It provides a good background for students who are interested in graduate study in a number of fields including biochemistry, biophysics, molecular genetics, biotechnology, law and medicine. A rigorous course offering includes biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics as preparation for the courses in biochemistry and biophysics that form the core of the major. The department offers two laboratory courses, one of which is designed expressly to prepare the student to enter a research laboratory. Independent study is encouraged, and a student may choose to prepare a study of a particular area of the scientific literature under the supervision of a faculty member. In the Senior Seminar course students give oral presentations and write reports based on papers from scientific journals and current topics in molecular biology, biochemistry and biophysics.
Undergraduates can take part in research in several ways.
The research courses allow students to do research for credit during the year. Each spring the Office of the Director of Undergraduate Studies prepares a list of faculty members who offer summer research projects for undergraduates.