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Department of Biology

Tackling global challenges through bioscience education and impactful research.

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We're a friendly and supportive academic community committed to sharing our expertise with the next generation of bioscientists.

Our courses span the full range of contemporary biological sciences including biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, biotechnology and biomedical science.

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Our research

Our world-class bioscience research addresses major global challenges.

Grounded in excellent fundamental science, our research spans the discipline and generates solutions for a sustainable green future and a healthy human population.

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Biology at York is a really exciting place to be! Amazing staff, enthusiastic students and exceptional facilities drive interactions between research and teaching, which in turn create collaborations and innovations that produce positive impacts on global challenges.

Professor James Chong, Head of Department

among universities included for molecular biology, biophysics and biochemistry in the 2024 National Student Survey.
Biological Sciences is ranked in the top 10 overall in the UK according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results.
We are proud to have held an Athena Swan Gold award since 2014.

News

News

19 May 2026

Scientists have uncovered how tobacco plants naturally make nicotine, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for nearly two centuries.

News

19 May 2026

Scientists have uncovered how tobacco plants naturally make nicotine, solving a mystery that has puzzled researchers for nearly two centuries.

News

18 May 2026

Two leading scientists in the Jack Birch Unit have secured prestigious funding awards to further their research into bladder and ovarian cancer.

News

5 May 2026

Scientists have shown that evolution has been using the same genetic ‘cheat sheet’ for over 120 million years, suggesting that life on earth may be more predictable than first imagined.

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