Biochemistry Certificate

The current course catalog has a version of this page that includes hyperlinks to relevant resources. 
Click here for the 21-22 course catalog.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with a Biochemistry advisor Dr. Marta Maron to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them. 

Program Delivery

This is an on-campus program. 

Program Learning Goals 

  1. Students possess an adequate knowledge base in biochemistry.
  2. Students can rely on their knowledge base to link more than one biochemical principle to solve problems, both qualitatively and quantitatively. 
  3. Students can effectively extract and construct scientific meaning from critical reading of primary literature. 

Declaring This Certificate

Students should meet with the Biochemistry advisor Dr. Marta Maron to file a certificate plan prior to the semester of graduation. The certificate is available to degree seeking undergraduates, non-degree seeking students and students pursuing a chemistry minor. 

General Requirements

Student must satisfy all requirements as outlined below and by the department offering the certificate.

Click here for information about Academic Policies.

Certificate Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours chosen from the approved courses.
  2. Students must complete a minimum of 6 upper-division (3000- level and above) credit hours chosen from the approved courses below.
  3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C (2.0) in all certificate courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative certificate GPA of 2.7.  All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the certificate GPA.  Students cannot complete certificate or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
  4. Students must complete all credit hours from the approved courses with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances, and Recommendations


  1. All courses must be taken within ten years of receipt of the Biochemistry Certificate with the exception of General Chemistry I and II Lecture and Laboratory (CHEM 2031/2038 and CHEM 2061/2068). In the event that the student would like to apply for expired credit for Organic I Lecture (CHEM 3481), the student will need to test at the 50th percentile on the ACS Standardized Exam for Organic Chemistry I.
  2. Prerequisite courses do not have to be completed at CU Denver.  Required courses including electives must be completed in residency at CU Denver.  Any residency exemptions need to be approved in writing by the Biochemistry advisor prior to the course(s) being taken at another institution.

  • CHEM 2031 - General Chemistry I or CHEM 2081 - Honors General Chemistry I 
  • CHEM 2038 - General Chemistry Laboratory I or CHEM 2088 - Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory 
  • CHEM 2061 - General Chemistry II or CHEM 2091 - Honors General Chemistry II Lecture 
  • CHEM 2068 - General Chemistry Laboratory II or CHEM 2098 - Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory
  • BIOL 2010 – Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) or BIOL 2030 – Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio)
  • BIOL 2011 – Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) or BIOL 2031 – Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio)
  • BIOL 2020 – Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) or BIOL 2040 – Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio)
  • BIOL 2021 – Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) or BIOL 2041 Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio)
  • CHEM 3411 - Organic Chemistry I or CHEM 3481 - Majors Organic Chemistry I 
  • CHEM 3418 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory I or CHEM 3488 - Majors Organic Chemistry Laboratory I 
  • CHEM 3421 - Organic Chemistry II or CHEM 3491 - Majors Organic Chemistry II 
  • CHEM 3428- Organic Chemistry Lab II or CHEM 3498- Majors Organic Chemistry Laboratory II

  • CHEM 3810 - Biochemistry 
  • CHEM 4810 - General Biochemistry I 
  • CHEM 5810 - Graduate Biochemistry I 

  • CHEM 4600- Special Topics in Chemistry (certain topics, with permission from the Biochemistry Advisor)
  • CHEM 4815 - Structural Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases 
  • CHEM 4820 - General Biochemistry II 
  • CHEM 4825 - Biochemistry of Metabolic Disease 
  • CHEM 4835 - Biochemistry of Gene Regulation and Cancer 
  • CHEM 4845- Molecular Modeling and Drug Design
  • CHEM 4860- Bioinorganic Chemistry: Bioinorganic compounds in medicine
  • CHEM 5830 - Graduate Biochemistry II 

  • BIOL 3611 - General Cell Biology 

  • CHEM 3011 - Inorganic Chemistry 
  • CHEM 3111 - Analytical Chemistry 
  • CHEM 4121 - Instrumental Analysis 
  • CHEM 4511 - Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics and Kinetics 
  • CHEM 4521 - Physical Chemistry: Quantum and Spectroscopy 
  • CHEM 4815 - Structural Biology of Neurodegenerative Diseases  
  • CHEM 4820 - General Biochemistry II  
  • CHEM 4825 - Biochemistry of Metabolic Disease 
  • CHEM 4828 - Biochemistry Lab 
  • CHEM 4835 - Biochemistry of Gene Regulation and Cancer  
  • CHEM 4845- Molecular Modeling and Drug Design
  • CHEM 5830 - Graduate Biochemistry II  
  • BIOL 3124 - Introduction to Molecular Biology 
  • BIOL 3832 - General Genetics 
  • BIOL 4125 - Molecular Biology Laboratory 
  • BIOL 3225 - Human Physiology 
  • BIOL 3763 - Biostatistics 
  • BIOL 3804 - Developmental Biology 
  • BIOL 4024 - Introduction to Biotechnology 
  • BIOL 4064 - Cell Biology of Disease 
  • BIOL 4165 - Neurobiology 
  • BIOL 4144 - Medical Microbiology 
  • BIOL 4550 - Cell Signaling 
  • PHYS 3151 - Biophysics Outlook I and PHYS 3161 - Biophysics Outlook II (these two 1-credit courses together fulfill one elective requirement)
  • PHYS 3452 - Biophysics of the Cell NM 
  • PSYC 3832 - Neural Basis of Learning