Linguistics

Students can: Minor

Linguistics is fully integrated into the Department of Cognitive Science. We offer basic and advanced training covering core areas of linguistics including phonetics and phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, psycholinguistics, acquisition, and fieldwork.

A minor in linguistics is available to undergraduates majoring in any department, except for cognitive science majors who choose linguistics as a focal area. Students intending to minor in linguistics should declare their intention, preferably by the beginning of junior year.

Natural Sciences Area

Natural Sciences Area Website

Students can: Major

Degrees Offered: BA

The Natural Sciences Area major allows students to combine appropriate upper-level courses in two different areas of natural science. Students may bridge biology and chemistry, chemistry and physics, or some other combination as long as the curriculum forms a coherent whole. The major prepares students for careers in various health sciences, such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, and more, providing that the introductory courses chosen by the student include those prescribed for admission to these professional schools.

Chemical Biology

Chemical Biology Website

[email protected]

138 Remsen Hall

Degrees Offered: PhD

The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) graduate program provides students with training that enables them to challenge the traditional boundaries currently separating chemistry from biology. Upon completion of the program, CBI students receive a PhD in chemical biology.

Our curriculum, including writing an original research proposal, is designed to help students further develop their analytical skills and the ability to think independently. Peer support and learning are also integral to the educational experience.

Coursework ensures that students have a strong foundation in chemistry in addition to ample knowledge of the biological sciences. The breadth of faculty research and teaching interests enables students to explore many aspects of the Chemistry-Biology Interface.

Cellular, Molecular, Developmental Biology and Biophysics

Cellular, Molecular, Developmental Biology and Biophysics Website

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Degrees Offered: PhD

The Program in Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology, and Biophysics (CMDB) cross-trains doctoral students in the areas of molecular biology, cellular biology, developmental biology, and biophysics.

The CMDB program includes faculty from Johns Hopkins University’s departments of biology, biophysics, and chemistry, as well as from the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Embryology.

A program of study leading to the PhD degree is open to students who are candidates for, or who already have, the bachelor’s or master’s degree in the biological or physical sciences.

To be admitted, the applicant should have had either a thorough training in the fundamentals of biology and both organic chemistry and general physics, or a broad training in the physical sciences and mathematics. Special attention is given to the applicant’s quality of scholarship and his or her promise as an investigator.

Environmental Science and Studies

Environmental Science and Studies Website

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Students can: Major Minor

Degrees Offered: BS, BA

The Environmental Science and Studies (ENVS) program provides a supportive yet challenging academic home for students who are passionate about the environment and who want to make a positive difference in the world.

The interdisciplinary ENVS majors and minor introduce students to the Earth’s living and nonliving systems and how humans interact with and affect those systems. The ENVS curriculum is solution-focused, providing students with the tools they need to become the next generation of problem-solvers. Courses examine how the powerful tools of science and policy can be brought to bear on environmental problems and the challenge of developing a more sustainable and equitable society.

Medicine, Science, and the Humanities

Medicine, Science, and the Humanities Website

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Students can: Major

Medicine, Science, and the Humanities is an interdisciplinary, humanities-based major using a cultural and historical context to explore scientific inquiry and the roots of medicine. This major is ideal for students who plan to pursue careers in the health professions as well as those interested in issues of importance to science and medicine, and students who plan to pursue graduate work in a range of humanities, social science, or professional disciplines.

Related Programs and Centers

Public Health

Public Health Website

3505 N. Charles Street, Room 201

Students can: Major

Degrees Offered: BA

The public health studies major offers a flexible, challenging, and contemporary curriculum that may include coursework in ethics, the natural sciences, policy, economics, or environmental issues, among other areas. Through these varied options, the PHS program provides rigorous preparation for advanced study in public health, law, medicine, and related fields. The program is a beneficial undergraduate pursuit not only for students planning to enter MHS/MPH and PhD programs, but also for premedical and prelaw students.

Public health spans several disciplines dedicated to the improvement of the health and well-being of populations across the globe. This mission broadly focuses on the prevention of illness, disease, and health care inequalities. Core disciplines include epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health policy and management, biostatistics, and social and behavioral aspects of health.

These disciplines draw on a fundamental knowledge of biology, a basic familiarity with social sciences, and an appreciation of socio-economic and cultural variance among different peoples.

Neuroscience

Neuroscience Website

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Dunning 434

Students can: Major

Degrees Offered: BS, BS/MS

Neuroscience seeks to understand the nervous system and its functioning at levels ranging from that of molecules interacting with cell membranes to that of brain systems serving cognitive functions such as language. Dramatic recent progress has been made at all levels, and the field is growing explosively.

The Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience offers a BS in neuroscience as well as a five-year combined BS/MS program.

At Johns Hopkins, researchers in the departments of biology, biomedical engineering, biophysics, cognitive science, and psychological and brain sciences, as well as at the Krieger Mind/Brain Institute and the School of Medicine in East Baltimore, study the nervous system at many levels. Their presence provides the opportunity for innovative, interdisciplinary programs that offer a broad perspective of the field of neuroscience, as well as more advanced training in one of three areas of concentration: cellular and molecular neuroscience; systems neuroscience; and cognitive neuroscience.

Behavioral Biology

Behavioral Biology Website

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Dunning 434

Students can: Major

Degrees Offered: BA

The David S. Olton Behavioral Biology Program is an interdepartmental, interdivisional area major for those wishing to study the natural and social sciences in relation to human and animal behavior. The program begins with the fundamental concepts of both the natural sciences and the social sciences. Then the interface between these two areas is explored through specialized courses and electives, and through additional study emphasizing a particular subject. Courses provide a broadly based yet integrated education, focused in the field of behavioral biology.

Psychological and Brain Sciences

Psychological and Brain Sciences Website

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Ames 204

Students can: Major Minor

Degrees Offered: BA, PhD

In 1883, G. Stanley Hall founded the first psychological laboratory in America at Johns Hopkins University. Since then, the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences has played a key role in the evolution of the field, investigating the most fundamental questions of behavior, mind, and brain.

Dedicated to research, the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is one of the top-ranked psychology departments in the world. The program stresses methodology for the investigation of the biological and psychological processes underlying human and animal behavior and cognition.

The intimate size of the department gives students and faculty significant flexibility to design individual training programs, and promotes an atmosphere of exceptional collegiality. At the same time, the department has at its disposal all the resources of a major research university, as well as the advantages of its connection to one of the world's leading medical institutions.

Students have many opportunities for research, both with the Arts & Sciences faculty and in the labs at the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Internship opportunities are available at Sheppard Pratt Hospital, Kennedy Krieger Institute, and other local institutions.

What can you do with your degree?

Psychology can be applied to a broad range of fields, including health and human services, management, education, law, and sports. Psychologists might work with business executives, performers, or athletes to reduce stress and improve performance, or they recommend psychologically ideal jurors to lawyers during the jury selection phase of a trial. They team with law enforcement and public health officials following disasters to analyze the cause, or by helping the victims or witnesses recover from trauma. Psychology is applicable in a variety of real-world settings, as well as preparation for graduate work in psychology or related fields such as business, medicine, law, or computer science.

Related Programs and Centers

Cognitive Science

Cognitive Science Website

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Krieger 237

Students can: Major Minor

Degrees Offered: BA, MA, PhD

Johns Hopkins is one of a few universities with a Department of Cognitive Science. Cognitive science is the study of the human mind and brain, focusing on how the mind represents and manipulates knowledge and how mental representations and processes are realized in the brain. Cognitive scientists explore functions such as perception, memory, and language using a variety of methods, such as behavioral studies, functional neuroimaging, linguistic analysis, and computational modeling.

The department provides theoretically oriented research and training opportunities in a focused environment that is dedicated to the multi-disciplinary intellectual challenge of integrating contemporary approaches to the study of the mind/brain.

Programs in cognitive science at Johns Hopkins University reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, requiring students to approach the study of the mind/brain from several different investigative perspectives. The programs in cognitive science draw on courses offered by several other departments, as well.

What can you do with your degree?

Graduates of the Department of Cognitive Science typically go on to graduate, medical, law, or business school, or directly into jobs in health care, information technology, or other fields.

The major provides excellent preparation for PhD programs, not only in cognitive science, but also in psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, neuropsychology, and speech pathology.

Either before or after additional study, our graduates pursue careers in academia, health care, information technology, law, technical writing and publishing, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

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Chemistry

Chemistry Website

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Remsen 138

Students can: Major

Degrees Offered: BS, PhD

Chemistry is an interdisciplinary subject with natural, robust ties to the other sciences and engineering that, in general, involves the study of matter and the changes it undergoes. Advances in chemistry will be required to meet global challenges of clean air, safe water, healthy food, dependable medicine, advanced materials, eco-friendly products, and sustainable energy.

Our understanding of the fundamental nature of the world is grounded in chemistry. Molecular transformations are central to the production of food, medicines, fuel, and a countless array of materials. Chemists seek to understand the fundamental nature of matter and the changes it undergoes on a molecular or atomic level. While this goal was once limited almost exclusively to chemists, there is an increased effort toward molecular-level characterization in most areas of science and technology. Chemistry has therefore emerged as the "central science."

The Department of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University has a long tradition of excellence that began with Ira Remsen, the discoverer of saccharin, dating back to the inception of the University in 1876. Today, Hopkins chemistry is made up of internationally recognized faculty involved in contemporary chemical science, including interdisciplinary areas that interface chemistry with the fields of biology, medicine, physics, materials, and environmental science. Chemistry faculty train students interested in pursuing Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in the classroom and in the laboratory.

What can you do with your degree?

The central nature of chemistry affords its majors more flexibility in careers. Fields of employment include medicine, industry, education, business, law, health services, and much more.

Graduates of the chemistry department have gone on to assume positions of scientific leadership in private industry, as well as in some of the finest academic institutions in the world. The success of the department in attracting and training outstanding students can be measured by the distinguished careers of our recent graduates and postdoctoral fellows.

Related Programs and Centers

Chemistry-Biology Interface Program