Microbiology at UCLA is a diverse science that includes bacteriology, virology, genetics, molecular biology, and the study of single cells. The science has its roots in the fundamental human needs of health, nutrition, and environmental control, and it provides opportunities for study in the basic biological fields of genetics and cellular and molecular biology.
Undergraduate students majoring in microbiology and molecular genetics prepare for careers in biomedical research, medicine or dentistry, biotechnology and genetic engineering, industrial microbiology, and agricultural or environmental sciences, among others. The courses presented by the department lead to a Bachelor of Science degree and depend heavily on preparation in the biological sciences, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. They provide preparation for careers in microbiology or for further advanced study leading to the doctorate.
The graduate program emphasizes the areas of molecular genetics, cell biology, immunology, cell and virus structure and morphogenesis, animal virology, general bacteriology and physiology, host/parasite relationships, medical microbiology, microbial genetics, and recombinant DNA research. Students are prepared for creative research careers in all of these fields. The objective of the department is to provide breadth in microbiology at the undergraduate level and depth and training in independent study and research for graduate students.
Note: Several upper division and graduate courses in this department are multiple-listed with those in the Microbiology and Immunology Department in the UCLA School of Medicine. Students interested in a doctoral program with a fundamentally disease-oriented approach to microbiology should see the Microbiology and Immunology Department description.