Dr. Mary K. Baylies

Dr. Mary K. Baylies is Associate Professor of Biology at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and a member of the Developmental Biology Program at Sloan-Kettering Institute. Dr. Baylies discusses the mutually beneficial aspects of working with grad students, the personal attention our students receive from faculty, and the groundbreaking science that takes place.

Graduate Students:
The Life's Blood of a Lab

The life's blood of a lab is its graduate students. As someone who likes to mentor and teach, having grad students in my lab means that I have the opportunity to do both on a daily basis. This is a feeling shared by many of the faculty members at the Graduate School, especially those who also work as first-year advisors. When Andy Koff (Associate Professor of Microbiology) and I were first-year advisors, we'd meet with the first-year students once a week for pizza and beer. This was the perfect opportunity to share our experiences and help them over the hurdles, which is extremely important for first-year students. At Cornell Graduate School, we have a very rigorous first year, and having first-year advisors who can help students navigate the shoals is something that really sets our program apart.

Personal Attention

Dr. Baylies with graduate student Ginny Cox

In general, our students get a lot of personal attention, which, again, is not something you see everywhere. We expect our students to assimilate a lot of information as they pass through the program, but we also provide them with the help and resources that they need to meet those expectations. And in return, we faculty have all these very motivated young people who challenge our ideas and help broaden our own perspectives.

And it's not just the first year. In their second year, we help prepare the students for the future through a written and oral Admission to Doctoral Candidacy Examination (ACE). The aim of this examination is to allow the student to demonstrate his or her general knowledge in a chosen area of specialization, as well as demonstrate an ability to approach experimental design with creativity and technical insight. The practice that they receive doing the ACE is critical and it's this type of academic preparation that separates Cornell from other schools.

"Big Names" in Science

In addition, I think what attracts both students and faculty alike to the school is the level of science that's being done at SKI and the Weill Cornell Medical College. There are outstanding scientists in both institutions, doing cutting edge research. There are many leaders in science here, names that you read in the most prestigious journals, people who are doing phenomenal work. And our students get to choose to do their thesis work among these fantastic scientists who do research on an incredibly diverse range of topics. That's a big draw.

Flexibility

Our students are allowed a great deal of flexibility within the institution. You can be accepted, for example, into the Molecular Biology Program, but you're free to pursue your interest in a lab outside the program, such as Immunology or Developmental Biology. You can move among programs, you can go across the two sides of the street, between Cornell and SKI, and that kind of freedom of choice provides rich experience and training for students.

Learning with Practice

In addition to outstanding "bench" training, we also arrange regular graduate student seminars. In this series, each student has the opportunity to present their data once a year to their fellow students and faculty. They have to organize their data and thoughts and present it to a very knowledgeable but not specialized audience. They learn with practice. By the end of his Ph.D. program, a student knows how to get his point across, which is a large, but too-often overlooked part of being a scientist.

In the end, our students emerge well-rounded and resourceful, fully prepared for a career in academic science or whatever other science-related avenue that they choose to pursue.