About BMSE

The interdepartmental graduate program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering (BMSE) offers studies leading to the Ph.D. degree. The program is administered by faculty with joint appointments in the following departments: Chemical Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, Materials, Mechanical & Environmental Engineering, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology (MCDB), and Physics. BMSE provides unique opportunities for intensive research training at the interface between the physical and life sciences and engineering disciplines in highly interactive and collaborative laboratories.  The diverse group of program faculty provides students with an exceptionally broad range of challenging opportunities for multidisciplinary research in biomolecular structure, function, and engineering. Research areas currently under active investigation on campus include kinetics and regulation of enzyme catalysis, chromosome structure and cell cycle regulation, the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix, mechanisms regulating signal transduction and cellular differentiation, protein structure and structure-function relationships, protein-nucleic acid interactions, biomolecular materials (biominerals and adhesives), biosensors and biomolecular electronics, biomimetics, biophysics, molecular neurobiology, plant molecular biology, bacterial pathogenesis, and molecular virology and immunology.