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Fort Collins and Colorado State University

Fort Collins (population around 173,862) lies 65 miles north of Denver, along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation approximately 5,000 feet above sea level. Fort Collins has about 300 days of sunshine per year with low humidity and average summer temperatures ranging from 92° F (high) to 40° F (low). Recreation areas such as Rocky Mountain National Park and the Roosevelt National Forest are within an hour’s drive.  Fort Collins was ranked within the top 25 best cities to live in by CBS News and number 1 by Livability.com.

Colorado State University is a land-grant institution and has an enrollment of about 28,864 on campus students (24,600 undergraduate, 3,676 graduate and 588 professional; 24% First Generation, 26% Underrepresented Minority, 22% Pell Grant Recipients) and 1,904 faculty. CSU offers about 20 undergraduate majors in the biosciences and has graduate programs in approximately 19 bioscience departments.  In 2019 the research expenditures were $407 million.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has about 291 undergraduate majors, 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, 21 regular and joint appointment faculty, and 21 research scientists. All faculty are engaged in bioscience research that is supported by about $30 million in funds from outside sources. The department occupies a $14 million research building completely equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation needed to carry out research in modern biochemistry, molecular biology, and structural biology. Specialized labs include a Macromolecular Resource Facility for peptide synthesis and sequencing, DNA sequencing, and oligonucleotide synthesis; a Fluorescence Microscopy/Image Analysis Center for computer-enhanced cell imaging, microinjection of cells, luminescence imaging, and sophisticated densitometric analyses of gels; a Recombinant DNA Facility; state-of-the-art analytical ultracentrifugation and X-ray crystallography facilities; and Computer Work Stations for Molecular Modeling.