Student at the MBL looks through a microscope while being watched over by a professor.

Academics

Biological Sciences Collegiate Division

In the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division (BSCD), students from every major study life in all its forms and the research processes that inform our knowledge of the mechanisms that govern living things and the interactions of organisms with each other and with their environment.

Quick Links

Learn about Dr. Paul Sereno's project to bring dinosaur fossils back home to Niger!
Summer research fellowship applications are now open! Deadlines in early April!

Stories in the BSCD

Programs of Study

Curriculum and Resources

The BSCD prepares students from all majors to engage in intelligent discourse about health, life on earth and its history, and biotechnology, as well as the scientific problems facing the modern world.

The BSCD has developed innovative and exciting curricular initiatives in undergraduate science education and expanded undergraduate research opportunities. These successful programs provide a firm foundation for the undergraduate research experience. 

 

For more information, email John Kennedy at jmkennedy@uchicago.edu.

If you have any questions about navigating the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division curriculum, please contact the BSCD advisers:

Click here to schedule an appointment with a BSCD adviser. 

A broad liberal arts education provides an exceptional preparation for a career in the health professions. Students are encouraged to concentrate in any discipline in which they have a strong interest, while making sure that they fulfill the common entry requirements for professional school.

The ability to communicate the importance, excitement, and rigor of science to the general public is a critical skill for scientists. In these three courses, students analyze communication strategies and practice communicating science by writing and publishing a digital story, creating and delivering a TED Talk-style video, and designing an exhibit in the Chicagoland area.

The Quantitative Biosciences Center is a drop-in help center that undergraduates use as a resource in completing assignments, understanding curriculum, and discussing the applications of computers and mathematics to biology. Students require support to be able to complete quantitative, computer-based assignments and synthesize the incorporation of mathematics and computation with complex biology. Thereby, the construction of the Quantitative Biosciences Center with its “help center” hours and “drop-in service” was born. Graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants staff the center and provide consultation for students engaged in the computational biology curriculum that is integrated into the first 6 courses required in the Biology major. Physical scientists routinely apply computational and mathematical approaches in their fields and thus have the skills to provide technical and conceptual assistance to undergraduate students in the biosciences. 
 

 BSCD Faculty Directory

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Take advantage of experiences off campus, in Chicago, across the nation, and around the globe.