Fifteen years of growth and development in the College of Chemical and Life Sciences culminated last year with a transformational event for the College, the opening of the Biosciences Research Building.  This $70M building will house 35 faculty-led research groups in 68,000 net square feet of modern laboratory space that includes sophisticated core instrumentation facilities and two Biosafety Level-3 (BSL- 3) containment facilities, which allow researchers to work safely with pathogens. In addition, the building has a state-of-the-art 500-seat teaching auditorium, and outstanding seminar and conference rooms.  These resources are enabling the College to advance three major research initiatives—genomics, pathogenesis, and sensory neuroscience and to build the Maryland Pathogen Research Institute (MPRI), which is building strategic research partnerships to confront the threats to human health caused by pathogens.  The building is also providing outstanding research training opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. 

Building Top Ranked Programs

In the fifteen years since its founding (1993), the College has built top-ranked undergraduate programs and strong graduate programs with 125 faculty members, 110 instructors, lecturers, and postdoctoral scientists, 700 graduate students, and 2500 undergraduate majors.  The College’s undergraduate program in the biological sciences has received four consecutive awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Chemistry and Biochemistry undergraduate program has received funding for a Beckman Scholars program, designed to encourage undergraduates to pursue careers in science.  The College leads or participates in 11 Ph.D. programs, a M.S. program in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, and a web-based Masters of Life Sciences.  Our graduate students have been very successful in moving on to successful careers in academia, the corporate sector, state and federal agencies, and other venues.

Advancing Strategic Research Initiatives

Through a strategic planning process, the College identified five major research initiatives as the focus of faculty hiring and emphasis: ecological sustainability, genomics, host-pathogen interactions, nanoscience and biomaterials, and sensory neuroscience.  The Maryland Pathogen Research Institute, a University- and state-wide enterprise, fosters research in pathogen detection, prevention, and treatment.  The Center for the Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing provides training and research opportunities in neuroscience. The Center for Biomolecular Structure and Function focuses on the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of proteins and nucleic acids, and their relationship to the function of the molecule.  External funding totaling $29 million supports the College’s research programs.  Major instrumentation acquired within the past seven years includes high field NMR spectrometers, mass spectrometers, nucleic acid sequencers and genetic analyzers, high-resolution microscopes, and fluorescence activated cell sorters.

Partnering with the Community and Beyond

The College has a number of important linkages to the community, the state, the nation, and the world. JumpStart (grades 11-12) and Bug Camp (middle school) are popular summer programs.   Close to 300 in-service high school teachers from 40 states and seven countries are enrolled in the College’s web-based Masters of Life Science program.  Science in the Evening, a post-baccalaureate program aimed primarily at students preparing to apply for medical/dental school, enrolls approximately 200 students. A joint research and training program with the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) provides a strong link to the National Institutes of Health.   The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry works closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  The Department of Entomology is an active participant in the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.

Transferring Knowledge to the Marketplace

Initiating entrepreneurial activities and technology transfer is a high priority.  Entrepreneurial Office Hours provide professional consultation to faculty, students, and staff.  Three companies have spun off within the past year (LeukoSight, Inc., SD Nanosciences, Inc., and Zymetis) with more in the pipeline.  Faculty members compete regularly for funding from TEDCO, and students partcipate in the Hinman CEOs program and Technology Start-up Boot Camp.  Bioscience Day, a University wide event that showcases campus research in the biosciences, attracts approximately 700 participants from academic, corporate, and governmental sectors. 

This is a time of great opportunity for the College. The explosion of new knowledge across the chemical and life sciences has created opportunities to address questions that were totally inaccessible a decade ago.   We are particularly well positioned to develop cutting-edge academic and research programs because of our proximity to the unique public and private scientific resources in Maryland and the greater D.C. area.  We are grateful for the support of our alumni and friends received as part of Great Expectations: Campaign for the College of Chemical and Life Sciences.  The College has accomplished a great deal to date, and the best is yet to come!

Dr. Norma Allewell
Dean, College of Chemical and Life Sciences