School Overview

Denis Finnin/© AMNH
The Richard Gilder Graduate School offers graduate training, post-doctoral fellowships, and undergraduate training programs at the Museum, through free-standing programs and through partnerships with universities.

Graduate training is fully embraced by the Museum’s joint mission of science and public education and is a vital and defining characteristic of the institution. Offering advanced scientific instruction in the disciplines covered by the Museum meets the critical need to prepare the next generation of the finest researchers, teachers, and policy-makers both in the United States and worldwide. 

The Richard Gilder Graduate School is the umbrella for all university-level training at the Museum. In addition to housing free-standing programs, the Richard Gilder Graduate School leads the oldest and largest alliances of their kind in graduate education in partnership with a select group of university partners—beginning with a formal partnership between the Museum and Columbia University in 1908 (and, informally, since the 1890s) and more recently with the City University of New York (CUNY), Cornell University, New York University (NYU), Stony Brook University, and formerly with Yale University. 

Richard Gilder Graduate School Ph.D in Comparative Biology Brochure

Richard Gilder Graduate School Brochure

Download a PDF that contains the information about RGGS and the application process.

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In addition, the Richard Gilder Graduate School's graduate degree programs offer unique opportunities for students to participate in the Museum's broader educational enterprise, which includes educational programming for all ages and award-winning exhibitions, as part of their course of study.

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Ph.D. Program Information

Degree Program Ph.D. Degree (Comparative Biology) What makes the Ph.D. program in Comparative Biology at the Richard Gilder Graduate School unique? Article Fellowships Fellowships for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers across disciplines.
Research Research Programs and Facilities Article Grants Degree Program Current Ph.D. Students Degree Program Student Life

Applications for the Ph.D. program will re-open in October 2025.

Featured Richard Gilder Graduate School Faculty 

Dr. Nathalie Goodkin

Professor and Curator, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Division of Physical Sciences. Dr. Goodkin’s research is focused on understanding and using coral geochemistry to reconstruct ocean-atmosphere interactions, climate behavior, and pollution histories over the past 500 years.

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Professor and Curator, Dr. Nathalie Goodkin is seated next to a table in the lab with scientific equipment.
Dr. Ashley S. Hammond

Associate Professor and Associate Curator of Biological Anthropology, Division of Anthropology. Dr. Hammond works on the fossil record for hominoid (ape and human) evolution in East Africa. Her interests in human origins centers on the evolution of locomotor behaviors, especially bipedal locomotion, which is the hallmark of the human lineage.

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Ashley Hammond in the field.

Other Degrees Conferred by RGGS

• Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.), Comparative Biology
• Honorary Degrees, such as Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) and Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.)

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