• Stewart Biology Building, Room N7/9B
• 1205 avenue Docteur Penfield
• Montreal QC H3A 1B1
• Website: mcgill.ca/biology
• Undergraduate Advisor
• Telephone: 514-398-4109
• Email: nancy.nelson [at] mcgill.ca
• Website: mcgill.ca/biology/undergraduate-studies/advising-planning/biology-advising

Biology is the study of living things at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecosystem levels. It deals with fundamental questions such as:

• the origin and evolution of plants and animals;
• interactions between living organisms and their environment;
• mechanisms of embryonic development;
• structure and function of the living cell and individual molecules within it;
• molecular basis of inheritance;
• biochemical and genetic basis of human diseases; and
• how the brain and the nervous system control behaviour.

The study of biology also has vast practical applications. The knowledge, methods, and concepts developed through research in the various fields of biology are applied extensively in agriculture, medicine, pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, genetic engineering, environmental protection, and wildlife management.

The Department of Biology offers:

• Liberal program;
• Major program;
• Joint Majors with Computer Science and with Mathematics;
• Honours program;
• Joint Honours with Computer Science;
• Minor program;
• Minor concentration in Science for Arts students;
• Biology Major and Honours option in Quantitative Biology; as well as
• Major and Minor concentrations in the B.A. & Sc.

The programs in Biology provide you with an introduction to the broad spectrum of Biological Sciences in contrast to more specialized programs in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Physiology, and Anatomy and Cell Biology. The B.Sc. degree in Biology prepares you for a wide range of employment opportunities as well as entry to professional schools in medicine, veterinary science, dentistry, agriculture, nursing, education, and library science. It also provides a solid background for those interested in careers related to environmental protection, wildlife management, biotechnology, and genetic engineering. The B.Sc. degree in Biology can also lead to post-graduate studies and research careers in universities, research institutes, hospitals, and industrial or governmental laboratories.

The Department of Biology's well-equipped research laboratories are located in the Stewart Biology Building, 1205 Docteur Penfield Avenue and in the adjacent Bellini Life Sciences Building. Due to massive renovations that began in the Fall of 2017, only the North Wing of the Stewart Building is currently in use and freshman biology labs have temporarily moved into the Duff Medical Building. The Department includes many biologists who are international leaders in their research fields, but who nevertheless remain deeply committed to undergraduate education. We have outstanding infrastructure for cell, developmental, and neurobiology research, and extensive links to biomedical scientists throughout McGill and all over the world. Our ecology and evolutionary biology group is also internationally prominent and dedicated to studying aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Our core undergraduate program will expose you to the broad areas of biology at all of these levels of complexity. At the same time you will be able to focus on topics related to your specific interests through complementary and elective courses. Beyond the large introductory classes, our class sizes are relatively small and you will have lots of opportunities for contact with your instructors; this is one of our strengths! Biology's teaching and research resources are extended by affiliation with the Redpath Museum, the hospitals and research institutes of the McGill University Health Centre, the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Sheldon Biotechnology Institute, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Field courses enable you to study biology in a natural setting, in local ecosystems (e.g., at McGill's Gault Nature Reserve), and in distant ones such as Barbados, Panama, and East Africa. The Biology Department is also deeply committed to providing individual research experiences to its undergraduates. U2- and U3-level students, not just Honours program students, can carry out semester- or year-long independent study projects for course credit in Biology department research labs. Numerous summer opportunities are also available.

Undergraduate students are represented by the MBSU (McGill Biology Students Union) in the Departmental Assembly and in Standing Committees.

Requirements for the Major and Honours programs in Biology are:

• two courses in elementary biology;
• two courses in general chemistry;
• two courses in mathematics (as per the Freshman science requirements);
• one or two courses in physics (mechanics and electromagnetism), depending on your choice of upper year courses.

Students entering the B.A. & Sc., the Liberal program, and the Biology Science Minor have the same biology, chemistry, and mathematics requirements. The physics requirements will vary according to their future direction. Note that satisfying the minimum Freshman science requirements does not necessarily qualify students for medical or dental school admissions requirements.

Students planning to take one of the joint majors or the Quantitative Biology Major or Honours options should consult:

• Undergraduate Advisor
• Stewart Biology Building, Room N7/9B
• Telephone: 514-398-4109
• Email: nancy.nelson [at] mcgill.ca
• Website: mcgill.ca/biology/undergraduate-studies/advising-planning/biology-advising

to ensure they are taking the appropriate prerequisites.

If you are interested in advanced studies in any biological discipline, you are strongly advised to develop your skills in computing as appropriate. As an aid to students wishing to specialize, key and suggested courses are listed by discipline.