During the three-week period after new students arrive in early August and until classes start, they participate in Core Facility Practical Training (affectionately known as “bootcamp”). With the exception of the days for required new graduate student orientations and safety training, students are involved every weekday from 8 am – 5 pm working in the core facilities. This gives them experience in our Protein Expression, X-Ray Crystallography, Computer Resources and Physical Biochemistry Facilities. More information about the individual labs can also be found on the Core Facilities page.

The workshop includes both lecture on theory and hands-on training in the various facilities. Since students come with different scientific backgrounds, this series of workshops allows the opportunity to learn new skills and polish old ones. Students become familiar with the equipment and core lab space so that they feel more comfortable when they begin to use them during their rotations.

Directors from the Core Facilities plan activities and experiments with lots of one-on-one interaction. Students can feel free to ask questions about procedures and the way things are done in the particular labs.

Specialized Training for Advanced Graduate Students

Students are routinely trained on the equipment employed in their research. However, at the request of several graduate students, any facility director will design advanced individualized workshops on any of the equipment and procedures used in the Core Facilities labs. Students can also ask for training on equipment that has not been part of their research effort, so that they will graduate having experience on a wide variety of equipment.