Currently, there are 35 graduate students in the Department of Pharmacology. Underrepresented minority students make up 11 percent of the student population in pharmacology, and international students account for approximately 3 percent of the total. Most recent graduates are now postdoctoral scientists in prestigious research laboratories. Students who graduated from 1988 to 1993 include an assistant professor of pharmacology at Emory University, an assistant professor of biology at Bates College, a clinical scientist at Glaxo-Wellcome, and a regulatory coordinator at the Food and Drug Administration. The winter is mild and spring and fall are warm and pleasant.
Summer days are often hot and humid, but the temperature falls considerably during the nights.
The cultural life of the University and of the community is very rich and diverse. Duke University is 8 miles away, and North Carolina State University at Raleigh is 30 miles distant. The Research Triangle Park of North Carolina, where a number of corporations operate large scientific research laboratories, is 15 miles from Chapel Hill. The Environmental Health Sciences Research Center of the U.S. Public Health Service is located on the Research Triangle campus. The atmosphere of a small university town and proximity to other universities and Research Triangle Park make for a stimulating scientific and cultural climate.