PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology

In the PhD program in molecular and cellular biology (MCB), you’ll benefit from interdisciplinary training options with the approximately 100 faculty in the life sciences departments at UMass Amherst and the nearby campuses of Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst Colleges.  

You’ll work closely with faculty, collaborating on diverse research in biological chemistry and molecular biophysics, cellular and developmental biology, and biomedicine. Students also routinely publish their research findings in professional publications and present at national and international conferences. 

You’ll also benefit from faculty’s close relationships with faculty and MDs at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, through the UMass/Baystate Collaborative Biomedical Research Program. 

Our graduates have gone on to postdoctoral research positions at academic research institutions or in the biotechnology industry in the United States and abroad. Employers include Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Duke University, Dana-Faber Cancer Institute, and Harvard University, among others.