E-mail and search functions
Featured Links
Graduate Programs in Animal Sciences
Graduate Programs in Animal Sciences
A Commitment to Value in Education
Graduate training programs in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois are designed to produce leaders in academia, government, and the commercial industries that are associated with the field of animal sciences. The Department offers graduate work leading to the Master of Science (M.S.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Animal Sciences. All of the graduates of the program are well-trained in science and capable of conducting independent research. However, our training programs emphasize the development of many other skills that lend themselves to both professional and personal success.
Besides preparing for specializations in research and professional careers, our students learn to think independently and creatively, refine their communication skills, and develop their ability to work as members of a team. Our graduates possess the curiosity that lends itself to discovery, a desire to continue to learn, the ability to evaluate evidence and seek the truth, a tolerance for different points of view, and the recognition that change is inevitable and continuous.
The Department’s faculty is highly distinguished as measured by publications in peer-reviewed journals, receipt of national and international awards, generation of extramural funding through grants and contracts, and creativity in research, teaching, and extension programs. Approximately 40 faculty in the Department publish more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, books, and invited papers each year and are awarded more than $6.5 million in research funds. Eleven members of the faculty have been named University Scholars and many are asked to serve on prestigious national review panels and committees of the USDA, NIH, and National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. Departmental faculty participate in and provide leadership to several campus-wide research initiatives and interact with colleagues in life sciences, medicine, veterinary medicine, and many other units in the university. Faculty are also engaged with a number of interdisciplinary programs on campus including the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) and the Nutritional Sciences and Neurosciences programs.
The Department offers graduate training in a diverse array of disciplines. Fields of specialization include animal nutrition (nonruminant and ruminant), immunobiology, behavior, environmental physiology, genomics and genetics, meat science and muscle biology, growth and development, lactation biology, microbiology, molecular genetics, and animal management. Beef and dairy cattle, horses, poultry, sheep, swine, and companion and laboratory animals are allstudied in the many research areas in the department.