Welcome

Welcome to the web pages of the Division of Biology at the California Institute of Technology. In its history of more than 75 years, the division has provided many of the major research advances that have made biology the premier science of the 21st century, and has trained many of the world’s most eminent biologists. The division at present has 38 professors of various ranks, who in their classes and laboratories have approximately 100 undergraduates, 100 graduate students, and 160 postdoctoral scholars, as well as more than 250 staff members. We occupy parts or all of seven buildings on the Caltech campus; we also operate a marine laboratory 50 miles from campus. Each building is devoted to state-of-the-art educational facilities and cutting-edge laboratories.

We have three major research emphases: Structural, Molecular and Cell Biology; Developmental and Regulatory Biology; and Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience. In each area we are trying to solve one of the great problems of modern biology: How do the proteins and other components of cells interact to provide a marvelous nanomachine of more than 100,000 integrated parts, a machine that has numerous extraordinary functions and can reproduce itself? How does a single cell become, by division and formation of new cell types, an entire multicellular organism, which in the case of humans has thousands of different cell types and more than 1 trillion different cells in specific places, communicating to form complex organs? How does the brain, the most complex organ of all, work to allow calculations beyond those of any computer, as well as to demonstrate amazing sensory capabilities, emotions, and consciousness?

The pages in this site give in detail the research program of each of our laboratories, lists of our recent publications, and include the most recent version of our division's annual report, with a summary of the work of each of our students, postdocs, and faculty. If you are a high-school student looking for a university to attend, an undergraduate looking for a graduate school, a graduate looking for a postdoctoral position, or a postdoc looking for a faculty position, you have come to the right place. We are embarked on a grand adventure. We hope you'll be able to join us.

Elliot Meyerowitz
George W. Beadle Professor of Biology
Chair, Division of Biology

2003 Annual Report (57M PDF)
2004 Annual Report (96M PDF)
2005 Annual Report (25M PDF)
2006 Annual Report (9M PDF)