University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology

Each semester, we welcome new students, faculty, and staff to an exciting environment of learning and discovery. In the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) we seek the answers to fundamental questions about how organisms work at the molecular and systems level, how they evolve, and the resultant implications for life, health, and disease. Our world-renowned researchers and educators advance the understanding of biological processes through a rich culture of collaboration, which enables us to address important questions that are relevant to society and to share the integrated knowledge base in local, state, national, and international arenas.

MCB's undergraduate curriculum provides the strongest preparation for pre-med, professional schools, graduate education in a plethora of disciplines, and exciting employment opportunities in biotechnology, pharmaceutical research, and other disciplines where a strong background in molecular and cellular biology is required. Our curriculum imparts not just basic principles of modern biology but also the fundamental, critical, and analytical skills necessary for a successful career. Our total undergraduate enrollments number about 12,000 and include almost 2,000 MCB majors. This group consistently ranks amongst the nation's leaders in preprofessional and graduate entrance examination scores.

Our Ph.D. degree program is among the best in the nation. Covering a broad spectrum of disciplines, where students work on critical problems at the forefront of contemporary science, we competitively attract the highest achieving graduates. This large community of peers, totaling about 350 students, brings energy, productivity, and highly valued diversity to our laboratories and classrooms. Recognizing that important biological problems facing society require multi-investigator and cross-disciplinary endeavors, we are constantly expanding our collaborative and synergistic research enterprise with centers and institutes on campus, and through close interaction with national laboratories.