Welcome to the Department of BioSciences page. For more information about our department, please visit http://biosciences.rice.edu
Welcome to the official Department of BioSciences at Rice University's page! Here you will find information about activities and events in the department. Events of particular interest to prospective graduate students will be posted regularly. Graduate program information can be found here http://biosciences.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=179
06/18/2026
For three weeks this summer, students from Lone Star College and San Jacinto College joined Rice Biosciences for an immersive research experience in biochemistry and molecular biology. Guided by Dr. Joey Olmos and Dr. Jamie Catanese, participants developed laboratory skills, explored scientific discovery, and gained valuable research experience.
06/04/2026
Congratulations to our faculty members on their well-deserved promotions!
🎉 Scott Egan has been promoted to Professor.
🎉 Natasha Kirienko has been promoted to Professor.
🎉 Yang Gao has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure.
These promotions recognize their outstanding contributions to research, teaching, mentorship, and service. We are proud to celebrate this exciting milestone and look forward to their continued impact on our community.
05/29/2026
Congratulations to Seye Oladeji on earning First Place overall for his research poster at the 2026 Texas Chemical Biology Conference.
His presentation was selected from 135 posters presented at the conference — an outstanding and well-deserved achievement.
05/28/2026
Our 2026 NSF BioNetworks REU students arrived over Memorial Day weekend and will spend the summer on campus conducting independent research projects through early August. We’re excited to have this year’s cohort here and look forward to supporting them throughout the program.
05/15/2026
Congratulations to all BioSciences-affiliated doctoral candidates participating in the December 2026 commencement.
05/14/2026
Last Friday, the department celebrated the end of the semester with a commencement reception honoring graduates from the Department of BioSciences. Award recipients were also recognized for their outstanding achievements and contributions. Congratulations to all of our graduates and honorees on this exciting milestone!
05/01/2026
Congratulations to Dr. Jamie Catanese for receiving the Dr. Trenton W. Wann Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship!
This recognition highlights Dr. Catanese’s dedication to student success, commitment to mentorship, and impact in the classroom and beyond. We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved honor!
04/24/2026
Congratulations to Dr. Kory Evans on receiving the Natural Sciences Rising Star Award, recognizing outstanding research achievement!
04/23/2026
Seye Oladeji, a member of the Gao Lab, recently attended the 30th Annual Sealy Center for Structural Biology & Molecular Biophysics Symposium (SCSB), which featured poster presentations from undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers across multiple universities. He was one of three graduate students selected to receive a poster award.
04/10/2026
Last Friday, undergraduate and graduate students from Rice Biosciences’ Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program presented their research at the 2026 Ecological Integration Symposium at Texas A&M -- proud to see their work represented!
