Welcome to the Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics

The Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics (3CPG) has several goals related to the enhancement of research and education in comparative genomics, population genetics and evolutionary genetics at Cornell. These include:
* Leading and contributing to activities that foster scholarly and research interactions among comparative and population geneticists across campus.
* Leveraging the concept that there is important scientific understanding to be gained in considering nearly any phenomenon in the life sciences from a comparative perspective, and asking about the basis for molecular variation in that process.
* Facilitating the recruitment and retention of outstanding scientists with expertise in comparative and population genomics.
* Contributing to relevant undergraduate and graduate education, postdoctoral training and recruiting, and the acquisition of grants to support these efforts.
* Supporting shared resources, enabling technologies, facilitating rapid access to emerging technologies and analysis tools for the assessment and analysis of genomic variation within and between species.

We invite you to explore below information relevant to students, postdocs, faculty and staff interested in a comparative, population, and evolutionary genomic approaches to biological problems.  A new web site is coming soon. Check back for updates.

Chip Aquadro and Andy Clark, co-Directors, and Adam Siepel, Associate Director

Graduate and Postdoctoral Training Opportunities in Population, Evolutionary and Comparative Genomics at Cornell

Cornell University provides many outstanding opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral study and research in population, evolutionary and comparative genomics.  We have excellent groups working on many model and non-model animal, plant and microbial systems, and with programs that include (and integrate) experimental, analytical, functional, statistical and computational approaches to the study of genomic and organismal diversity and to the inference of function and functional diversification.  Importantly, there is a tremendous spirit of interaction and collaboration within and among groups that facilitates ability of students and postdocs to learn and apply the full scope of tools, skills, and perspectives important to evolutionary genomics today.  Many in this group are members of the new Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics (3CPG).  3CPG supports an active seminar program and journal clubs, a “priming” grants program, graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, and infrastructure support for this university-wide group of faculty. A broad overview of the life sciences at Cornell is available at http://www.lifesciences.cornell.edu.  For specifics about exploring the various graduate programs, see the info below the faculty listing.  We encourage you to contact specific faculty directly via email (available at their individual web sites, listed with their names below) to discuss your interests and available opportunities in their labs and groups.

Graduate Programs

There are several graduate programs, called “fields” that are actively seeking applications for new graduate students.  At Cornell, only these interdepartmental fields award advanced degrees, and because departments do not award degrees, cross departmental collaboration is exceptionally easy and natural here.  Many of the graduate fields will appear to overlap, so the best way to find out which is right for you is to study the websites.  Here is a quick run down:

Graduate Field of Genetics and Development http://gendev.cornell.edu/

If you are particularly interested in genetic mechanisms of evolution, or have a strong affinity for model genetic organisms and their role in evolutionary genomics, or have a strong interest in functional genomics or evolutionary developmental genetics, this field is the one for you.  Some of the Genetics and Development faculty that have a strong interest in evolutionary genetics include Chip Aquadro, Dan Barbash, Ed Buckler, Andy Clark, Zhenglong Gu, Rick Harrison, Alon Keinan, Brian Lazzaro, June Nasrallah, Adam Siepel, and Mariana Wolfner. Deadline for graduate applications is Dec 15.

Graduate Field of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology www.eeb.cornell.edu/field/EEB.html

This field spans evolutionary ecology, population genetics, ecological genetics, speciation, and macroevolution as well as various aspects of ecology at the individual, community and ecosystem levels.  If your primary interests include ecological components of the determinants of evolutionary change, or the role of the environment in organismal fitness, this program is for you.  Out of the set of 51 faculty in this graduate field, the following have a strong interest in evolutionary genetics: Chip Aquadro, Andy Clark, Monica Geber, Nelson Hairston, Rick Harrison, Irby Lovette, Amy McCune, and Kelly Zamudio.  Deadline for graduate applications is Dec 1.

Graduate Field of Computational Biology www.cb.cornell.edu

This graduate field spans a wide range of applications from serious computational modeling to problems in bioinformatics, biomechanics, population dynamics, protein structure, epidemiology, gene regulatory networks, quantitative genetics and complex traits, evolutionary genomics or statistical genomics.  Some of the faculty with an interest in evolutionary genomics include Andy Clark, Jason Mezey, Adam Siepel, and Alon Keinan.  Deadline for graduate applications is Oct. 1 for spring semester, and Jan. 1^st for fall semester.

Other relevant graduate fields

In addition there are several other somewhat more specialized programs that include very strong coverage of evolutionary biology, including Entomology, Plant Biology, Biometry, Statistics, and Applied Math.  You can also learn more about academic programs and facilities at Cornell from the individual departmental websites, including Molecular Biology and Genetics (www.mbg.cornell.edu), Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (www.eeb.cornell.edu), Biological Statistics and Computational Biology (www.bscb.cornell.edu), and Plant Breeding and Genetics (www.plbrgen.cals.cornell.edu) to name just a few.

A full summary of the graduate Fields at Cornell including contact information, application deadlines, etc is also available from the following Cornell Graduate School web page: http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/index.php?p=38

Living in Ithaca

http://gendev.cornell.edu/student/ithaca.html

http://www.cornell.edu/visiting/ithaca/

Grad School’s Guide to Graduate Student Life at Cornell: http://studentlife.gradschool.cornell.edu/

Office of Postdoctoral Studies:

http://www.postdocs.cornell.edu/index.php

Comparative and Population Genomics Seminars at Cornell

The 3CPG Seminar series meets the first Monday of each month at 4pm in 226 Weill Hall. Speakers this year (2009-2010) include John Huelsenbeck (UC Berkeley), John Wakeley (Harvard), David Reich (Harvard Med School and Broad Institute), Tom Mitchell-Olds (Duke), Mike Eisen (UC Berkeley and HHMI), Pardis Sabeti (Harvard).  Additional seminars include: Joe Thornton (Oregon) and Justin Fay (Washington University), David Stern (Princeton) and Jack Werren (University of Rochester).