Bioenergy PSM
Professional Science Master's (PSM)
The Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) in the College of ACES will offer (beginning Fall 2009) a Master of Science degree in Bioenergy with a concentration in PSM (non-thesis). In addition to receiving training in the general field of bioenergy, students gain relevant professional experience in business and related topics through coursework and an internship.
Students may choose from four specialty areas:
| • | Plants, Soils and Feedstocks |
| • | Production, Processing and Use |
| • | Environment, Economics and Policy & Law |
| • | Tools and Methods |
CABER will teach two classes in Bioenergy:
Bioenergy Systems ACES 409 (3 hours) Syllabus
Advanced Bioenergy Topics ACES 501 (2 hours).
Bioenergy topics for both classes include:
1. |
Plant physiology, chemistry and microbiology |
2. |
Soil ecology and productivity |
3. |
Crops, feedstocks and harvesting |
4. |
Land use, crop allocation and distribution of bioenergy |
5. |
Biochemical processes (conversion, deconstruction, bioprocessing) |
6. |
Other physical and chemical processes (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis) |
7. |
Use of biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel, cellulosic and other biofuels) |
8. |
Other uses of biomass (thermal, biogas, chemical products, waste management) |
9. |
Computational tools (bioinformatics, systems biology, modeling & simulation, GIS) |
10. |
Environment (life-cycle analysis, environmental impacts and sustainability) |
11. |
Energy fundamentals (energy science, renewable energy systems) |
12. |
Economics of bioenergy (costs, prices, markets, financing and marketing) |
13. |
Legal, policy and societal issues |
Admission Information
Applicants should have a baccalaureate degree in a recognized field of biological, physical, agricultural, socio-economic or engineering science. Additional Bioenergy Admission Requirements
Degree Requirements
The MS degree in Bioenergy with a PSM concentration has four curricular components:
• |
University of Illinois | Graduate College | Illinois Professional Science Master's Web Site

