School of Life Sciences

Whether seeking ways to understand the impact of climate change or searching for solutions to deadly diseases, Arizona State University School of Life Sciences is exploring the most pressing issues facing the Earth and its inhabitants.

Founded in 2003, the school is the first academic unit created as a part of ASU President Michael Crow’s vision for a New American University and the largest school in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. With many award-winning faculty members from many scientific backgrounds, we are transforming our knowledge of biology and the world around us — combining knowledge across disciplines to tackle emerging critical questions in novel ways.

Undergraduate students are offered three degree options (with four concentrations) and graduate students can choose from 15 degree programs — all of which prepare them for rewarding careers in fields that include medicine, biotechnology, conservation biology or microbiology.

The school offers multiple opportunities for students to become directly involved in research, giving them critical, real-world experience conducting meaningful science with faculty members who are experts in their respective fields. Incoming freshmen are also offered a chance to bond with each other at camp before their college experience begins, helping them form important friendships that often last throughout their ASU careers.

The Center for Biology and Society, housed in the school, examines life science within the context of history and ethics since 1996. With its open-sourced Embryo Project Encyclopedia, relationships with historic laboratories and classes on the history and philosophy of science, the center considers the human element in any scientific pursuit.

In addition, the School of Life Sciences works with the ASU Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics to create a new, life sciences ethics initiative. By combining existing ethics courses and research opportunities with new speakers, undergraduate and graduate students can explore emerging ideas and relationships at the intersection of science and society.