Wesleyan University occupies a unique niche in American higher education. In addition to its well-documented excellence as one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, Wesleyan has a Ph.D. program in this same tradition of excellence that rivals programs of much larger universities. Our faculty research has routinely earned large federal awards (e.g., funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation), and is supported by resources and cutting edge technologies typically found only at the largest research universities. This unique combination of both small college and large science translates into an exceptional experience for our undergraduates: small classes and intimate interactions with faculty and fellow students, yet also with rich opportunities to learn about the newest, most powerful techniques and conduct independent research in laboratories that are at the leading edge of a field. Many of our undergraduates leave Wesleyan having co-authored publications in international science journals.

The Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry emphasizes the molecular basis of cellular processes: how is it that a cell processes and integrates environmental information into decisive cell behaviors? We utilize technologies in molecular genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, structural biology, genomics, and bioinformatics to ask questions about the “Central Dogma” of living systems: the replication of biological information, the regulation of gene expression, and the molecular details of protein function. Our program is inherently multi-disciplinary, as evident by certificate initiatives at the interfaces of biology & chemistry, biology & physics, and biology & computer science, and this cross-disciplinary focus promises a strong foundation for our students who will face problems in their scientific careers that increasingly demand such versatility.