposal in Hebrew after receiving reasoned request by the student with the approval of the supervisor. The students will present the proposal in the Graduate Students Forum.

Thesis:
Students will submit their thesis at the end of two years of their studies. There are two submission options: monograph or scientific article. The student must obtain the supervisor’s approval to submit the work before applying to the Graduate Studies Authority for an examination of the format of the thesis, that includes thesis structure, section titles, etc. Full instructions for writing a thesis and how to submit it can be found in the department website and on the Graduate Studies Authority website. The completed thesis will be examined by two referees (also in the case of two supervisors), such that at least one of them is external to the department. The referees will be determined by the departmental M.Sc. committee.

The language of the thesis is English. The chair of the Master’s Committee may approve the submission of a proposal in Hebrew after receiving reasoned request by the student with the approval of the supervisor. Each student will present the results of the research in the Graduate students Forum.

Thesis defense:
Upon completion of the thesis reviewing process, the student will be required to pass a thesis defense exam. The date of the exam will be coordinated by the supervisor(s) with the students and referees, and they will update the department secretariat. The supervisor(s) and the referees will be present in the exam, and they will be the ones to determine the grade of the exam.

Final procedure:
Upon completion of all student obligations (courses, attendance at the seminars and the Graduate students Forums, presentation of the research proposal and research results at the forum, review of the thesis and the thesis defense), the department secretariat will provide the student with the “Department Studies Summary” form to be signed, as well as detailed instructions how to proceed. The form will be approved by the chair of the departmental Master’s Committee and then by the Graduate Studies Authority. Students will receive their eligibility certificate approximately two weeks after they completed all their obligations. If this will take place before March 1^st of each year, it will allow the students to be counted among the graduates of that class year.

Final grade composition:
– Course grades: 30%
– Thesis grade: 50%.
– Thesis defense: 20%.

Remarks:

• The departmental regulations supplement the department official program of M.Sc. studies, published every year. Please note that the regulations applying to each student are those in effect when she/he was admitted and are valid for the entire duration of their studies.
• The information provided in the regulations and in the departmental official M.Sc. program relies on and complements the regulations of the University of Haifa and the university’s Graduate Studies Authority. Note that the department is strict on certain issues. It is the responsibility of the student to review the regulations of the Master’s degree studies in the department website and in the website of the Graduate Studies Authority.
• In any other matter, such as vacations and study breaks, renewal of studies, intellectual property, etc., consult the Master’s degree studies regulations on the website of the Graduate Studies Authority.