Mar 29, 2024  
2021-2022 Academic Catalog 
    
2021-2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

College of Science



Office: Science 127

Telephone: 408-924-4800

Website: www.sjsu.edu/science

Leadership:

Michael Kaufman, Dean
Shelley Cargill, Interim Associate Dean
Miri VanHoven, Associate Dean for Research

Overview

San José is at the center of Silicon Valley, known worldwide for its research institutes and industries that set the standard for scientific and technological innovation. San José State is the metropolitan university of the region, and the academic programs of the College of Science prepare students for rewarding careers through our bachelor’s and master’s level degree programs in the biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and computer science fields. Our departments have established partnerships with local employers where students find training and employment opportunities.

The College of Science provides the lower division core biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics courses supporting majors in other technical disciplines (such as engineering). As part of the university general education requirements, we offer courses in quantitative reasoning, the physical universe and its life forms, and earth and the environment. Furthermore, we teach the discipline-specific courses for the science and mathematics teacher credential programs.

Successful science students come from many backgrounds. Some enter the university immediately upon graduation from high school. Others, who have worked or have various life experiences, enroll as either full or part-time students in order to continue their education and better their career opportunities. The maturity, laboratory skills and experience of these students enrich our programs. We have several programs to increase the participation of women and underrepresented students in professional level science. Our College of Science Advising Center (COSAC) is available to assist students with their academic advising questions as well as to provide tutoring for key science and math courses.

There are active student clubs associated with each major, several of which have won national recognition for their professional and community service activities. Club members provide mutual support and are able to network with professionals in their field. A list of programs and courses can be found on each department page in the catalog. 

College of Science Advising Center (COSAC)

Office: Located in Duncan Hall (DH) 212

Telephone: 408-924-5193

Email: science-advisingcenter@sjsu.edu

Website: www.sjsu.edu/cosac

Special Centers

The College of Science has several unique interdisciplinary instructional research centers and programs: the Biotechnology Education and Research Institute (BERI), the Data Science, MS , the Biotechnology, MBT , the Medical Product Development Management, MS , the Clinical Lab Scientist Certificate Program , the Center for Applied Mathematics, Computation and Statistics, the Institute for Modern Optics, the Materials Characterization and Metrology Center, the Flow Cytometry Core Facility, the W.M. Keck Facility for Chemical Research, the laboratory for Conservation Genetics, the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories , and the Nuclear Science Facility. Partially funded by external grants and contracts, these centers provide our students opportunities to participate in sponsored research projects. Cooperative programs with local industries and government laboratories are additional sources of professional experience and financial support for our science majors.

Teaching Credential Programs

Two single subject credential programs are coordinated by the College of Science, in collaboration with the Connie L. Lurie College of Education . The single subject professional programs are designed for individuals who are interested in teaching science or mathematics in middle schools or high schools. The Science Education Program   offers single subject credential programs in biology, chemistry, earth science and physics. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics  offers a mathematics single subject credential program. For detailed information, contact the appropriate program coordinator.

Through the Science Education Program , the College of Science supports the Science Education Resource Center, which provides hands-on science materials, textbooks, reference materials and technical assistance to pre-service and in-service teachers.

Data Science, MS 

Website: www.sjsu.edu/science/special-programs/ms-data-science

Professors

Martina Bremer (Statistics)
Teng Moh, Program Coordinator (Computer Science)
Chris Pollett (Computer Science)
Wasin So (Mathematics)
Mark Stamp (Computer Science)

Assistant Professors

Guangliang Chen (Statistics)
Cristina Tortora (Statistics)

Overview

The Department of Computer Science  and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics  have combined their existing talents and resources to offer a Data Science, MS . This degree is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in the sciences or engineering, and it provides both mathematical and algorithmic foundational knowledge and practical programming skills for data science careers. Upon completion of this program, students will be able to:

  • Design and implement complete solutions using massive amounts of data based on artificial-intelligence, machine-learning, or statistical-analysis methods.
  • Design and implement new methods to capture and analyze massive amounts of data.
  • Use and improve existing tools for capturing and analyzing massive amounts of data.

This degree assists those with a baccalaureate degree in the sciences or engineering to pursue a data science career by providing them with a rigorous and affordable education in mathematics, statistics, computer science and machine learning. Graduates will appeal to a number of data-based careers including but not limited to data scientist, data analyst, data mining specialist, machine learning engineer, and data and analytics manager.

Medical Product Development Management, MS

Office: Duncan Hall (DH), Room 452

Telephone: 408-924-4853

Website: www.medproddev.sjsu.edu

Email: tonja.green@sjsu.edu

Professors

Sulekha Anand, Statistics
Tonja Green, Director, Clinical Development
Sami Khuri, Bioinformatics
Arvinder Loomba, PMP, Business Management
Sheldon Mullins, Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs
Candace Elek, Clinical Development
Sowmya Arunkumar, James Kelly, Device & Diagnostics Regulatory Affairs
Kunal Sampat, Medical Device & Diagnostics Clinical Trials
Vivan Tran, Pharmacovigilance & Drug Safety

Overview

The Masters of Science degree in Medical Product Development Management (MS)  (MPDM) is offered by SJSU’s College of Science, in collaboration with the College of College of Professional Global Education and the Lucas Graduate School of Business. The MPDM MS program combines clinical research, regulatory affairs, bioinformatics and customized technical classes with MBA-level business and management courses. The industry-relevant curriculum was designed in collaboration with experts from biomedical companies in the greater San Francisco Bay area to prepare students for careers in the biopharmaceutical, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics industries. To accommodate students who work full-time, courses are offered during evenings or weekends, and several classes are offered online for scheduling flexibility.

Nuclear Science Program

Office: Duncan Hall (DH), Room 180

Telephone: 408-924-4954

Professors

Victor Maraschino, Radiation Safety Officer

Overview

The Nuclear Science Facility of San José State University is the unique focus of all related teaching and research activity on campus.

Undergraduate students have an opportunity to work in the facility as part of their general education classes in chemistry and physics. Students majoring in chemistry, physics, and biology come to the facility for some of their classes or for undergraduate research projects.

SJSU also offers MS degrees in Chemistry  and Physics . The course of study could emphasize nuclear chemistry or nuclear physics depending on the student’s particular interest. Consult the chemistry or physics listings respectively for degree requirements and course descriptions.

Resources

The university’s Nuclear Science Facility is a unique physical plant specifically designed and built for classroom, laboratory and research work in nuclear science and technology. The Nuclear Science Facility is a freestanding 10,000 square foot, three-story building contiguous to the university’s other science and classroom facilities. It is comprised of a briefing room, administrative and faculty offices, four undergraduate wet labs, two undergraduate counting rooms, five graduate wet labs, a high activity storage room, plant and animal experiment rooms, a waste water collection and sampling system, an ambient air sampling system and storerooms. The facility is staffed full-time by a director, an office manager, senior technologists and a radiation safety officer.

The reference library within the facility is comprised of approximately 300 volumes of standard science reference works and texts covering basic and advanced nuclear physics science and technology, radiobiology, health physics and standards and procedures. This collection supplements the university library, comprised of 900,000 volumes and more than 2,100 science and engineering periodicals.

Research

Research in the Nuclear Science Facility is sponsored through grants from DOE, NASA, NSF, and others. Most research is done in collaboration with other universities and national laboratories.

Programs

Courses

    Medical Product Development ManagementScience