Biochemistry Welcomes Everyone

  • The Department of Biochemistry is committed to achieving excellence by promoting a culture of diversity and inclusion for all students, staff, and faculty.
  • We seek to foster an environment of inclusion through the development of a supportive community of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, which will serve as the foundation for teaching and learning.
  • We aim to improve our recruitment, retention and success of all underrepresented groups through a number of initiatives led by our departmental diversity and inclusion committee in collaboration with graduate and undergraduate cohorts.
DEI Climate at Biochemistry
Regular check-ins on DEI climate of the department
Department Events
Department DEI events and activities
Biochemistry Seminar speakers
Biochemistry invites diverse perspectives for its seminar series
Diverse and Equitable Hiring
Biochemistry supports best practices in diverse and equitable hiring

Recruitment: Building A Strong and Diverse Community

The Colorado Advantage Program​

The Colorado Advantage Program introduces students to the outstanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) doctoral programs at CU Boulder. The program invites prospective applicants to CU Boulder during a weekend in the fall to learn about STEM doctoral opportunities, meet with faculty, tour research facilities and interact with current graduate students. Applicants for the program must be currently applying for admission into a STEM PhD program. The goal of the program is to recruit a diverse pool of candidates into CU Boulder’s STEM doctoral programs. Biochemistry offers application fee waivers for prospective Colorado Advantage students.

CU Boulder Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Plan

The campus’s blueprint for diversity, equity and inclusive excellence. This plan outlines goals for climate, infrastructure and leadership as well as recommendations and actions, the result of five years of collaborative work across campus.

Training: Cross-disciplinary science fosters community

Biochemistry bridges cutting edge fields​

  • Single-particle cryoEM​
  • Advanced proteomics​
  • Microscopy
  • Advanced imaging
  • Next-gen sequencing and CRISPR screening​
  • And many others​

Scientific diversity fosters training and communication​

  • Colleagues can support training each other on new methods
  • Collaborative atmosphere with shared goals​​
  • Enhances career development and agility
  • Robust connections with Boulder and Front Range bioscience companies

Graduate Training Program in Signaling and Cellular Regulation

The Signaling and Cellular Regulation Graduate Training Program is an interdepartmental effort between faculty in the departments of Biochemistry and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with the goal of promoting interactions between laboratories, enriching perspectives and expertise, and providing a wide pool of mentorship for graduate students. 

Molecular Biophysics Program​

The Molecular Biophysics Program at the University of Colorado, jointly sponsored by NIH and CU, is a collaborative effort involving students, postdocs and faculty from five departments on the Boulder campus. Participants share a common interest in biological systems, and seek to understand these systems in terms of physical and chemical principles. The breadth of the program arises from 40+ affiliated laboratories in the Departments of: Physics, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, Chemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Biochemistry.

Mentoring

Summer Multicultural Access to Research Training (SMART Program)​

  • 10 week program​
  • Stipends for both mentee and mentors​
  • In-depth mentoring experience​​
  • Member of CU LEAD Alliance to promote diversity and equity​​

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)​

  • Provides pay for undergraduates to do research and assistantships in labs
  • Committed to social justice and equity​

Department Initiatives

The Wuttke-Beckman Scholars Program​

The Wuttke and Beckman Foundation Biochemical Sciences Research Award provides support for undergraduate students who are majoring in Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, in order to reduce financial barriers that may prevent students from obtaining appropriate research support. Recipients will be students who are pursuing research opportunities in laboratories of faculty members who are rostered in a science department.

  • Provides pay for Biochem undergrads​​ to perform research in laboratories
  • The stipend allows selected students to conduct research in the lab of their choice​​

Campus Resources and Initiatives

College of Arts and Sciences Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Assistant Dean: Patricia Gonzalez

CU Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Sonia DeLuca Fernández, Ph.D. (she/her/they)

CU Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC)

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Center for Inclusion and Social Change​ (CISC)

Center for African and African American Studies (The CAAAS)

CU Café​

  • A collection of diverse STEM trainees at CU​
  • Promotes inclusivity and scientific excellence​
  • Seminar series with distinguished scientists of color​​​

EMPOWERS @ BioFrontiers Institute

Queer in Science (Qsci)