The Department of Biology at the University of Rochester offers numerous research opportunities through its graduate program. Currently, the Department is conducting research in the areas of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology; Genetics; and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The Department is united by a common interest in genetic processes, and a continuum of research interests exists among the different laboratories.

The Department of Biology is only a five minute walk from the Medical Center, which is home to the Aab Institute for the Biomedical Sciences. The physical closeness of many research groups facilitates intellectual exchange and collaboration among the graduate programs of the basic and biomedical disciplines.