Department of Biology: Indiana University Bloomington

See our undergraduate degree options

We offer several B.A. and B.S. degrees in the fields of Biology, Biotechnology, Microbiology, and Molecular Life Sciences.

Pursue your graduate degree

Our graduate students conduct cutting-edge research and receive specialized training in many key research areas.

From backyard microbes to career possibilities, Spencer Schaberg ’28 pursues a passion for scientific discovery

Junior Spencer Schaberg credits Biology Professor Daniel Kearns, who, he said, welcomed him into the lab as an undergraduate researcher and gave him a head start that would shape nearly every aspect of his college experience. “I’m drawn to microbiology specifically because of how it permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, whether we know it or not,” Schaberg said. “Microbes shape our food, medicine, agriculture, and industry, though we still know so little about the scope of their diversity.”

Faculty 100 Q&A: Mengting Han on gene and brain function research

This is part of a series of Q&As highlighting Faculty 100 scholars and the research, creative activity and collaborations they are advancing at IU Bloomington. One of the Faculty 100 hires is Mengting Han, an assistant professor of biology who joined the Department of Biology August 2025. Han studies the spatial transcriptome — how RNA is organized within cells and how that organization affects cellular function.

IU scientist awarded nearly $3 million by NIH to investigate a key barrier to HIV cure

A grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health will fund research led by Adarsh Dharan, Assistant Professor of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University, aimed at better understanding a critical step when HIV enters the nucleus of a human cell.

IU biologist wins prestigious Brewster Award for a decade of work studying North American birds

Kimberly Rosvall, Professor of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, has been named the recipient of this year’s William Brewster Memorial Award, one of ornithology’s highest honors, recognizing the most meritorious body of work on North American birds published in the past decade.

IU biologist Mengting Han receives $2.38 million NIH NIDA’s Avenir Award (DP1)

Indiana University biologist Mengting Han has received a prestigious $2.38 million Avenir Award in Genetics and Epigenetics of Substance Use from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The five-year award will support Han’s research into how the spatial regulation of RNA localization and translation in neurons contributes to opioid use disorder.

Fulbright Scholarship Awarded to Professor David Kehoe

Professor David Kehoe, a member of the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, has been selected for the Fulbright U.S. Senior Scholar Award to Spain in academic year 2026-2027. Dr. Kehoe will be joining the faculty at Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain, to assist in the development of their newly created Marine Biotechnology Program.

IU postdoctoral research fellow in biology receives NIH-NIAID F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship

Karlen Enid Correa Vélez, a postdoctoral research fellow in the van Kessel Lab in the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, was awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) from the National Institutes of Health.

IU biologists find a hidden weak spot in how bacteria build the tails they use to move

New research from Indiana University has uncovered a previously unknown vulnerability in how bacteria build the whip-like tails they use to move. The researchers found that building these tails can put stress on the protective wall surrounding a bacterial cell, and uncovered systems bacteria use to keep that stress from becoming destructive.

IU biology postdoctoral researcher awarded prestigious Life Sciences Research Fellowship

Kayla Simanek, a postdoctoral fellow in the van Kessel lab in the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, received the prestigious Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship.

A range of research strengths

Our faculty, research scientists, and graduate and undergraduate students are exploring everything from ecosystems to microbiology and developmental biology; evolution to cell biology; molecular biology to systems biology, bioinformatics, and genomics. Together, we explore the breadth of biological questions and experimental systems.

View our research

Expertise + scientific approach

Our faculty members are world-class researchers and teachers who share an excitement for the life sciences. The multiplicity of expertise and scientific approach, combined with our exceptional collegial culture, is what makes IU Biology stand out and has made IU a premiere place for performing research.

Meet our faculty

You are welcome here

The IU Department of Biology is a community of academic scientists, teachers, students, and staff from a wide range of cultures, nationalities, races, and social backgrounds. We are committed to maintaining a culture of respect and kindness and to supporting each other in our academic and professional pursuits.

Department of Biology

World-class teaching + research

See our undergraduate degree options

Pursue your graduate degree

From backyard microbes to career possibilities, Spencer Schaberg ’28 pursues a passion for scientific discovery

Faculty 100 Q&A: Mengting Han on gene and brain function research

IU scientist awarded nearly $3 million by NIH to investigate a key barrier to HIV cure

IU biologist wins prestigious Brewster Award for a decade of work studying North American birds

IU biologist Mengting Han receives $2.38 million NIH NIDA’s Avenir Award (DP1)

Fulbright Scholarship Awarded to Professor David Kehoe

IU postdoctoral research fellow in biology receives NIH-NIAID F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship

IU biologists find a hidden weak spot in how bacteria build the tails they use to move

IU biology postdoctoral researcher awarded prestigious Life Sciences Research Fellowship

A range of research strengths

Expertise + scientific approach

You are welcome here

Ready to take the next step?

Incoming freshmen

Current IU students

Prospective graduate students

The College of Arts & Sciences

World-class teaching + research

See our undergraduate degree options

Pursue your graduate degree

From backyard microbes to career possibilities, Spencer Schaberg ’28 pursues a passion for scientific discovery

Faculty 100 Q&A: Mengting Han on gene and brain function research

IU scientist awarded nearly $3 million by NIH to investigate a key barrier to HIV cure

IU biologist wins prestigious Brewster Award for a decade of work studying North American birds

IU biologist Mengting Han receives $2.38 million NIH NIDA’s Avenir Award (DP1)

Fulbright Scholarship Awarded to Professor David Kehoe

IU postdoctoral research fellow in biology receives NIH-NIAID F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship

IU biologists find a hidden weak spot in how bacteria build the tails they use to move

IU biology postdoctoral researcher awarded prestigious Life Sciences Research Fellowship

A range of research strengths

Expertise + scientific approach

You are welcome here

Ready to take the next step?

Incoming freshmen

Current IU students

Prospective graduate students

Department of Biology social media channels

The College of Arts & Sciences