The focus of Harvey Mudd’s biology program is on preparing students for professional practice in diverse areas related to biology. Following graduation the majority of our students go on to PhD programs in the life sciences or into the workforce in technical fields. With these outcomes in mind, our curriculum is structured to provide students with the general technical and communication skills required to succeed in a broad range of scientific settings. Upon graduation from our program we expect HMC students to:

• Understand fundamental principles of biology and how we know what we know.
• Appreciate the breadth of biology, its interfaces with other disciplines, and its impact on society.
• Be able to take intellectual and practical ownership of their work and demonstrate maturity and responsibility as scientists.

To achieve these broad goals effectively, we believe all biology majors should be able to:

1. understand and effectively communicate the foundational scientific principles and findings in biology;
2. read and critically interpret the primary scientific literature;
3. formulate hypotheses and plan and execute experiments to test those hypotheses;
4. understand the use of and be able to apply quantitative methods to interpret biological data;
5. communicate results in writing using conventional scientific formats;
6. communicate results orally through formal presentations and by leading and participating in discussions;
7. synthesize ideas from multiple sources into a literature review or research proposal;
8. demonstrate teamwork and leadership skills;
9. demonstrate an understanding of how biology relates to current issues in the world.

The biology curriculum includes five primary components, each of which addresses a subset of these learning outcomes