The Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB) provides interdisciplinary doctoral training in evolutionary biology. Students in the program have interests that range widely and the research projects they pursue often combine several lines of scientific inquiry. CEB students design individualized research programs in consultation with a dissertation supervisor and a committee drawn primarily from the CEB faculty. Faculty members of other institutions may be asked to serve on dissertation committees as needed. This diversity of input permits the student to get the highest level of interdisciplinary training relating to the research project.
Unlike a typical university department, CEB draws its faculty from a variety of graduate programs and institutions:
- Students in CEB can study with any of more than 50 scientists from the University of Chicago, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Field Museum, the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Brookfield Zoo, the Morton Arboretum, and Argonne National Laboratory.
- Faculty from diverse departments such as Anthropology, Comparative Human Development, Ecology and Evolution, Geophysical Sciences, Human Genetics, Linguistics, Organismal Biology and Anatomy, Philosophy, and Psychology hold CEB appointments.
- The University of Chicago’s graduate program in evolutionary biology recently was ranked first in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, as was our paleontology program, which is closely affiliated with CEB.
CEB students not only work with faculty members at our affiliated institutions, they also take advantage of the rich resources these affiliates offer:
- The Brookfield Zoo is home to more than 2,000 animals, representing over 400 species.
- Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the nation’s oldest zoos, housing 1,200 animals representing 230 species.
- The Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum together contain over 2,000 acres of plants, including extensive areas of native habitats.
- The Field Museum’s zoology, botany, and paleontology collections contain more than 23 million specimens.
- Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest research centers.
This breadth of research interests contributes to the Committee’s strong national and international reputation as a graduate training program.