i Please note:
To view the current calendar, go to
General Science Double Minor
This bachelor of science (BSc) degree program provides broad education in several fields, with specialization in at least two.
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below.
Minor Requirements
Students must have their selection of minors for the BSc general science program approved by the program advisor as early in their program as possible.
Any two minors from the Faculty of Science may be combined to complete the BSc in general science program.
Alternatively, one minor from the Faculty of Science and one minor from outside the Faculty of Science can also be combined to complete the BSc in general science program. Note the Faculty of Science minimum credit requirements below.
Lower Division Requirements
Students complete one of
An introduction to the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of living organisms. Topics covered include cell structure and function, DNA replication and the flow of genetic information, enzyme function, metabolism and physiology of microorganisms, plants, and animals. Prerequisite: High school biology 12 (or equivalent) with a C grade or better, or BISC 100 with C- or better, or HSCI 100 with C+ or better. Breadth-Science.
Survey of the diversity of life, and its evolutionary history on earth. The student is introduced to the study of genetics, development, and evolution, giving an overview of how these processes interact to produce form and function. Also included are principles of behavior and ecological relationships of organisms to each other and their environment. Prerequisite: High school biology 12 (or equivalent) with a C grade or better, or BISC 100 with C- or better, or HSCI 100 with C+ or better. Breadth-Science.
and all of
Atomic and molecular structure; chemical bonding; thermochemistry; elements; periodic table; gases liquids, solids, and solutions. This course includes a laboratory component. Prerequisite: BC high school chemistry 12 or CHEM 111. Recommended: MATH 151 (or 154) and PHYS 120 (or 101) as a corequisite. Students may not count both CHEM 120 and 121 for credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
Chemical equilibria; electrochemistry; chemical thermodynamics; kinetics. Students who intend to take further laboratory courses in chemistry should take CHEM 122 concurrently with CHEM 126. Prerequisite: CHEM 121 or 120. Recommended: MATH 152 (or 155) and PHYS 121 (or 102) as a corequisite. Quantitative.
Experiments in chemical equilibrium, acids and bases, qualitative analysis, electrochemistry and chemical kinetics. Prerequisite: CHEM 121. Corequisite: CHEM 122. Quantitative.
and one of
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Topics as for Math 151 with a more extensive review of functions, their properties and their graphs. Recommended for students with no previous knowledge of Calculus. In addition to regularly scheduled lectures, students enrolled in this course are encouraged to come for assistance to the Calculus Workshop (Burnaby), or Math Open Lab (Surrey). Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B+, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B-, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the 間眅埶AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 151, 154 or 157 may not take MATH 150 for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Logarithmic and exponential functions, trigonometric functions, inverse functions. Limits, continuity, and derivatives. Techniques of differentiation, including logarithmic and implicit differentiation. The Mean Value Theorem. Applications of Differentiation including extrema, curve sketching, related rates, Newton's method. Antiderivatives and applications. Conic sections, polar coordinates, parametric curves. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least A, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the 間眅埶AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 150, 154 or 157 may not take MATH 151 for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in the biological and medical sciences. Topics include: limits, growth rate and the derivative; elementary functions, optimization and approximation methods, and their applications; mathematical models of biological processes. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least C, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the 間眅埶AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 150, 151 or 157 may not take MATH 154 for further credit. Quantitative.
and one of
Riemann sum, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, definite, indefinite and improper integrals, approximate integration, integration techniques, applications of integration. First-order separable differential equations. Sequences and series, series tests, power series, convergence and applications of power series. Prerequisite: MATH 150 or 151; or MATH 154 or 157 with a grade of at least B. Students with credit for MATH 155 or 158 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in the biological and medical sciences. Topics include: the integral, partial derivatives, differential equations, linear systems, and their applications; mathematical models of biological processes. Prerequisite: MATH 150, 151 or 154; or MATH 157 with a grade of at least B. Students with credit for MATH 152 or 158 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
and one of
Force and motion, conservation of energy and momentum, fluids, properties of soft matter and thermal physics with applications taken from the life sciences. Prerequisite: BC Principles of Physics 12 or PHYS 100 or equivalent. This prerequisite may be waived, at the discretion of the department, as determined by the student's performance on a regularly scheduled PHYS 100 final exam. Please consult the physics advisor for further details. Corequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or 154 or 157; BISC 100 or 101 or 102. Students with credit for PHYS 120, 125 or 140 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
A general calculus-based introduction to mechanics. Topics include translational and rotational motion, momentum, energy, gravitation, and selected topics in modern physics. Prerequisite: BC Principles of Physics 12 or PHYS 100 or equivalent. This prerequisite may be waived, at the discretion of the department, as determined by the student's performance on a regularly scheduled PHYS 100 final exam. Please consult the physics advisor for further details. Corequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or 154 must precede or be taken concurrently. Students with credit for PHYS 101, 125 or 140 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
A general calculus-based introduction to mechanics taught in an integrated lecture-laboratory environment. Topics include translational and rotational motion, momentum, energy, gravitation, and selected topics in modern physics. Prerequisite: BC Principles of Physics 12, or equivalent. Corequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or 154 must precede or be taken concurrently. Students with credit for PHYS 125 or 120 or 101 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
and one of
Waves and optics; electricity and magnetism; modern physics emphasizing radioactivity, with applications taken from the life sciences. Prerequisite: PHYS 101 or 120 or 125 or 140. Recommended corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 or 158. Students are encouraged to take PHYS 130 at the same time as PHYS 102. Students with credit for PHYS 121, 126, or 141 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
A general calculus-based introduction to electricity, magnetism and optics. Topics include electricity, magnetism, simple circuits, optics and topics from applied physics. Prerequisite: PHYS 120 or 125 or 140 (or PHYS 101 with a grade of A or B). Corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 must precede or be taken concurrently. Students with credit for PHYS 102, 126 or 141 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
A general calculus-based introduction to electricity, magnetism and optics taught in an integrated lecture-laboratory environment. Topics include electricity, magnetism, simple circuits, optics and topics from applied physics. Prerequisite: PHYS 140. Corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 must precede or be taken concurrently. Students with credit for PHYS 126 or 121 or 102 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
and one of
Research methodology and associated statistical analysis techniques for students with training in the life sciences. Intended to be particularly accessible to students who are not specializing in Statistics. Prerequisite: 30 units. Students with credit for STAT 101, 102, 203 (formerly 103), 270 (formerly MATH 272) or 301 may not take STAT 201 for further credit. Quantitative.
Basic laws of probability, sample distributions. Introduction to statistical inference and applications. Corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 or 158. Students wishing an intuitive appreciation of a broad range of statistical strategies may wish to take STAT 100 first. Quantitative. Prerequisite: COREQ-MATH 152 or 155 or 158. Students wishing an intuitive appreciation of a broad range of statistical strategies may wish to take STAT 100 first. Equivalent Courses: STAT102 STAT103 STAT201 STAT203 STAT301. Quantitative.
Upper Division Requirements
The following general requirements must be satisfied.
A minimum of 80 credits in the Faculty of Science, of which at least 28 must be upper division.
A 2.0 grade point average (GPA) in upper division courses is required for each of the two subject area minors.
Note that some Departments have minimum grade requirements for prerequisite courses. Consult departmental advisors about selection of upper division courses in subject minors.
Faculty of Science Major Requirements
In addition to the above requirements, students must also satisfy Faculty of Science major program requirements to complete a total of 120 units including
- additional upper division units to total a minimum of 44 upper division units (excluding EDUC 401 to 406)
- students who were enrolled at 間眅埶AV between fall 1991 and summer 2006 are required to complete a minimum of 12 units in subjects outside the Faculty of Science (excluding EDUC 401 to 406) including six units minimum to be completed in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to 間眅埶AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at 間眅埶AV within the student’s major subject | |
Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division | |
B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth | Must be outside the student’s major subject, and may be lower or upper division 6 units Social Sciences: B-Soc 6 units Humanities: B-Hum 6 units Sciences: B-Sci |
6 |
Additional Breadth | 6 units outside the student’s major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements) |
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
The University’s residency requirement stipulates that, in most cases, total transfer and course challenge credit may not exceed 60 units, and may not include more than 15 as upper division work.
Elective Courses
In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.
For calendar technical problems or errors, contact calendar-sfu@sfu.ca | Calendar Changes and Corrections