Student Perspective: Bruno Gegenhuber

The first four months in the School are spent taking courses on a variety of topics, including cancer, neuroscience, quantitative biology, and genetics. It is rare for a graduate school program in life sciences to offer such a broad education. But it makes this place special. The knowledge gained from the courses have granted me the freedom to identify, ask, and test scientific questions, allowing me to examine many aspects of the brain, from behavior to genetics. During this time, you also take an ethics and exposition course, in which you discuss the moral implications of research findings and learn how to communicate science with colleagues and the general public. Overall, this experience has made me a more well-rounded person.

It is surreal to study at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, to peel back its layers and sink into its history. Over the last century, many have convened here to build upon the field of molecular biology, leaving behind an aura that can be felt as you walk through campus and stare off across the harbor. While you go about your thesis, you can almost sense those pioneering minds rising from the past, urging you onward.