Why Iowa?

Our students aren’t passive learners. At Iowa, you’ll go inside the lab and contribute to world-renowned research working alongside faculty experts to explore the diverse realms of the biological sciences.

Undergraduate programs

iBio Graduate Program

Faculty

Why study here?

Whether you aspire to be a research scientist, professor, physician, forensic scientist, biotechnologist, public health professional, natural resource expert, science communicator, or so much more — Iowa’s Department of Biology will prepare you to take your next step through courses, experiential learning, and engagement in research.

Research

Bin Z. He portrait

Stresses strengthen disease-causing yeast

Biologists at the University of Iowa have found that C. glabrata, after being exposed to a mild stress, becomes more resistant to hydrogen peroxide, a chemical weapon employed by the human immune system to eliminate infecting microbes. The biologists further learned that this exposure-to-resistance escalation in C. glabrata does not appear in its close relative, the benign Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s or baker’s yeast.

Portrait of John Manak

Biologists show how brain’s immune system response worsens epilepsy

In a new study, the researchers lay out a chain of events that can cause seizures—the most common manifestation of epilepsy—to worsen. The sequence begins when oxidative stress in the body causes the brain’s immune system to react. That activation by the brain’s resident immune cells (called glia) triggers more severe seizures.

Brian Berger working in a lab

Iowa antibody bank stands ready to fight the next pandemic

On the corner of Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue, just a block east from the Old Capitol, thousands of possible clues toward deciphering human diseases are stored in liquid nitrogen. Floating in glass tubes, the hybridomas—cell lines used to create antibodies, the foundational pieces of human and animal immunity—hold clues to how our brains work and our muscles develop. They point the way to treatments for emerging viruses that have yet to be named. They could even help combat a future pandemic.

News and announcements

Kristýna Bubeníková's Fulbright Journey to the Forbes Lab

Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Kristýna Bubeníková, a Fulbright Scholar from Charles University in the Czech Republic, is conducting research at the University of Iowa’s Forbes Lab. Her work focuses on the evolutionary interactions between parasitoid wasps and their gall wasp hosts, using genetic and ecological analyses to uncover species diversity and host relationships. Through this experience, she has expanded her expertise, adapted to new research environments, and fostered international scientific collaboration.

Department of Biology Professor joins GENETICS

Tuesday, March 4, 2025
UI Biology Professor Sarit Smolikove has been named an Associate Editor for GENETICS in the Genome Integrity Transmission section.

Biology Student Feedback Session

Thursday, February 27, 2025
Biology Student Feedback Session on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 3:30pm in 101 BBE. This feedback session is for students to tell departmental leadership how we are doing and where we can improve.
biology students on site

$6M

Faculty in the Department of Biology received more than $6 million in grant funding in 2023.

students walking down hallway in Biology building

55 %

of undergraduate students participated in research outside of regular course assignments.

(2017 data)

student at a microscope

1,040

More than 1,000 students are enrolled as biology undergraduate majors at Iowa.

Events

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series - Priya Issuree, PhD

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Bowen Science Building

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series - Zemer Gital, PhD

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Bowen Science Building

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Edward H. Egelman

Thursday, April 3, 2025 10:30am to 11:20am
Medical Education Research Facility
This event is open to the public. Using Cryo-EM to Understand Evolution Edward H. Egelman, PhD Harrison Distinguished Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics University of Virginia Egelman Lab | https://egelmanlab.org/
The Swine Republic: A reading by Chris Jones at Prairie Lights Bookstore promotional image

The Swine Republic: A reading by Chris Jones at Prairie Lights Bookstore

Thursday, April 3, 2025 7:00pm
Prairie Lights Books
Come to Prairie Lights Books for a special Darwin Day reading by Chris Jones, author of The Swine Republic. Published in 2023 by local publisher Ice Cube Press and named a 2024 "Great Reads from Great Places" book by the Library of Congress, The Swine Republic provides extensive research and reportage on the truth behind Iowa's infamously poor water quality
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Seminars

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series - Priya Issuree, PhD

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Bowen Science Building

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series - Zemer Gital, PhD

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Bowen Science Building

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Seminar: Dr. Edward H. Egelman

Thursday, April 3, 2025 10:30am to 11:20am
Medical Education Research Facility
This event is open to the public. Using Cryo-EM to Understand Evolution Edward H. Egelman, PhD Harrison Distinguished Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics University of Virginia Egelman Lab | https://egelmanlab.org/