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

Biology Graduate Student Wins Three Minute Thesis Competition

Monday, November 25, 2024
Israel Wipf, a fourth-year graduate student in Tina Tootle's lab in the Department of Biology, won the 2024 Three Minute Thesis Competition, in which graduate students share their research in three minutes or less to a general audience.

Biology Undergraduate Student Receives Student Poster Award

Sunday, November 24, 2024
Biology Undergraduate student, Jasmyn Hoeger, received the Student Poster Award at the Abboud Cardiovascular Research Center's 50th Anniversary Symposium.

Biology Newsletter Now Available

Wednesday, November 6, 2024
The Department of Biology's most recent newsletter is now available.
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

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Evaluating critical parameters of mutation in a natural model system" promotional image

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Evaluating critical parameters of mutation in a natural model system"

Monday, December 9, 2024 4:00pm
Biology Building East
Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Student Seminars on Monday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE): Varshu Saravanakumar (Neiman Lab) and Sehee Min (Prahlad Lab).
Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Role of endo-siRNAs in C. elegans heat shock response" promotional image

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Role of endo-siRNAs in C. elegans heat shock response"

Monday, December 9, 2024 4:00pm
Biology Building East
Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Student Seminars on Monday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE): Varshu Saravanakumar (Neiman Lab) and Sehee Min (Prahlad Lab).
Biology Seminar: "Fish School: what zebrafish can teach us about hearing damage from cisplatin chemotherapy and noise trauma" promotional image

Biology Seminar: "Fish School: what zebrafish can teach us about hearing damage from cisplatin chemotherapy and noise trauma"

Friday, December 13, 2024 3:30pm
Biology Building East
Lavinia Sheets, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will be giving a seminar at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East.
Art & Write Night promotional image

Art & Write Night

Friday, February 7, 2025 6:00pm to 8:00pm
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
Join the long, rich, historical tradition of artists creating in our spaces. Professional, aspiring, and amateur artists alike, make our museum your muse. The return of this popular program series welcomes guests into the Museum of Natural History's magical gallery spaces after-hours to work on sketching or writing projects with other campus and community artists. Tell a friend, grab a notebook, and join us on the first Friday of each month. We'll provide a new inspo prompt for each session...
View more events

Seminars

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Evaluating critical parameters of mutation in a natural model system" promotional image

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Evaluating critical parameters of mutation in a natural model system"

Monday, December 9, 2024 4:00pm
Biology Building East
Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Student Seminars on Monday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE): Varshu Saravanakumar (Neiman Lab) and Sehee Min (Prahlad Lab).
Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Role of endo-siRNAs in C. elegans heat shock response" promotional image

Biology Graduate Student Seminar: "Role of endo-siRNAs in C. elegans heat shock response"

Monday, December 9, 2024 4:00pm
Biology Building East
Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Student Seminars on Monday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East (BBE): Varshu Saravanakumar (Neiman Lab) and Sehee Min (Prahlad Lab).
Biology Seminar: "Fish School: what zebrafish can teach us about hearing damage from cisplatin chemotherapy and noise trauma" promotional image

Biology Seminar: "Fish School: what zebrafish can teach us about hearing damage from cisplatin chemotherapy and noise trauma"

Friday, December 13, 2024 3:30pm
Biology Building East
Lavinia Sheets, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will be giving a seminar at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, in Kollros Auditorium (Room 101), Biology Building East.