an innovative first-year introduction to the natural sciences

The Integrated Science Curriculum (ISC) is undergoing an exciting transformation through Academic Year 2023–2024. We aim to offer an updated ISC sequence in 2024–2025. 

The experimental first-year curriculum was originally developed in the early 2000s by LSI faculty to meet the needs of students interested in emerging disciplines at the intersection of the traditional sciences. It used a unified language of quantitative reasoning and mathematics to introduce first-year undergraduates to a broad range of scientific concepts, bridging traditional barriers between the physical and biological sciences. Over the span of 19 years, many of the more than 400 students who completed the ISC sequence launched research careers in academia and industry. 

The new ISC will stay committed to interdisciplinary and laboratory-based learning while retaining its quintessential identity as a rigorous, immersive course for a close-knit group of first-year Princetonians. It will incorporate skills in scientific computing and data-oriented thinking as the connective tissue between foundational principles in physics, chemistry, and biology, serving as an ideal launching pad for prospective chemistry and biology majors interested in quantitative and computational research early in their college career.

Contacts

Martin Wühr
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
Office
246 Carl Icahn Laboratory
Jennifer C. Gadd-Reum
Undergraduate Laboratory Manager
Lecturer in Chemistry and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
Office
012 Lewis Thomas Laboratory
Ben X. Zhang
Lecturer and Integrated Science Curriculum Manager
Office
252 Carl Icahn Laboratory

If you have any questions about the curriculum and the ongoing revitalization effort, email us and we will respond promptly.

Enroll

ISC is not offered in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. We aim to offer an updated sequence in 2024–2025 for the incoming Class of 2028. 

 

ISC Revitalization

Learn about the ongoing ISC revitalization effort that aims to offer an updated sequence for 2024–2025. 

Student Profiles

Hear what past ISC students have to say about their ISC experience.

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