Each rotation will involve two to three months of work in a specific laboratory chosen by the student and agreed to by the director of the laboratory and the Director of Graduate Studies. The first rotation will run from September through November, the second from December through February, and the third March through May. Students are expected to spend 10-15 hours a week in laboratory work for each rotation. At the end of each rotation, the student will present to the laboratory director and to the Director of Graduate Studies a brief report of about two pages summarizing the experiments and results. Teaching experience Graduate students are encouraged to obtain teaching experience by serving as a teaching assistant for one semester during their second year.
Opportunities are available in several undergraduate, graduate and medical school courses.
Information on these opportunities is available from the office of the director of graduate studies. The student should select a laboratory for thesis work following the third rotation and begin a research program in that laboratory. In the first semester of the second year, the student generally finishes coursework and initiates or continues a program of research that will lead to a research proposal for the thesis project. The written research proposal forms the basis for the Preliminary Examination, described in detail in the Appendix. Students are expected to formulate their exam committee and schedule the preliminary exam during the spring semester of their second year.