About Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Wesleyan University occupies an unusual niche in American higher education between the major research universities and the liberal arts colleges. In addition to its role as one of the nation's leading undergraduate institutions, it offers doctoral programs in the sciences and mathematics that have allowed Wesleyan to develop resources more frequently found at larger universities. Our faculty is deeply committed to research. Its members have an excellent record of winning outside grant support and publish regularly in leading journals. Few, if any, institutions of Wesleyan's size can match its laboratory facilities which have constantly been improved and expanded over the years. Yet the graduate program retains a small-college flavor. No large laboratory staffs stand between the student and his or her faculty advisor. The biological sciences have grown and flourished since the inception of a doctoral program in the 1960s.  Two departments now exist to cover the many aspects of the life sciences, the Department of Biology and the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry.  Such a diversity is rare in  an Institution of Wesleyan's size and reflects the willingness of the administration and Wesleyan faculty to support these endeavors. The Department of Biology has active research programs in cell and  developmental biology, neurobiology and evolution, with significant overlaps between these programs.  All three areas have a  strong genetic component.  Research in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry emphasize the molecular and physical basis of biological processes such as DNA replication, gene expression and development.  Recombinant DNA technology is  an important tool in most of this research.  The two departments have extensive teaching efforts, joint journal clubs and a shared programs of seminars given each week by outside speakers.  Graduate training and research in Molecular Biophysics is being offered through an interdepartmental program between the Departments of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics. The total number of faculty members in the departments of Biology and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry is twenty three, with forty two graduate students, five postdoctoral fellows and nine technical support staff members.  New faculty members have moved quickly to establish research programs, joining their colleagues, all of whom are active in research.  Faculty research programs receive more than $1 million annually in grant support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the State of Connecticut and other agencies.