Prospective Undergraduate Students

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Why don’t antibiotics work to treat viral infections? What produces the color in a butterfly’s wings? Why do immunizations prevent diseases? Why is it so difficult to develop an immunization that would prevent AIDS? What causes the extreme environments of the earth? What is in that vitamin you took this morning? Science is all around you. That is why curious people like you have been drawn to study science for centuries. The field is so large, you’ve probably never yet heard of many of the specialized research areas in which Maryland’s Life Sciences faculty members are engaged.

The College of Chemical & Life Sciences has:

• World-class researchers and professors
• Innovative instruction in state-of-the-art facilities
• Personal attention and high quality advising
• The best science program for the money in the state

Our facilities are unequaled in most undergraduate settings. Grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Science Foundation have allowed us to equip undergraduate classrooms and teaching labs with state-of-the-art equipment such as:

• fluorescent and interference contrast light microscopes and teaching microscopes with video attachments
• computer classrooms for data acquisition and analysis in physiology, neurobiology, cell biology and oceanography
• tissue culture facilities
• marine biology equipment
• sophisticated analytical instrumentation (mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, gas chromatography, electron microscopy)

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute affirmed the quality of our efforts by renewing its financial support of our teaching and research programs. These funds will allow us to continue to improve our facilities and extend our research fellowships to talented undergraduate students.

What does this mean to you?

Competitive advantage. Working in classroom and research lab settings, you will learn not only technical skills, but the process of critical scientific thinking that employers, professional schools, and graduate schools value. Many of our students gain experience through internships at NIH, FDA, TIGR, USDA and a host of other institutes.

Here's what you can study.

Biochemistry

Biological Sciences

Cell Biology and Genetics
Ecology and Evolution
General Biology
Microbiology
Physiology and Neurobiology

Chemistry

Environmental Science and Policy

The College of Chemical & Life Sciences offers one area of specialization in this multi-disciplinary major:

• Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

Interdisciplinary programs allow students to pursue a wide variety of interests. Double majors, double degrees, and individualized study programs all can be arranged. If you don’t see it here, ask!

For more information, write to us at: chemlife-inquiries@umd.edu or call 301-314-8375.