Graduate students may be the least experienced researchers in a lab, but they are often the most willing to take a chance on an unexpected result.
“They’re really the beating heart of our research groups,” said Leemor Joshua-Tor, director of research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. “They’re usually more open-minded to taking risks.”
That willingness to take risks, and the responsibility to support the researchers taking them, was the basis of the Stony Brook University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Retreat, held September 18 at the Charles B. Wang Center.
Hosted by The Graduate School, the event brought together more than 50 faculty and leaders from both institutions to explore ways to strengthen their longstanding partnership in research and graduate education. The program included discussions about graduate training, lightning talks by researchers and opportunities to identify potential collaborations.
“This meeting has been more than a year in the making,” said Celia Marshik, dean of The Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education. “We have many ways in which our institutions collaborate, but this is one of the centerpieces of the relationship between the two institutions.”
Executive Vice President and Provost Carl Lejuez opened the retreat by pointing to Stony Brook’s interdisciplinary culture and history of working with outside institutions. “One thing that’s always struck me about Stony Brook is that it is one of the most interdisciplinary places that I’ve ever been and one of the most collaborative with outside partners,” Lejuez said.
Mónica Bugallo, interim vice president for research and innovation, said the institutions are “connected by more than geography.” Their partnership has enabled Stony Brook doctoral students to conduct research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and has supported joint faculty appointments and shared initiatives in neuroscience, genomics and quantitative biology.
“We are neighbors, but more importantly, we share a commitment to scientific discovery, interdisciplinary collaboration and preparing the future scientists and innovators,” Bugallo said. “We have an opportunity to be even more ambitious and to accomplish more together.”
Zach Lippman, director of the School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, said the retreat came at an important point for the STEM community as institutions consider how scientific training must evolve. “We’re at an opportunity to demonstrate adaptability,” Lippman said. “This is something that Cold Spring Harbor is well known for, to be very adaptable when things change.”
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has updated its graduate curriculum to bring related fields into closer conversation and has created a writing course for advanced students that connects scientific communication with writing for the public.
The arrival of generative AI has raised further questions about how students approach writing assignments, solve problems and communicate their work. “I want to link adaptability to curriculum,” Lippman said. “In order to be adaptable, you have to be communicating clearly and effectively.”
That adaptability also extends to the partnership between Stony Brook and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Lippman said conversations between the institutions made clear that they needed to improve communication and provide coordinated support for Stony Brook students conducting research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
“I hope this message of adaptability and communication isn’t just a superfluous message,” he said. “It’s actually, in my view, very important, and that we can go forward, not just from this one meeting, but beyond, with making sure that the bridge between Cold Spring Harbor and Stony Brook stays very strong.”
Joshua-Tor said Stony Brook’s range of expertise complements the work underway at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and creates opportunities for researchers across disciplines. “Our two institutions are kind of the gems,” she said. “Stony Brook is the flagship research institution for New York State, and Cold Spring Harbor has been a very important biological institution for many decades. Joining our forces in research is extremely powerful.”
That existing relationship is substantial. Hanna Morales Hernandez, assistant director of student affairs at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and a Stony Brook alumna, said 44 Stony Brook doctoral students were conducting their thesis research at the laboratory at the time of the retreat. Thirty-seven Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory faculty members are affiliated with Stony Brook graduate programs, and collaborations since 2002 have contributed to 568 publications involving Stony Brook students.
In her role, Morales Hernandez helps students navigate academic requirements, research progress, career development and concerns that could affect their graduate experience.
Monn Myat, associate dean of the School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, discussed a new T32 training program in quantitative biological sciences. The program will prepare students to use large datasets, computational methods and AI tools to address complex biological questions while developing their communication skills.
Myat also highlighted opportunities for Stony Brook undergraduates to gain research experience at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory through summer research, the Simons STEM Scholars Program and a new independent study option expected to begin in Spring 2027. “If you start these connections early, they can really lead to a sustained research experience for undergraduates,” Myat said.
The morning also included a discussion about challenges facing graduate education, including research funding, the high cost of living on Long Island, changing immigration policies, student mental health, mentoring and preparing for careers within and outside academia.
Marshik described Stony Brook’s work in areas including holistic admissions, doctoral completion times and mentorship training. She said institutions must also teach the “hidden curriculum,” the unwritten expectations and knowledge students need to navigate academic life.
“I think as we go forward, every institution across the country is dealing with the challenges I’ve talked about,” Marshik said. “But the ones that handle it well will be handling it not by themselves, because we learn a lot from one another and can also offer mutual support as we work on all of these things.”
The retreat continued with lightning talks highlighting research at both institutions and opportunities for participants to make new connections.
“It was a valuable opportunity to discuss the challenges facing STEM graduate education and how our institutional partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will allow us to collaborate on potential solutions and create a positive and enriching environment for graduate students,” Marshik said of the event.
— Beth Squire
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