Undergraduate student Verodia Charlestin works in a lab at Harper Hall
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Undergraduate

Engaging in diverse projects across disciplines, undergraduates develop critical thinking skills and deepen their understanding of their fields.

The Department of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame is committed to understanding the fundamental mechanisms by which living systems operate. The Department is highly interdisciplinary and well-positioned to fulfill the promise of the new integrative approach to biology. Basic research is at the center of our endeavors, fueling and inspiring our teaching and training. We seek solutions to human health and environmental crises facing our society, such as:

  • finding treatments, cures, and preventions for human diseases
  • maintaining biodiversity on land and in our natural water sources
  • ensuring an adequate supply of food and fresh water
  • reversing the effects of pollution and climate change

United through the ultimate goals of fostering human and environmental health, we believe that real-world solutions require integrative biological inquiry and multidisciplinary collaboration. Our department serves as a hub connecting different academic units across campus and different universities worldwide, through life science-related investigation and problem-solving. Research in the department spans the wide realm of the life sciences, from molecules to ecosystems, and across disciplines as varied as infectious disease, cancer, organ regeneration, climate change, and biodiversity.

Our mission and priorities are to advance biological knowledge by demonstrable excellence in research, educate the next generation of leaders in the life sciences, and apply our findings to solve the grand challenges that will shape the future of human health and the environment.

  1. Galapagos Trip

    Why Biology? Why Notre Dame?

    Highly interdisciplinary and in excellent position to fulfill the promise of the new integrative approach to biology, Biological Sciences at Notre Dame seeks to understand the fundamental mechanisms by which living systems operate, and employs a wide range of cutting edge and innovative experimental approaches.

  2. Undergraduate researcher Jonathan Jou pulls a zebrafish tank, Galvin Life Science, Wingert lab.

    Programs of Study

    Investigate life, the human condition, and the natural world alongside individualized academic advising, career guidance, and close relationships with faculty and other mentors.

  3. Saam Mojtahed (Biology)

    Research as an Undergrad

    Many Department of Biological Sciences faculty have undergraduate students working on projects in their laboratory, including some first year students.

  4. A student holds a petri dish in lab space inside McCourtney Hall.

    Introductory Biology Reimagined

    We are Inspiring the next generation of biologists through an innovative approach to introductory biology

  5. Graduates celebrate on the Main Building steps, Commencement 2025. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

    What can you do with your degree?

    Students in the Department of Biological Sciences - Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences majors - have a wide range of career options and postgraduate education opportunities after graduation.

  6. Notre Dame hosted a picnic on South Quad for the student body in recognition of the end of University President Rev. John I. Jenkins’ 19-years of leadership.

    Student Leadership

    The Biological Sciences Department encourages student participation in a variety of extracurricular and leadership activities.

Commencement 2020

What are the keys to academic success at Notre Dame? Learn from the 2020 Notre Dame valedictorian and salutatorian