This field of graduate study is designed to give broad training in the fundamentals of chemistry and in methods of research. Students ordinarily pursue those objectives by taking advanced courses, participating in organized and informal seminars, and carrying out and reporting on research projects in their major subject.

Graduate students enrolled in the field of chemistry and chemical biology select a major research concentration in one of the following subfields: analytical, chemical biology, inorganic, organic, organometallic, bioorganic, physical, biophysical, polymer, theoretical, or chemical physics. Students must also choose a minor concentration from these subfields or a related graduate field such as materials science or biochemistry. Once major and minor concentrations have been selected, students choose permanent special committees consisting of the research adviser and two additional faculty members.

To help students select a research adviser, the faculty present research orientation seminars in which first-year students are introduced to the research of each professor. The research adviser and other members of the special committee are usually chosen by the end of the fall semester.