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The Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology at Cornell has been home to some of the world's most distinguished chemists, including four Nobel Prize winners and two MacArthur "Genius" Awards. Our faculty are renowned for their groundbreaking research in many areas, ranging from nanoscale materials and polymers to supramolecular chemistry. Whether you are an undergraduate exploring the discipline or a graduate student working on a Ph.D., you will be able to conduct cutting-edge research with the leading chemists in the field today.
As a graduate student in Chemistry & Chemical Biology, you will receive training across the chemical sciences while focusing on one of five in-depth programs of study: Analytical, Inorganic, Organic, Physical, or Theoretical. You will conduct advanced research with our distinguished faculty or you can join a laboratory at one of the state-of-the-art research facilities at Cornell, such as the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility (CNF) or Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS)
Nearly all graduate students work as Teaching Assistants in undergraduate Chemistry & Chemical Biology courses in their first year in the program. Admission to the graduate program guarantees at least five years of full financial support as long as you show satisfactory progress toward your Ph.D. degree.
Majoring in Chemistry & Chemical Biology at Cornell will allow you to explore the foundations of the discipline and the fields it intersects with—the Life Sciences, Physics, and Engineering. The undergraduate program will prepare you for a variety of careers in industry, academia, government, and the non-profit sector.
Here are a few of our undergraduate courses:
Brian Crane began as Director of the Weill Center for Cell and Molecular Biology on January 1, 2025. He is only the second Director in the History of the Weill Institute since its founding by inaugural Director Scott Emr in 2008.
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A Cornell-led collaboration uncovered the equipment that enables bacteria to survive exposure to antibiotics: a shuttling mechanism that helps a complex of proteins pump out a wide spectrum of antibiotics from the cell.
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Over the last decade, perovskite photovoltaics have emerged as the most exciting alternative to silicon, with Cornell researchers studying how the material can be grown to be more durable for optimal performance, and be recycled.
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Cornell researchers have captured an unprecedented, real-time view of how a promising catalyst material transforms during operation, providing new insights that could lead to replacement of expensive precious metals in clean-energy technologies.
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Cornellians are a creative bunch—and like Ezra himself, many have used their know-how and initiative to make a difference.
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Benjamin Widom, Ph.D. ’53, Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Jan. 23 in Ithaca. He was 97.
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Pursuing research in sciences, social sciences, and humanities, the incoming Fellows will be the sixth cohort since the program was launched in 2019 with a major gift from Seth Klarman ’79 and Beth Schultz Klarman.
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A Cornell chemist has created an alternative to the unrecyclable, plastic-based material used for durable items such as car tires, replacement hip joints and bowling balls.
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