Welcome
to the IUPUI Department of Biology. As you look through
this electronic representation of our faculty,
academic programs, and research
interests in order to help you select the right
undergraduate or graduate program or just to browse,
what you will see is a department poised to be a major
force on a campus and in a community rich in the life
sciences. We occupy modern facilities in a setting where
the scientific enterprise is rapidly expanding around
us. Across the street is the Indiana University School
of Medicine, the second largest medical school in the
United States, where growth and expansion of programs
and physical facilities are constants. Our campus is
also home to the Indiana University School of Dentistry.
Thus, we have many opportunities for joint ventures
with a myriad of health scientists. Our community offers
research and employment opportunities as well. Indianapolis is the home to a major pharmaceutical corporation, an
international agricultural biotechnology company and
several diagnostic and health-related companies that
are part of the expanding biotechnology industry.
Our undergraduate
degree programs have been shaped to interface with
our biomedical and biotechnological surroundings. Following
core experiences that include Genetics & Molecular
Biology and Ecology & Evolution, students are exposed
to cutting edge course work in Cell Biology, Developmental
Biology, Immunology, Physiology, Microbiology and Biochemistry.
These relevant experiences are coupled with a long-standing
program of undergraduate research. We firmly believe
that part of the training of an undergraduate is enhanced
by an experience in the "discovery side" of
the discipline. Thus, undergraduates are encouraged
to participate in research and several formal programs
on campus offer stipends for students working in research
with faculty mentors.
Our graduate programs are diverse, flexible
and designed to accommodate the widest range of individuals
who are interested in pursuing graduate training. We
have a two year, thesis based M.S.
degree that has been exceptionally effective in
placing students in industrial and medical research
laboratory positions. Non-thesis M.S.
degrees are available on a part-time or full-time
basis allowing those already employed to advance in
their positions. Our most recent M.S. degree is a two
semester, non-thesis degree designed to for those
seeking to enhance credentials for application to professional
schools. This program has been highly successful in
placing students in the schools of their choice. Finally,
we have a Ph.D. program with
research opportunities available within four broad areas
of strength (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Immunobiology,
Biomembranes, and Cell & Developmental Biology).
While we have a firm foundation in several
areas of modern life sciences, we have also been actively
engaged in several emerging interdisciplinary areas.
Several faculty participate in bioinformatics research
and academic programming with colleagues from Computer
and Information Science, the Indiana University School
of Informatics, and the School of Medicine which has
recently received over $150 million dollars to pursue
projects in biotechnology, medical informatics, and
other targeted areas that will utilize the data from
the human genome project. This area of inquiry is facilitated
by the presence of the Abilene network (Internet II)
on the campus. We are also engaged collaboratively with
the IUPUI Center on Earth and Environmental Science,
which represents a consortium of scientists from several
IUPUI schools and outside organizations. Finally, the
Department of Biology is the home of the Center
for Regenerative Biology and Medicine. This center
is comprised of faculty drawn from the Schools of Science,
Medicine and Dentistry, in addition to other universities
and private industry in Indiana.
Our interdisciplinary
connections with internal and external constituents
will be expanding in the next 2-3 years with some exciting
new programs coming to campus. The Department has taken
a leadership role in bringing to Indiana the first degree
program in Forensic and Investigative Sciences. We are
also collaborating with the School of Engineering &
Technology to craft an undergraduate degree program
in Biomedical Engineering (BME) that will incorporate
traditional BME training with modern developmental biology.
Finally, Biology has been actively engaged with industrial
partners in the development of new programs in Biotechnology
that promise to play crucial roles in work force development
required for the expansion of the Life Sciences Initiative
in central Indiana.
IUPUI promises to be an exciting place
for graduate and undergraduate students coming to campus
at this time and well into the future. We look forward
to you joining our expanding community of scientists.
Department of Biology
