Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics

Graduate and Postdoctoral Study

Cornell has many outstanding opportunities for graduate and postdoctoral study in comparative and population genomics. The range of research in this general area is remarkable, encompassing model and non-model systems, animals, plants and microbes, evolutionary and functional approaches, and experimental and computational methods.

Formally, graduate study at Cornell occurs through designated graduate fields (see below). However, many students who study comparative and population genomics find that their true "home" is in the broader community of researchers served by 3CPG. There is a tremendous spirit of interaction and collaboration within this community, allowing students to learn not just from a single research group, but to pick up a broader set of tools, skills, and perspectives through interactions with other groups.

Click for Profiles of several current Graduate Students & Postdocs in 3CPG Labs

In addition to serving as a catalyst for collaboration, 3CPG also supports graduate students and postdocs in more direct ways. Students meet with and attend seminars by world-class visitors from outside Cornell in the 3CPG Seminar Series, and have the opportunity to participate in 3CPG-sponsored symposia and retreats. In addition, students and postdocs in 3CPG-affiliated labs benefit from various funding opportunities, including fellowships, priming grants, and travel grants.

Graduate Fields

The graduate school at Cornell consists of more than a hundred fields of study. Admissions for graduate study are handled through these fields. The graduate fields are also responsible for establishing curricula and granting degrees.

Because the graduate fields are completely separate from academic departments, the field system makes it easy for students to collaborate across departmental lines and form interdisciplinary dissertation committees. However, the field system can be confusing for prospective students. An important role of 3CPG is to help prospective students in comparative and population genomics navigate this system, for example, by fielding questions from prospective students and holding information sessions during recruiting events.

It is possible to do research in comparative and population genomics from many different graduate fields at Cornell, and 3CPG does not exclude any graduate fields from support. However, certain fields are of particular interest to 3CPG faculty members, including

For more detailed information about these and other relevant fields, follow this link.

Prospective students in comparative and population genomics are encouraged to contact 3CPG faculty members in their fields of interest for guidance in applying to graduate programs at Cornell. General questions may also be addressed to Adam Siepel (ACS4 at cornell dot edu), who coordinates 3CPG graduate student recruiting activities.

Courses

Cornell offers numerous excellent courses in comparative and population genomics and related disciplines. These courses are offered through a variety of different departments, but an UP-TO-DATE (1-15-2012) SUMMARY OF RELEVANT COURSES is available here as a PDF file . Additional information on these and other courses offered by a department in a given semester can be found in the on-line Courses of Study catalog, and in the Time/Room Roster for a given semester. 3CPG will also be sponsoring short workshops on topics of particular relevance to 3CPG members (more information to be posted soon).

Journal Clubs

There are several journal clubs on campus that may be of interest to the 3CPG community. Below is an incomplete list.

Center for Vertebrate Genomics journal club holds discussions of current articles drawn from broad, interdisciplinary topics which describe useful approaches, tools, and resources in genomics. Graduate students and post-docs in CVG labs will choose the topics/articles and lead the discussion. All CVG members and lab members are encouraged to attend. Meetings will be once per month, informal (and even fun!!), with snacks and drinks provided. (contact: Charlotte Williams, cw25 at cornell.edu)
Topics in Population Genetics and Genomics (contact: Alon Keinan; ak735 at cornell.edu; also run as BTRY 6890) [spring only]
Evolutionary Genetics journal club (meets Fridays at 2:45pm in 202 Biotech for Spring 2012. Contact: Rich Meisel, rpm16 at cornell.edu and check out: http://evgen-journalclub.pbworks.com/ )
"Non-model Genomics" to meet Spring 2012 from 3-4 pm in Comstock B104 with an option for graduate students to take it for 1 credit (NTRES 7283, Matt Hare & Dan Ilut co-instructors). First meeting Jan. 26, 2012.

List-serves

To receive information by email about upcoming seminars, join the Evolgen_Seminars-L list-serve, by sending an email to Evolgen_Seminars-L-request@cornell.eduwith a blank subject line and the single word "join" in the body of the message.

List-serves are also available for the Molecular Biology and Genetics (mbgfridayseminar-L-request@cornell.edu) and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (eandsseminar-L-request@cornell.edu) seminar series.

The Evo-group seminar series meets the first Thursday in the month within-semester, 4-5 pm, Morison Room, Corson Hall. Two speakers from different areas of evolutionary biology present each meeting. Contact persons: Jeremy Searle (jeremy.searle at cornell.edu) or Erica Larson (ELL32 at cornell.edu). Join the Evo-group listserve as follows: please send e-mail to evo-group-L-request@cornell.edu , with the message "join".

3CPG Fellows (2009-2010)

Dr. Roman Arguello	Clark Lab
Dr. Erin Kelleher	Barbash Lab
Dr, Larsson Omberg	Mezey/Clark Labs

3CPG Fellows (2010-2011)

Dr. Geoff Findlay	Wolfner Lab
Dr. Elodie Gazave	Kienan Lab
Ben Logsdon	Mezey/Clark Labs
James Doroghazi	Buckley Lab

3CPG Fellows (2011-2012)

Julia Goodrich	Ley & Clark Labs
Jacob Crawford	Lazzaro Lab
Dr. Matt Rasmussen	Siepel Lab
Dr. Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy	Zamudio Lab

Alumni

Dozens of graduate students and postdocs have gone on to successful careers in academia or industry, after studying comparative and population genomics at Cornell. See this page for a partial list of alumni. Some individual faculty lab pages contain more complete listings for their groups.

Relevant Links

The following links provide information about life in Ithaca and at Cornell, and may be of interest to prospective graduate students and postdocs.