The graduate program in the Department of Biology provides students with the training they need to excel in academic or biomedical research careers. The program offers four core research tracks: cell and developmental biology, evolution, genetics, and neurobiology. These tracks provide students with a breadth of training in biology, with depth in a specific area of choice. The Department has 32 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, whose research covers a wide range of experimental systems, approaches, and disciplines. The Department of Biology values excellence in both research and teaching.

Entering graduate students also participate in a broad range of multidisciplinary courses and seminars. Second-year students begin their major thesis research, continue their seminar and course work, and have the opportunity to be undergraduate teaching assistants. At the end of the second year, students typically take a comprehensive exam, advancing them to full Ph.D. candidacy. Subsequent to the comprehensive exam, students focus primarily on their thesis for their remaining graduate career. Successful completion of the Ph.D. program usually takes four to six years in total and requires students to write and orally defend a dissertation of their own research.