The department has embarked on a major program to develop research strengths in molecular aspects of developmental, neural, structural, and eukaryotic cell biology to complement existing faculty interests. Students are not admitted to the M.S. program; M.S. requirements are completed as part of the Ph.D. program.

The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Illinois offers unique opportunities for graduate students to become skilled and creative biologists. We have outstanding resources in our internationally recognized faculty, graduate students, and research facilities. The graduate program not only allows our research students to learn the latest techniques, but also fosters their development as independent scientists.

Facilities include modern, well-equipped laboratories for cellular, developmental, genetic, molecular, and structural studies. The University offers exceptional and broadly based research support services. These include the Center for Electron Microscopy, with state-of-the-art instrumentation; the Center for Biotechnology, which includes facilities for molecular cloning, DNA and protein synthesis and sequencing, and transgenic animals; the Cell Science Center, which houses and staffs a hybridoma facility and flow cytometry unit; School of Molecular and Cellular Biology-subsidized shops; and a superb university library system, the third largest in the nation. The University offers outstanding computer services and is home to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology combines research in the physical and biological sciences. Opportunities for interaction in the cellular and molecular sciences are also available in many other units within the Schools of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Integrative Biology, and Chemical Sciences and the Colleges of Medicine, Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and Engineering.