The Five Life Science Graduate Programs at Northwestern:

• Biomedical Engineering (BME)

Spanning two campuses, our Chicago and Evanston facilities offer students and faculty access to the latest ideas and techniques in basic and applied research. The biomedical engineering community at Northwestern University is centered in the Biomedical Engineering Department but includes faculty appointed in at least 12 departments within the Schools of Engineering, Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and Speech. The breadth of our faculty members' research interests affords students a wide variety of research opportunities. Over ninety graduate students and over 300 undergraduates study important biomedical problems using all the tools of engineering, biology, and medicine.

• Interdepartmental Biological Sciences (IBiS)

The primary mission of the IBiS program is to encourage the development of our PhD students as independent, creative research scientists and teachers. With 70 faculty in six academic departments at the Evanston campus and in six divisions at nearby Evanston Hospital, the IBiS program readily allows students to cross departmental and disciplinary boundaries in choosing courses and faculty research advisors. An important hallmark of the IBiS program is that our faculty are deeply committed to helping students prepare for the career options that await them after the completion of the PhD degree, such as further academic training, employment with a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company, teaching at the college level, scientific journalism, science policy and administration, or many other endeavors. As part of that preparation, IBiS cosponsors BioOpportunities, a program that regularly explores career paths in the biological sciences through discussions with invited speakers representing diverse fields.

The Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Program brings together basic and applied sciences faculty from both Northwestern University's Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Participants in the IBiS program include faculty in biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology, neurobiology and physiology, chemistry, chemical and biological engineering, and civil and environmental engineering. Staff of the Evanston Northwestern Hospital Research Institute, a member of the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, also participate in the program.

• Integrated Graduate Program (IGP)

The Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (IGP) serves as the umbrella program for graduate student training in both the basic science and clinical departments at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Established in 1990, this innovative program provides students an opportunity for comprehensive, interdisciplinary training in modern biomedical sciences.

The IGP provides each student the flexibility to design a personal course of study, pursue individual research interests, and choose an appropriate thesis advisor. The wide range of research opportunities within the IGP serves students well - both those who enter graduate school committed to a specific research field and those who begin with many potential interests.

The IGP groups its faculty and course offerings into nine areas of specialization known as "curricula". These divisions provide a convenient means for potential applicants to identify the faculty who are conducting research in readily identified fields of study. The interdisciplinary nature of modern research, however, means that most faculty are listed in multiple curricula, so applicants are encouraged to examine the faculty lists broadly.

Flexibility and ease in pursuing diverse interests are the hallmarks of graduate training in the IGP.

• Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (NUIN)

NUIN is an umbrella program, charged with promoting and enhancing neuroscience education and research on both the Chicago and Evanston campuses, and at the various affiliated hospitals, at Northwestern University.

Our faculty, over 160 strong, are drawn from over 20 different departments located in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, McCormick School of Engineering, and the College of Communication. Investigators affiliated with NUIN represent a broad range of research interests, from molecular neuroscience and genetics, to cellular and systems research, to cognition and behavior, to medical or 'translational' research. Strong collaborations currently exist between researchers in different fields and departments, and a key mission of NUIN is to strengthen these existing relationships while identifying and promoting new research collaborations that cut across traditional borders.

NUIN administers Northwestern's Ph.D. program in Neuroscience. Students interested in earning a doctoral degree in neuroscience apply for admission to Northwestern through NUIN. This program attracts numerous applicants from a broad array of fields. The program focuses on research training, and students also participate in core and elective courses, as well as career development programs. NUIN provides excellent mentoring and guidance throughout graduate school.

Information of interest to students, postdocs, faculty, and visitors, such as the summer research program for undergraduates, the NUIN lecture series, our annual newsletter, employment opportunities for postdocs, career development workshops, and other activities of the Institute, can be found using the menu bar at the left. We hope you find this site useful, and please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

• Chemical and Biological Engineering (ChBE)

Our graduate program in chemical engineering has two primary goals: to train students as leaders in research and development in industry and as faculty members at colleges and universities. We strive to create and advance knowledge in the fields of chemical and biological engineering. Relative to many peer institutions, Northwestern, in particular the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, encourages a high level of interdisciplinary and cross-school research interactions. Of the research-active faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, over half have formal associations with other departments through full, joint or courtesy appointments, and half of those advise graduate students from other departments.

Additionally, the majority of graduate students in the department participate in interdisciplinary programs such as the NSF IGERT program in nonlinear dynamics, the Integrated Biological Sciences (IBiS) program, or in cross-disciplinary research groups in the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, the Institute for Environmental Catalysis, the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Self-Assembly, the Lurie Cancer Center and the Materials Research Center. These interdisciplinary efforts have been successful in allowing the department to attain a high national ranking and to attract a strong graduate pool. Our graduate students have degrees from some of the most competitive institutions in the United States and around the world, including top universities in China, India, Korea, and Europe.

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