Rockefeller‘s Ph.D. program offers training in the biomedical and physical sciences and close mentoring by faculty. Rockefeller also offers one of the nation‘s top M.D.-Ph.D. programs with neighboring Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Both programs are tailored to each student‘s needs and provide full financial support and housing in Manhattan. The Tri-Institutional Research Program, through which the M.D.-Ph.D. is offered, was launched in 2000.

Rockefeller also offers opportunities for both postdoctoral and clinical research. Most postdocs obtain funds through private or governmental grants; however, the university awards about 15 to 20 postdoctoral fellowships each year. The Rockefeller University Hospital oversees the Clinical Scholars Program, which offers research opportunities for recent M.D. or M.D.-Ph.D. recipients; the program is designed to provide training in translational research to young physician-scientists.

To support secondary and undergraduate science education, Rockefeller has three programs. The Science Outreach Program is designed to mentor high school students and K-12 teachers in the culture and methodology of laboratory work. The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) funds college sophomores and juniors to work in Rockefeller labs. The Bard-Rockefeller Program offers Bard undergraduates specialized science courses taught by Rockefeller students and postdocs.

Graduate Education Programs

Ph.D. Program
Rockefeller‘s Ph.D. program is based on the concept of learning science by doing science, and the university‘s laboratories are at the center of the Ph.D. training program. Since its beginning more than 50 years ago, the Ph.D. program has recruited students internationally and has worked to attract the very best students without regard to citizenship.

The program provides great flexibility and accommodates students with diverse interests and needs. Though students fulfill certain course requirements during their first two years, they are encouraged to design their own curricula in consultation with the Dean‘s Office, which provides careful mentoring throughout their graduate careers. Students who arrive with a particular mentor or project in mind may immediately join a laboratory; those who prefer to explore may rotate through several laboratories during their first months to gain exposure to different areas of research.

While formal coursework is minimal, several classes each semester offer foundations in particular specialties, and three required courses taken during the first year serve to develop students‘ abilities to critically interpret scientific data, to promote awareness of research ethics and to introduce students to research going on in the university‘s labs. Beyond the scheduled curriculum, additional seminars and tutorials are available based on demand.

Each year the university receives applications from approximately 600 prospective students, around 20 of whom ultimately enroll in the Ph.D. program. All students are fully supported by the university, which provides independence in their research endeavors. Students are also given subsidized housing and annual research budgets, which can in part be used for attending scientific meetings and for the purchase of computers, books and journals.

M.D.-Ph.D. Program
The mission of the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program is to educate and train physician-scientists, who are able to bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical medicine and thereby contribute toward improving health and enhancing the quality of life by reducing disability and death from disease. Rockefeller participates in the program jointly with its two neighbors: the Weill Medical College and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, and the Sloan-Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Between 12 and 14 students are accepted into this highly competitive program every year, and at any one time 40 or so are performing thesis research in Rockefeller University‘s laboratories. Students spend their first two years in a unique medical school program consisting of problem-based learning, lectures and small group conferences, while also completing three research rotations. Following the completion of graduate studies and thesis research at either The Rockefeller University or Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, students receive their Ph.D. degrees and then re-enter medical school to complete clinical rotations and receive their M.D. degrees.

The Tri-Institutional Training Program in Chemical Biology
The Rockefeller University, with Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, trains graduate students to use chemical approaches and technologies to answer fundamental biological questions. Students, who receive graduate-level training in both chemistry and biology, are recruited from top undergraduate chemistry programs worldwide and train with biologists at one of the three participating institutions in the summers before and after their first year of coursework at Cornell.
 

Postgraduate Training Programs

Postdoctoral Opportunities
The university has a strong commitment to the full involvement of postdoctoral trainees in all aspects of the scientific, educational and cultural activities of the community. Each year 350 postdoctoral trainees are associated with the research of the 69 laboratories, where they are encouraged to continue their scientific training and pursue their research interests. In addition, postdoctoral trainees typically participate in the many seminars and colloquia held at the university and are particularly active in the Rockefeller Research Exchange series. In most instances, candidates for postdoctoral training at the university obtain funds from a private or governmental granting agency. However, the university is responsible for awarding approximately 15 to 20 postdoctoral fellowships annually to young scientists who are in the early stages of their training.

Clinical Scholars Program
The Rockefeller University inaugurated the Clinical Scholars Program in 1976 with university funds and now supports approximately 12 physician-scientists early in their careers to train in clinical and translational investigation. This three-year master‘s degree program, which is partially supported by a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health, is designed for recent M.D. or M.D.-Ph.D. degree holders who wish to begin a career in patient-oriented research. Scholars join a laboratory and develop a clinical investigation program under the mentorship of the head of that laboratory. They also participate in a weekly core curriculum devoted to learning about clinical investigation and new translational research studies conducted by investigators from both the university and other institutions.

The Fellows Program in the Center for Studies in Physics and Biology
The Center for Studies in Physics and Biology was founded in 1994 to accelerate the contributions that physics can make to biomedical science, by building bridges between scientific communities traditionally separated by steep barriers of language and technique. The center‘s fellows program was established in the same year to intensify the level of cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration that the center makes possible. Modeled after the highly successful visitors program at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the program recruits outstanding postdoctoral researchers trained in theoretical physics, mathematics and computer science who demonstrate an interest in biological problems. Appointments are for two to three years.

One of the aims of the fellows program is to support theoreticians in their first steps as experimentalists. In working toward their goals, fellows are encouraged to seek mentors and collaborators among the university‘s biologists and biochemists. Currently, fellows are applying physics-based and computational approaches to a range of fields, including cell biology, evolution and behavioral neurobiology.
 

Precollege and Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Science Outreach Program
Established in 1992, Science Outreach provides high school juniors and seniors and K-12 teachers the opportunity to be mentored by Rockefeller scientists in the content, methods, culture and ethos of modern research through immersion in the process of scientific inquiry. In addition, the program offers postdoctoral and graduate fellows the chance to develop essential teaching skills, and it provides staff support and resources to Rockefeller scientists who become mentors.

The program, which runs during the summer, offers various resources to enhance students‘ experiences in their host laboratories, including Monday Summer Afternoon Seminars on Topics in Biomedicine, Thursday Breakfast Seminars for Teachers and the ScienTific Reading and Writing Course (STRAW), which trains students in reading and analyzing scientific journal articles and presenting research in standard scientific style.

One-fifth of Science Outreach graduates have achieved semifinalist or higher status in prestigious national and international science fair competitions, and participants often matriculate to top universities, some with full scholarships, while maintaining connections and continuing to publish research with their mentors. Some have returned to Rockefeller as graduate, biomedical or postdoctoral fellows.

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) Program
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides qualified, highly motivated college students majoring in the life or physical sciences an opportunity to experience laboratory research. The objective of the program is to offer intensive research training in the biomedical sciences and to provide an opportunity to experience the graduate school environment. Each year, outstanding sophomores and juniors are chosen from a wide variety of applicants with diverse scientific backgrounds and training. Successful candidates are matched according to their stated interests and work on projects under the direct supervision of faculty, postdoctoral fellows and/or senior graduate students. The program runs for 10 weeks and SURF students receive a $3,000 stipend and free housing. Annually, more than 500 students apply for admission into the SURF program and approximately 15 are accepted.

Bard-Rockefeller Program
The Bard-Rockefeller Program, started in 2000, is a collaboration between Bard College and The Rockefeller University. Among many joint ventures, the university offers specialized science courses to Bard undergraduates, allowing more advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to gain teaching experience at Bard and creating the opportunity for undergraduates to study the sciences through one of the world‘s premier research universities.