Undergraduate Research Opportunities

For Vanderbilt Students

For All Undergraduates

For Vanderbilt Students

The Beckman Scholars Program provides scholarships that contribute significantly in advancing the education, research training and personal development of select students in chemistry, biochemistry, and the biological and medical sciences. The sustained, in-depth undergraduate research experiences and comprehensive faculty mentoring are unique in terms of program scope, content and level of scholarship awards ($17,600 for two summers and one academic year). Read press release.

For All Undergraduates

The Vanderbilt Summer Undergraduate Research in Chemical Biology Program is a ten week hands-on course designed to introduce chemistry, biochemistry, and biology students to the research processes and the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary research. Students participate in a mini-symposium on drug discovery, attend seminars given by VICB faculty working across disciplinary lines and participate in weekly discussions on relevant topics. The summer program provides a $4,500 stipend, on-campus housing, and $500 in travel expenses to Vanderbilt.

In addition to these programs, many individual VICB faculty have summer positions for undergraduates. To find these positions, undergraduates should go to the VICB Members page and search for faculty who are doing research that interests them. They should then contact that faculty member directly to inquire about summer research opportunities. Each faculty member who has a position will provide instructions for applying to his/her laboratory. Students are encouraged to make these inquiries early in the spring semester, before positions are filled.

Preparing for Graduate Studies in Chemical Biology
The following are undergraduate courses offered at Vanderbilt University that students should consider as part of a program to prepare for graduate studies in Chemical Biology. Note that these are upper level elective courses, which often have prerequisites that are not listed here. Students at other institutions are encouraged to use this list as a guideline for selecting similar courses available to them. Visit the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Course Catalog web site, which includes a PDF with more information about the following undergrad courses.

Chemistry Electives
Chem 202 Bioinorganic Chemistry
Chem 224 Biorganic Chemistry
Chem 226 Medicinal Chemistry
Chem 233 Molecular Modeling Methods
Chem 238 Computational Structural Biochemistry

Biological Science Electives
BSCI 201 Cell Biology
BSCI 210 Principles of Genetics
BSCI 220 Biochemistry I
BSCI 243 Genetics of Disease
BSCI 2456 Biology of Cancer
BSCI 252 Cellular Neurobiology
BSCI 268 Molecular Membrane Biology
BSCI 272 Computational Genomics
BSCI 274 Proteins

Neuroscience Electives
NSC 201 Neuroscience
NSC 235 Biological Basis of Mental Disorders
NSC 260 Psychopharmacology

Physics Electives
PHYS 224 Physical Analysis of Biological Systems
PHYS 228 Foundations of Medical Imagining