Graduate Program Overview
The Biology Graduate Student Association represents the 100+ grad student members of our department. Get in touch with BGSA here.
Welcome to the Biology Graduate Program at UNM
We are excited that you are interested in continuing your training in Biology at UNM! Because the M.S. and Ph.D. are research degrees, admission to the program requires that a member of the graduate faculty agree to serve as your mentor and advisor. For this reason, we suggest that you begin by consulting our faculty list and individual faculty pages, as well as our research programs. Our faculty love to talk about their research, so you should contact faculty members with research interests related to your own to determine which lab(s) would best fit your interests and goals. At the same time, the links on this page will lead you to information about Admission Requirements, the application process, financial support for Biology graduate students, and the requirements for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biology.
If you have any questions, please contact a faculty member or our Graduate Program Coordinator. We will be happy to help you.
Tyler Clayshulte
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Biology
College of Arts & Science
The University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM USA
505-277-1712
BioGrad@unm.edu
More about our program
The University of New Mexico is the flagship university of the State of New Mexico, serving nearly 30,000 students. UNM embraces its diverse heritage and reflects its cultural variety and is one of only a few Research I institutions in the nation that is also a minority–majority institution. Albuquerque is centrally located in the state, with easy access to the mountains, streams, deserts and plains of New Mexico, offering many wonderful research and leisure opportunities.
The Biology Graduate Program offers both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees and currently includes over 100 students mentored by 33 tenure-track faculty. Our research spans modern biology: from cellular and molecular biology, through ecology and evolutionary biology, to interdisciplinary or computational ventures with the Departments of Mathematics & Statistics, Computer Science, Chemistry, and the Health Sciences Center. The research problems investigated vary from theoretical through computational to applied, including field research from New Mexico and the Southwest to a broad range of international sites, and laboratory-based studies of model (e.g. zebrafish and Drosophila) and non-traditional organisms (e.g. marsupials, molluscs, and parasites). The Department of Biology also hosts a wide range of research facilities and centers geared toward supporting cutting-edge research.
Our program is thriving, rigorous, collaborative, and responsive to the need of the students. We believe that a stimulating, intellectual collaboration between students and faculty is a necessary ingredient of a successful graduate program. Graduate students are involved in departmental decisions, and the Biology Graduate Student Association has funds to support research in the department. Ultimately, our graduates are successful in advancing in their chosen careers, and leave UNM having developed friendships and collegial networks that last a lifetime.
Other useful web sites:
- UNM's Office of Graduate Studies provides information about UNM graduate studies and policies
- Project for New Mexico Graduates of Color
- The University of New Mexico
- Information about Albuquerque, the State of New Mexico and why we like to live here and work at UNM
