Biology and Mathematics Major (B.Sc.)

76 credits · Faculty of Science · 2026-2027 catalogue

Biology and Mathematics Major (B.Sc.) as a checklist, with when each course runs in 2026–27. On a computer, check off the courses you have taken or plan to take to add up your credits.

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Required Courses (37 credits)

Bio-Physical Sciences Core

  • BIOL 219 Introduction to Physical Molecular and Cell Biology (4 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 301 Cell and Molecular Laboratory (4 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • BIOL 395 Quantitative Biology Seminar (1 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • CHEM 212 Introductory Organic Chemistry 1 (4 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall
  • COMP 202 Foundations of Programming (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • COMP 204 Computer Programming for Life Sciences (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 222 Calculus 3 (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter
  • MATH 223 Linear Algebra (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 247 Honours Applied Linear Algebra (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 315 Ordinary Differential Equations (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 323 Probability (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall, Winter

Biology and Mathematics Core

  • BIOL 215 Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 242 Analysis 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 243 Analysis 2 (3 credits) · Offered: Winter

Complementary Courses (39 credits)

For the 39 credits, students complete 21 credits of BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PSYC courses including one of three streams (Ecology and Evolutionary Ecology, Molecular Evolution, Neurosciences) and 18 credits of MATH courses.

Math or Biology Research Course (3–6 credits)

3-6 credits from the following Math or Biology research courses:

Note: Students selecting a BIOL course count this toward their 21 credits of BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PSYC courses while students selecting a MATH course count this toward their 18 credits of MATH courses. 3-6 credits from the following Math or Biology research courses:

  • BIOL 466 Independent Research Project 1 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • BIOL 467 Independent Research Project 2 (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • BIOL 468 Independent Research Project 3 (6 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 410 Majors Project (3 credits) · Offered: Summer, Fall

Math Courses (18 credits)

15 credits (if MATH 410 Majors Project. was selected as a research course) or 18 credits of MATH courses chosen from Stream 1 or 2 and from "Remaining Math Courses" as follows:

Stream 1: Applied Mathematics (9–12 credits)

9-12 credits from the following courses:

  • MATH 314 Advanced Calculus (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 317 Numerical Analysis (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 319 Partial Differential Equations (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 326 Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

Stream 2: Statistics (9–12 credits)

9-12 credits from the following:

  • MATH 208 Introduction to Statistical Computing (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 324 Statistics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 423 Applied Regression (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • MATH 447 Introduction to Stochastic Processes (3 credits) · Offered: Winter

Remaining Math Courses

Remaining 3-9 credits of MATH courses may be chosen from any of the two preceding sequences and/

BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PHYS, PSYC Courses

18 credits (if 3 credit BIOL course was selected as a research course) or 15 credits (if 6 credit BIOL research course was selected) of BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PHYS, PSYC courses including one of three streams. Note: Some courses in the streams may have prerequisites.

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Stream (15–21 credits)

15-21 credits selected as follows:

Molecular Evolution Stream (15–21 credits)

15-21 credits selected as follows:

Neurosciences Stream (15–21 credits)

15-21 credits selected as follows:

Remaining BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PSYC

For the remaining BIOL, NEUR, PHGY, PSYC complementary course credits, if any, students top up their credits to the necessary 18-21 credits with any course listed in the above three streams. Other relevant courses may be substituted with the approval of the Program Advisor.

Listed courses

  • COMP 551 Applied Machine Learning (4 credits) · Offered: Fall, Winter
  • MATH 204 Principles of Statistics 2 (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 308 Fundamentals of Statistical Learning (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 340 Discrete Mathematics (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 437 Mathematical Methods in Biology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 463 Convex Optimization (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 478 Computational Methods in Applied Mathematics (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 523 Generalized Linear Models (4 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 524 Nonparametric Statistics (4 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • MATH 525 Sampling Theory and Applications (4 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • MATH 558 Design of Experiments (4 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • MATH 559 Bayesian Theory and Methods (4 credits) · Offered: Fall

3 credits from: (3 credits)

3 credits from:

  • BIOL 206 Methods in Biology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

3 credits from the following field courses or any other field course with permission: (3 credits)

3 credits from the following field courses or any other field course with permission:

  • BIOL 240 Monteregian Flora (3 credits) · Offered: Summer
  • BIOL 331 Ecology/Behaviour Field Course (3 credits) · Offered: Summer
  • BIOL 334D1 Applied Tropical Ecology (1.5 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 334D2 Applied Tropical Ecology (1.5 credits) · Offered: Summer
  • BIOL 432 Limnology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 573 Vertebrate Palaeontology Field Course (3 credits) · Offered: Summer

9-15 credits from: (9–15 credits)

9-15 credits from:

  • BIOL 202 Basic Genetics (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 205 Functional Biology of Plants and Animals (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 302 Fundamentals of Genetics and Genomics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 304 Evolution (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 305 Animal Diversity (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 308 Ecological Dynamics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 310 Biodiversity and Ecosystems (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 324 Ecological Genetics (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • BIOL 569 Developmental Evolution (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • BIOL 594 Advanced Evolutionary Ecology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

3 credits from: (3 credits)

3 credits from:

  • BIOL 202 Basic Genetics (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 302 Fundamentals of Genetics and Genomics (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

12-18 credits selected from the following list: (12–18 credits)

12-18 credits selected from the following list:

  • BIOL 303 Developmental Biology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 304 Evolution (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 313 Eukaryotic Cell Biology (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • BIOL 518 Advanced Topics in Cell Biology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 569 Developmental Evolution (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • BIOL 592 Integrated Bioinformatics (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027

6 credits from: (6 credits)

6 credits from:

  • BIOL 216 Biology of Behaviour (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 306 Neural Basis of Behaviour (3 credits) · Offered: Fall

9-15 credits selected from: (9–15 credits)

9-15 credits selected from:

  • BIOL 320 Evolution of Brain and Behaviour (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • BIOL 389 Laboratory in Neurobiology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 530 Advances in Neuroethology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • BIOL 580 Genetic Approaches to Neural Systems (3 credits) · Not scheduled for 2026–2027
  • NEUR 310 Cellular Neurobiology (3 credits) · Offered: Winter
  • NEUR 507 Topics in Radionuclide Imaging (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHGY 314 Integrative Neuroscience (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PHGY 425 Analyzing Physiological Systems (3 credits) · Offered: Fall
  • PSYC 427 Sensorimotor Neuroscience (3 credits) · Offered: Winter

Source: McGill Course Catalogue. myDegree is an independent student project, not affiliated with McGill University.