MBL September Courses

Source: https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/mbl-september-courses Parent: https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/biological-sciences-collegiate-division

The September Courses @ MBL 2026 application is now OPEN!

Apply Now!

In September 2026, the College will be offering four courses at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Each course will be taught by University of Chicago and MBL faculty.

These intensive, three-week long courses meet for up to eight hours per day for 5–6 days per week, combining lectures with immersive labs and fieldwork. Each student can only enroll in one course.

Program Information

The MBL September Program is part of the September Term.

The program will run August 24 - Sept 11

Classes will be held on Labor Day

The schedule ensures that students have ample time to return to campus for Autumn Quarter.

Students register for a September MBL course as part of the Summer Quarter, and each course carries 100 units of credit.

All 4 of the courses offered for September of 2026 can count towards either core BIOS credit, or as an Upper Level Elective Credit for BIOS majors.

With a maximum of 15 students each, classes are small and offer an interactive teaching environment where instructors spend considerable time with each student.

College participants in the September MBL courses are responsible for:

• $2,500 Program Feewhich covers three weeks' dorm-style housing and meals at MBL, as well as all course supplies and excursions.
• $4,980 Summer Quarter Tuition for one 100-unit course.

Students are responsible for covering their own airfare and related travel expenses to and from MBL.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Need-based aid is available for the MBL September Program; students who receive such aid during the academic year are automatically reviewed for Summer financial aid eligibility.

Learn more about Summer scholarships and financial aid HERE.

Billing

Bills for the MBL September Program will be sent to students in June, and payment in full will be due in late July.

A deposit of $100 will be required to reserve your spot in the program, this payment will be expected at time of accepting your spot in the program.

In the event you need to withdraw from the program, costs will be accessed as follows:

Consideration for students with extenuating circumstances related to family emergencies, health problems, or other events will be made - subject to administration approval.

Applications for the 2026 September Program are currently OPEN.

2026 MBL September Courses Applicaiton

Application Priority Deadline: March 13, 2026

Decisions will go out on or before: March 20, 2026

There are no pre-requisites for the September courses at MBL.  Both STEM majors and non-majors are welcome in these classes.  The BIOS courses can count either towards the general education requirement in Biology OR as an upper-level elective.

Course Descriptions

Each course is worth 100 units of credit.

Instructor: O. Pineda-Catalan

Course Description: In this course, student will have the opportunity to explore the large diversity of marine animal species in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and its surroundings. We will combine fieldwork with genomic and bioinformatic approaches to study different aspects of the evolution, ecology, taxonomy, physiology, and biogeography of marine animals in this unique location. Student will integrate knowledge and analytical tools from different biological disciplines to develop short research projects. During the three weeks of the course, student will have access to the Marine Biological Laboratory's collection of living marine animals, participate in ongoing research projects at MBL, and contribute data that will advance our understanding of marine biodiversity.

Instructor: Alexandra Worden

Course Description: Students will study coastal marine habitats, connectivity to ocean and climate, dynamics of microbial community structure, and marine conservation alongside gaining experience on laboratory microbiome science and environmental field work. Students will gain firsthand experience with the types of microbes that that influence climate and that impact health through laboratory experiments on culturing and analyzing microbes in ‘pristine’ and highly impacted coastal ecosystems. Methods to be learned include plating, epifluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, DNA extraction, and sequencing.

Guest Instructors:\ Dr. Cinda Scott\ Director for the Center for Field Studies, Panama

Prof. Alejandra Ortiz\ Colby College

Instructor: Michael Paul Rossi

Course description: This course, taught on-site at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole Massachusetts, examines early twentieth century biology through hands-on recreations of classic experiments. Course undertakings include working with organisms like sea urchins, starfish, hydras, slipper snails, and plankton; fieldwork in local beaches, ponds, and marshes; laboratory experimentation using early twentieth century equipment; and close readings of historical sources in early twentieth-century experimental biology. By the end of this course, students will have gained experiences collecting, identifying, caring for, and working with classic invertebrate model organisms; they will be able to identify and explain key concepts and techniques in biology between 1900 and today; and they will be able to parse historical sources and recreate the knowledge-making strategies that shaped early twentieth century biology. This course will fulfill either a Core biology requirement or a major elective in biology.

Read about a previous MBL course taught by Dr. Rossi here!

Instructor: Dr. Dakota McCoy

Course Description: Spectacular optical adaptations shape marine life, from sunlit shallows to the deep sea. We will explore how ocean creatures manipulate light—becoming transparent, ultra-black, iridescent, vividly colored, or bioluminescent—through the lens of physics, photosynthesis, and visual systems. With morning lectures, afternoon hands-on work, local outings, and a final research project, students will learn the physics and biology of light in the ocean. We encourage students to develop publishable original research projects using the fantastic resources of the MBL.