UCSC's Division of Physical and Biological Sciences and the Jack Baskin School of Engineering support a broad range of biomedical research. This research is conducted principally within the Departments of Biomolecular Engineering, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Engineering. Structural biology, the molecular biology of RNA, genetics, bioinformatics, chromatin biology and developmental biology are areas of particular strength.

Small faculty led teams conduct their research in state-of-the-art laboratories, with additional access to shared facilities, equipment, and computational tools. This environment has helped create an outstanding track record. Recently, Thomson Scientific announced in Science Watch the results of a study assessing high-impact research in molecular biology and genetics for the years 2002-2006. "According to the measure of citation impact (or  average number of citations per paper), the University  of California, Santa Cruz produced the highest score,  averaging 414.5 cites per paper ...."

The PBS Division and the Baskin School of Engineering also provide excellent research training programs for postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate and graduate students, the latter supported by NIH training grants. Please see the links to the left or below for more information.