Laboratory Rotations Laboratory rotations are an integral component of the first year of study. Various mechanisms, as well as a First Year Advisory Committee, exist to introduce new students to research opportunities and laboratory rotations available within the Department. At the end of the rotation program, students choose a research advisor and initiate studies that ultimately form the basis of the Ph.D. dissertation. Three, 9-week laboratory rotations are required, and these are usually performed in three different laboratories. As a result of these rotations, students are introduced to a range of experimental problems, paradigms, and technologies, and they develop a valuable network of friends and contacts in multiple laboratories.
Some students even generate sufficient data to merit an authorship on a publication.
Most importantly, as a result of rotations, students are better able to make an informed decision when choosing a laboratory in which to perform their thesis research. The rotation program also offers an important opportunity to hone communication skills, since students present the results of their rotation research in posters, seminars and written reports. The curriculum is designed to emphasize basic skills and principles, and yet be sufficiently flexible to allow students to focus on different research areas. All students currently take Biochemistry 205, which is linked to the Department s extramural seminar series. Through presentation and discussion of upcoming speakers publications, students in this course are not only better prepared for talks given by outside speakers, but are also better equipped to give their own departmental research presentations.