As Cornell University restructures its life sciences with the New Life Sciences Initiative, constructs new buildings, upgrades its infrastructure and hires new faculty members, university officials stress that improving graduate education is just as important. After all, graduate students are the backbone of many of the life sciences laboratories on campus.

That's why the university has created a new task force on graduate education in the life sciences, with the support of the External Life Sciences Advisory Council and the Internal Life Sciences Advisory Council, both of which have recommended that Cornell find ways to improve its graduate education to stay competitive in these fields.

"The graduate programs are absolutely critical to conducting life sciences on campus," said W. Lee Kraus, associate professor of molecular biology and genetics who was appointed the task force chair by Provost Biddy Martin. "Along with top-notch faculty and state-of-the-art facilities, strong graduate programs are an important component of successful research programs. The faculty we hire cannot do their research unless we have the best graduate students, and competition for them is intense among our peer institutions."

Over the coming months, the task force is charged with reviewing the graduate programs in the life sciences to identify current strengths and weaknesses, addressing the issues raised by the advisory councils and providing specific recommendations for improving the quality and funding of the graduate education. Kraus stressed the need for input from all levels and all units in the life sciences as the review process moves forward. The task force plans to have a proposal to present to the External Life Sciences Advisory Council by its next meeting June 28.

Other task force members include: Barbara Baird, chemistry and chemical biology; Lisa Earle, plant breeding and genetics; Joseph Fetcho, neurobiology and behavior; Thomas Fox, molecular biology and genetics; John Guckenheimer, mathematics/computational biology; Michael Kotlikoff, biomedical sciences; and ex officio members Carolyn Ainslie, vice president for planning and budget; Richard Coico, vice provost for inter-campus affairs; Stephen Kresovich, vice provost for life sciences; and Alison Power, dean of the Graduate School.