Microbiology Graduate Program

The University of Kansas has an excellent and broadly represented Microbiology research program in the Molecular Biosciences Department. The microbiology group is a dynamic community of scholars and distinguished investigators engaged in research at the forefront of areas including immunology, bacterial pathogenesis and genetics, virology, and fungal secondary metabolites. Microbiology researchers have access to numerous stellar core facilities (including the microscopy and imaging, biomolecular NMR, protein production, protein structure/crystallography, high throughput screening, mass spectrometry, and genome sequencing cores) and state-of-the-art equipment. Microbiology research activities are strongly supported by public and private funding sources, notably the NSF and NIH. In addition, Microbiology researchers have close ties with microbiologists in several other departments at KU-Lawrence as well as the KU Medical Center, and have much cross-disciplinary collaboration within KU (e.g. School of Pharmacy, Department of Chemistry and Center for Bioinformatics) and around the world. Our Microbiology PhD graduates have a high rate of job placement in industry and academics both locally and nationally. The Microbiology degree track offers a challenging, stimulating and nurturing environment for PhD students. Microbiology Faculty are committed to providing exceptional scientific training through mentoring in the laboratory, classwork and teaching opportunities. Graduate-level classwork covers Pathogenic Microbiology, Immunology, Virology and Microbial Genetics.