About the Department

Geoffrey M. Cooper,
Chair, Department of Biology

The new Life Science and Engineering Building

Welcome to the Department of Biology at Boston University

The Department of Biology at Boston University features faculty interested in all aspects of the contemporary biological sciences. Research in the department is diverse with focus in areas such as molecular biology, cancer biology, cell regulation and development, biochemistry, genetics, neurobiology, reproductive endocrinology, ecology and evolution, conservation biology, and marine sciences. One of the major strengths of the department is this diversity, which facilitates interactions and collaborations between investigators whose research interests span the full breadth of activities that compose modern biology.

The department has recently undergone a major expansion, with the recruitment of new faculty members in several areas, including the molecular biology of development, neurobiology, and ecology and evolution. Laboratories of many of our faculty members are housed in the new interdisciplinary Life Science and Engineering Building, completed in 2005, which also houses faculty from the Departments of Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering and the Program in Bioinformatics. Our research laboratories are supported by a variety of common facilities, including core laboratories for microarray analysis, proteomics, automated DNA sequencing, electron and confocal microscopy, and analysis of stable isotopes. Animal care facilities, including housing for transgenic mice and an aquarium for housing both freshwater and saltwater organisms, are also available.

We also have strong cooperative ties with the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Biomedical Engineering, Earth Sciences, Cognitive and Neural Systems, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies on the Charles River campus, as well as with several departments at the Boston University Medical School. These relationships have fostered many interdepartmental programs in such areas as molecular and cellular biology, neurobiology, bioinformatics, and ecology and conservation biology.

We offer both master's and doctoral degrees that emphasize independent research by the student, as well as a nonresearch master's degree. Our graduate research and training programs prepare students both intellectually and technically for successful careers in the biological and biomedical sciences. To that end, we encourage students to participate and contribute to all aspects of the exciting advances taking place in the life sciences at Boston University.

Geoffrey M. Cooper

Chair, Department of Biology