The Department of Biology aims to train graduate students in integrative research, with a curriculum that exposes students to the major sub-disciplines of biology and a program that allows enough flexibility to develop interdisciplinary work. Our major strengths include tropical biology, ecology & evolutionary biology, and developmental biology and neuroscience. Our department has strong ties with the Department of Mathematics, Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science, the Miller School of Medicine, the Abess Center for Environmental Science & Policy and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Students can be co-sponsored by faculty from these programs.

Our PhD program centers on students developing a dissertation project that explores fundamental questions in biology.  We encourage projects that are multidisciplinary in nature. The Ph.D. requires 60 graduate credits, a research proposal with an oral defense, and a dissertation with an oral defense.