Biochemistry

A Biochemistry degree can start you on a fulfilling professional career journey in directions as varied as chemical engineering, materials science, medicine, nutrition, pharmacology, patent law, or environmental science.

Biochemistry contributes fundamentally to the ways we maintain our health and interact with the environment as we live our lives. As a Biochemistry major, you will explore questions about life at the molecular level. How is oxygen transported in the blood? How do plants convert sunlight into chemical energy? How can a single mutation in an amino acid sequence result in disease? Biochemistry graduates work in medicine and drug development, agriculture and the food industry, corporate research, and other fields such as forensics and environmental regulation.

At KU, you’ll benefit from direct faculty-student collaborative research opportunities. Your curriculum will include biochemistry courses with the option to focus your electives on chemistry or biology. You’ll spend much of your class time in the Boehm Science Center research laboratories gaining firsthand experience and working one-on-one with professors who are outstanding teachers, published researchers and caring mentors. This state-of-the art facility provides modern space for our teaching and research laboratories, and a variety of modern chemical instrumentation.

Upon graduation you can choose to pursue graduate study in biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, or forensics. Or with your BS degree you may choose to start a career in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries; or in public health policy or patent or environmental law.

Students selecting either a Bachelor of Science or minor in Biochemistry are administered through the Chemistry Program and KU's Department of Physical Sciences, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Sample Career Options

• Analytical chemist
• Biomedical scientist
• Healthcare scientist
• Clinical research associate
• Forensic scientist
• Scientific laboratory technician
• Toxicologist
• Biochemist
• Biomedical Engineer
• Biostatistician
• Oceanographer
• Clinical Data Analyst
• DNA Analyst
• Food and Drug Inspector
• Medical Laboratory Technologist
• Patent Agent
• Pharmaceutical Chemist
• Toxicologist
• University Professor
• Water Quality Analyst

Student Learning Outcomes