About Biology in Washington University in St. Louis

The Department of Biology at Washington University has received national recognition for the contributions of its faculty in genetics, neuroscience, development, population biology, plant biology, and other areas of specialization. Faculty research has broad implications for the treatment of disease and genetic anomalies, the preservation of endangered species, the development of food crops, and many other global problems centered in the life sciences. As one of the largest departments on campus, biology has the greatest number of faculty members and the most external grant support for its research.

The department offers six major tracks for undergraduates including general biology, ecology and evolution, genomics and computational biology, molecular biology and biochemistry, neuroscience, and environmental biology. A minor in biology is also available. For graduate students, the department offers eleven programs with divisions both in the department and the School of Medicine, including biochemistry; computational biology; evolution, ecology, and population biology; immunology; molecular biophysics; molecular cell biology; molecular genetics; molecular microbiology and microbial pathogenesis; neurosciences; and plant and microbial biosciences.

Many students complete their research projects at the Washington University School of Medicine, one of the top-ranked medical schools in the country. Summer research fellowship programs are available, funded by sources including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Children's Discovery Institute, National Science Foundation, and the Washington University Office of Undergraduate Research. The department also enjoys synergistic interactions with colleagues at several outstanding off-campus research facilities, including the Tyson Research Center, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and Monsanto Corporation.

The biology department has a distinguished history, highlighted by the 1986 Nobel Prize awarded to two former members of the department, Rita Levi-Montalcini and Stanley Cohen, for their discovery of the Nerve Growth Factor while at Washington University. Today, the department includes three professors who are members of the National Academy of Sciences and many others who have gained international distinction for their research. In 2014, the department was ranked the 11th best Biology Department in the US by USNWR in 2014.

Academic qualification equivalents

• Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree 

English language requirements 

• IELTS : 7.0
• TOEFL IBT: 100
• PTE : 68