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Here is a sample of what you will discover in the sciences at Carolina. Additional information is available from each of the 14 departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Biology: With the sequencing of the human genome, the field of biology is brimming with possibilities. Biology is one of the most popular majors at Carolina, where departmental strengths include genetics and the development of model organisms as well as evolutionary biology, behavior and ecology. Undergraduates and graduate students engage in research with distinguished faculty including a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the President of the Botanical Society of America and Vice President of the Society for the Study of Evolution.
Chemistry: The Department is considered among the top three nationwide in Analytical Chemistry and among the top 20 overall, with six divisions (analytical, physical, organic, inorganic, biological and materials). Undergraduate and graduate students participate in research with distinguished faculty, including four members of the National Academy of Sciences, and over a dozen awardees of the American Chemical Society. The department receives about $13 million in research grants annually and currently is home base for an $18 million Science and Technology Center for the Study of Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes, funded by the National Science Foundation.
Computer Science: Undergraduate and graduate students can work with some of the hottest computer scientists in the world in this department, which ranks number-one in the U.S. for user-interaction computer graphics (virtual reality), with exceptional strengths in medical imaging, hardware design, distributed and collaborative systems, networking and parallel computing. Several research projects have been developed into commercial products. Faculty have won numerous awards for research, teaching and service, including the A.M. Turing Award (the highest award in computer science), the National Medal of Technology and the North Carolina Professor of the Year.
Ecology: The Curriculum in Ecology offers students unique opportunities to customize graduate degree programs (MA, MS, PhD) drawing from the natural and social sciences as well as the humanities. Teaching faculty are from the departments of Anthropology, Biology, Biostatistics, City and Regional Planning, Communication Studies, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Geography, and Marine Sciences. Graduates work in the fields of ecology and environmental management in teaching positions, government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Exercise and Sport Science: The department has won acclaim for three areas of specialization: sports medicine, exercise physiology and sport administration. The sports medicine program, considered one of the top two in world, prepares clinicians and scholars for careers in the management and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. The exercise physiology specialization prepares students for careers in exercise and sport sciences and the allied health fields. The sports administration program offers graduate students the opportunity to intern with one of the most successful athletic departments in the country. The department houses two distinguished national centers -- the Center for the Study of Catastrophic Sport Injury and the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes.
Geological Sciences: Nationally known research programs focus on the geology of continental margins (coastlines, estuaries and shelves), crustal evolution and orogenesis, global change and the ancient record of climate and evolution, and seismology, seismic topography and volcanology. The program places undergraduates in top graduate programs and graduate students in prestigious positions in industry, scholarly research and environmental agencies. Undergraduates enjoy field work in many locations including the Sierra Nevada, North Cascades and Rocky Mountains, Hawaii, Mexico, Italy, Venezuela and the South China Sea.
Mathematics: The department has a distinguished research faculty and strong undergraduate and graduate programs in applied mathematics. In contrast to national trends, one-third of undergraduates and one-half of graduate students are women.
Mathematical Decision Sciences: This new undergraduate major - one of the few in the country - helps students to understand complex decision-making and prepares them for careers in a wide-range of fields, from insurance and corporate planning to public health and regional planning.
Physics & Astronomy: Features an internationally known laboratory, including the nanoManipulator -- developed and patented here -- which combines an atomic force microscope and virtual reality so that one can see, touch and manipulate particles (such as viruses) on a sub-molecular level. The new Keck Atomic and Imaging Laboratory will carry this work down to atomic scales. The Department hosts the North Carolina Center for Nanoscale Materials and partners with Duke and N.C. State in the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, one of the most successful university-based laboratories in the nation. The Department also initiated the 4.2 SOAR Telescope project nearing completion in northern Chile and is involved in raising funds for another massive telescope project in South Africa.
