Presidential Life Science Fellowships

The Cornell Presidential Life Science Fellowships were created through the New Life Sciences Initiative to select for graduate students who would bridge across disciplines and eventually help form the new disciplines of life sciences which are expected to emerge in the next decade. Faculty members from across the sweep of traditional disciplines mentor the fellows in work within a broad array of focus areas from Applied Biology; Biomedical Sciences; Ecology, Evolution and Integrative Biology; Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics; Molecular and Cellular Biology; to Physical, Chemical, and Computational Biology.

The Life Sciences Initiative itself does not admit students, but provides support and access to students in many areas. General information for prospective graduate students can be found here. Interested students should inquire with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in their primary field of interest. Further, prospective students should indicate interest in the Presidential Life Science Fellowship Program, either in the application or by email correspondence with the Field DGS or Graduate Field Assistant (GFA). It is important for students to recognize, however, that the nomination of students to this prestigious program is at the discretion of the Fields through a rigorous selection process, not by self-nomination. Funding questions should be directed to your DGS or GFA, as each award is administered through the student's particular field. See the Cornell Graduate School website for more general information on admissions. Here is a link to the specific graduate fields with information about application requirements and admission deadlines.

Originally called "Genomics Fellowships”, the PLSF name was adopted in the fourth year of the program to better reflect the broad nature of the program and the University-wide commitment to Life Sciences and to collaborative research. A variety of educational opportunities are being implemented with the Life Science Initiative. One compiled resource is the calendar of Life Science Related Seminar Series. If you have additions, please email sv27@cornell.edu.