We are now accepting applications for our Ph.D. in Comparative Biology Program and Graduate Fellowships Program at the American Museum of Natural History’s Richard Gilder Graduate School for Fall 2025.  Deadline: December 15, 2024.

The AMNH Ph.D. Program in Comparative Biology is training the next generation of biologists through an integrative approach focused on the history, evolutionary relationships, and interactions among species. It builds on the Museum’s strength and experience in research and training, educating a new generation of scientists to become leaders in understanding the history and diversity of life on Earth and in disseminating their work in ways that will support advances in biological research, human health, biodiversity conservation, and other related fields. This is an accelerated program, designed for students to complete their degrees in four years. The Richard Gilder Graduate School will typically provide full financial support to students matriculating in the Comparative Biology Ph.D. Program.

We also offer Ph.D. Graduate Fellowships for students interested in earning a Ph.D. at one of our partner institutions.  The AMNH Graduate Student Ph.D. Fellowship Program is an educational partnership with selected universities, dedicated to the training of Ph.D. candidates in those scientific disciplines practiced at the Museum. Our current collaborations are with Columbia University, City University of New York (CUNY), Cornell University, Stony Brook University, and New York University (NYU). The host university in which the student enrolls exercises educational jurisdiction over the students and formally awards the degree. In these partnership programs, at least one Museum curator must serve as a graduate advisor, co-major professor or major professor, and adjunct university faculty member. Each student benefits by having the staff and facilities of both the university and the Museum to support his/her training and research. To be eligible for the AMNH Graduate Ph.D. Fellowship, students must apply to both the host University’s Ph.D. program and to the AMNH Graduate Student Ph.D. Fellowships Program. Students already matriculated in a Ph.D. program are not eligible to apply; only new, first-time Ph.D. applicants will be considered.

Students who plan to apply to both the RGGS Comparative Biology Ph.D. Program and to the Graduate Fellowship Program complete one single application, indicating on the application the program(s) to which they wish to apply. Students applying for the Graduate Fellowship must also apply for admission to at least one Ph.D. Program at one of the Museum’s Partner Institutions.

Admission offered for the fall semester only

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact a member of the faculty prior to application (see: https://www.amnh.org/research/richard-gilder-graduate-school/faculty).

Students applying for the RGGS Graduate Fellowship program and applying to the Columbia Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (E3B) should ALSO contact a potential faculty co-mentor in that Department, in advance of applying, with the goal of identifying potential Columbia E3B and AMNH-RGGS co-advisors. Columbia E3B faculty listing: https://e3b.columbia.edu/faculty/.

For more information and to apply, please go to: https://www.amnh.org/research/richard-gilder-graduate-school/academics-and-research/fellowship-and-grant-opportunities/doctoral-student-fellowships