The heart of the FAS Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry is its research intensive undergraduate major. The major is structured around research. Upon joining the departmentmental major, students are assigned a departmental advisor, who is available for discussion of research options for the student. Students can starting working in a laboratory for research credits at any time after they join the major.
Many students begin in their junior year or during the summer between their junior and senior year.
In addition, some students begin working in laboratories in their freshman or sophomore years, and so have an even richer experience by extending their period of work throughout their undergraduate years. Each credit is equivalent to a minimum of 3 hours of work in the laboratory. Before the end of each semester of research the student must submit a typewritten single-spaced summary of the work carried out over the semester. This summary is given to both the research advisor and to the Departmental secretary. This summary takes the form of a journal article, with a minimum length of 1 page per credit.