A shared area of scientific interest keeps researchers in touch with each other even after they leave Rockefeller to pursue their own academic appointments. While students are encouraged to develop their research programs early during their careers at Rockefeller, they may make rotations through several laboratories during the first months to gain exposure to different areas of research being done at the university. Students who arrive with a particular mentor or project in mind may immediately join a laboratory. Ideally, students choose a laboratory by the end of the first year, and they present a thesis proposal for review before the end of the second year. With 75 laboratories on campus, students have a broad range of choices.
Many collaborations produce exceptional results leading to publication in prominent journals.
Students may also conduct clinical research at The Rockefeller University Hospital in such areas as immunology and infectious disease, genetics and metabolic disease, cancer and developmental biology, and neurodegenerative disease. At the conclusion of their investigations, students lecture to the full Rockefeller community as part of their thesis defense.