Plants in the greenhouse complex at Guterman Lab.

SIPS Degrees & Programs

Gain critical skills to advance your knowledge and address local and global challenges.

The School of Integrative Plant Science is the largest academic unit in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is composed of five sections with interrelated activities in the plant sciences: Horticulture, Plant Biology, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, and Soil and Crop Sciences.

Degree programs

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Undergraduate

The Cornell CALS plant sciences major prepares students for careers or further study in fundamental biology, plant breeding, pest and disease management and production of plants for food, fiber and ornamental uses.

students looking at rice plants
Graduate - M.S./Ph.D.

Graduate study in SIPS is organized into five graduate fields. Collectively these fields provide unparalleled opportunities to connect disciplines, creatively solve problems and integrate complex systems. Includes graduate fields of Horticulture, Plant Biology, Plant Breeding, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, and Soil and Crop Sciences.

people driving a hemp harvester in the field
Graduate - Integrative Plant Science MPS

The Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree in Integrative Plant Science is a one-year, course-based master's degree, ideal for individuals who are interested in in-depth study of the issues and advancements in plant and soil sciences.

Continuing education

Our school is committed to lifelong learning, offering a wide range of programming and skill building for children and adults alike. See featured education programs to take advantage of these opportunities, including online courses and seminar, garden tours and more.

News from the School of Integrative Plant Science

Learn about the many ways we are addressing some of the world's most urgent challenges.

A man and woman standing next to green plants

News

E. coli bacteria offer path to improving photosynthesis
The method is described in a paper, “ Small subunits can determine enzyme kinetics of tobacco Rubisco expressed in Escherichia coli,” published Sept. 14 in the journal Nature Plants. Scientists have known that crop yields would increase if they...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Biology Section
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
Women working in a bakery kitchen with bread dough

News

$2M USDA grant funds value-added grains project
The project focuses on developing infrastructure to establish an organic industry for grains such as bread wheat, naked barley, hulless oats, rye, emmer, spelt and einkorn. “Grains are very nutritious and are a critical part of the human diet,”...
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
  • Organic
harvested eggplant

News

New mobile app provides lifeline for farmers growing Bt eggplant
The new app “Btbegun” provides farmers, extension professionals, field officers, policymakers, seed suppliers and other stakeholders with the most current information about Bt eggplant — a genetically engineered variety resistant to a ravenous...
  • Global Development Section
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
Brown soil and green plants in a field

News

Biopesticide startup gets $750K more in NSF funding
Cornell-based startup Ascribe Bioscience, which applies the emerging field of metabolomics to the soil microbiome to develop new products for agriculture, has won a $750,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research...
  • Boyce Thompson Institute
  • School of Integrative Plant Science
  • Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Land Acknowledgment

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.

This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ leadership. Learn more from the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program website.