List of Top Schools Offering Graduate Programs in Biological Sciences
Higher Education Articles April 28, 2015Get information about the top schools that offer the best biology graduate programs and their rankings and program details.
Schools Offering Biological Sciences Graduate Programs
Individual scholarship and an intense amount of collaborative and personal research are requirements for students enrolled in the best graduate biology programs at the doctoral as well as master’s levels. An instructional component in the form of biology teaching assistantships may also be available.
Stanford University and Harvard University are the top schools for studying biology as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. In this article, we take a look at some of the top schools offering Biology Graduate Programs. These schools have gained recognition for their landscape architecture programs; they are also renowned for providing opportunities for specialization in a particular area of biology.
Stanford University – Stanford, CA
U.S. News and World Report ranked Stanford University, which is among the top research institutions of the world, as offering the best graduate biological sciences programs on its 2010 list of top universities. Through its Department of Biology, Stanford offers two graduate program choices to students.
Stanford undergraduates can join the school’s Master of Science/Bachelor of Science (MS/BS) in Biology. Additional research opportunities are offered in this program in order to assist students with a competitive edge in the job market or their applications for admittance to doctoral degree programs.
Students seeking careers in consulting and teaching can gain greater exposure to specific applications of biology. Students are primarily prepared for success in careers in teaching as well as science through the school’s Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biology program.
Apart from completing research and coursework, students produce a dissertation working collaboratively with a faculty committee assigned for the purpose as well as their academic advisers. Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program are given a choice of three areas of specialization, including integrative biology, ecology and evolution biology, and cellular and molecular biology.
Harvard University – Cambridge, MA
The U.S. News and World Report ranked Harvard University a joint-second in its 2010 rankings of graduate biological sciences programs. Through the university’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, two distinct programs are offered, which are devised to culminate eventually in a Ph.D. in Biology.
A choice is available between tracks in engineering and physical biology and molecules, cells, and organisms. All graduate students gain admittance as Ph.D. candidates and, through each specialization, are ready for academic or professional careers in science.
Additionally, a doctorate in biology is offered by the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, wherein students are allowed to focus on animal, plant, and microbial ecosystems. All course requirements must be fulfilled by students within their first two years in the program and satisfactory progress made toward completing a dissertation during the remaining tenure of the degree program.
Top Schools Biological Sciences Programs
| Name of School | Distinction | Campus Location |
| Cornell University | Students enrolled in bachelor’s degree program in biological sciences will be taught by professors from the agriculture/life sciences and veterinary medicine departments along with individuals in the Arts and Sciences | Ithaca, NY |
| Duke University | Duke University has over forty-five faculty research labs in areas such as development biology, organismal biology and behavior, and ecology and population biology | Durham, NC |
| Harvard University | Harvard University’s departments and centers related to biological sciences include the FAS Center for Systems Biology, a Microbial Sciences Institute, and a Stem Cell Institute | Cambridge, MA |
| John Hopkins University | This school has twenty-seven research laboratories dedicated to this field, and offers post-doctoral and doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s studies in biological sciences | Baltimore, MD |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | In 2014, the U.S. News and World Report ranked this school number one for their graduate programs in biology. MIT has 15 different research facilities | Cambridge, MA |
| Princeton University | Graduate degree programs in biology concentrate on one of four areas, including: Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, or Quantitative and Computational Biology | Princeton, NJ |
| Stanford University | The Carnegie Department of Global Biology, the Falconer Biology Library, a biological preserve, and a marine research center are some of the resources available to students enrolled at this school | Stanford, CA |
| University of Chicago | Eleven Nobel Laureates have been employed as or educated by professors in the biological sciences division at this school | Chicago, IL |
| Washington University – St. Louis | This school’s division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences student-faculty ratio is less than 2:1 | Saint Louis, MO |
| Yale University | This school provides a combined doctoral program in biomedical and biological sciences, which enable students to cross over into the medical school and every department for their studies | New Haven, CT |
