University at Buffalo (UB)
What could be more fascinating than studying living things, how they evolve, and how they interact with the world around them? Whether you’re interested in human health, the environment and sustainability, food security, or nearly any topic that affects life on this planet, you’ll find students and faculty at UB who are just as excited as you are. This major is ideal for anyone who wants a major that covers a variety of disciplines to prepare for a career in life sciences.
At UB you’ll supplement time in the classroom with invaluable lab time, thanks to our "lead with the lab" approach focused on practical experience and training. After your core classes in biology, chemistry and other foundational topics, it's time to choose what to study next. Plants or animals? Genes or ecosystems? The biochemical basis of disease or the chemistry of antiviral drugs in our bodies? These are just a few of the areas that our biological sciences students have explored.
At UB, students have worked alongside our faculty to discover how bacteria evade predators, study the effect of aging on motor-disease protein complexes, and advance humankind’s knowledge of the biological sciences in countless ways. If you want to put your skills (and curiosity) to use on a research project, you can.
Many students also choose an internship to get practical expertise working alongside professionals. You can stay local (at the Buffalo Zoo or Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, for instance) or go further, like the student who chose conservation efforts in Paraguay.
You can also study abroad and join our undergraduate science-focused student groups, which host social events, networking opportunities and other activities.
Many students choose this major because they want to be a physician, dentist, pharmacist or other type of health care practitioner—which is a pretty smart choice, since biological sciences is an excellent foundation for these areas.
But there's more—much more—you can do with this degree, including:
Be prepared to teach grades 5-12 by getting your bachelor's and master's in just five years through our UB Teach program.
Visit the department website (at the top of this page) for more details, or see the UB Teach website for a list of all available majors.
In recent years, we’re proud to say that close to half of our faculty have received awards for teaching, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award, the student-nominated Milton Plesur Award, and the Meyerson Award for teaching and mentoring.
As a student in biological sciences, you’ll appreciate our commitment to excellence in the classroom and lab, as well as the incredible breadth and depth of expertise among our large number of faculty. Here, you’ll find established professors with decades of experience, up-and-coming researchers and everyone in between—all working together to provide an exceptional education for all of our students.