<p>Hi. Wondering if anyone here can give us some insight into the general atmosphere for grad school at Duke University. D is most specifically interested in the fields related to neurobiology, biophysics, or biochemistry. She's looking for a quality program but not one that is super intense stress-wise. She would like to find a place where the people cooperate and support each other, work hard, and where they also value life outside of work. I'll also post this in the Duke forum but thought I might get some good feedback here. Thanks for any info you can pass along.</p>
<p>The great thing about biomedical sciences applications is that your daughter will have a chance to evaluate the atmosphere at each program according to her own criteria if she’s invited for an interview/recruitment weekend this winter. She will also be able to meet with specific faculty members with whom she’d potentially like to work, and talk with them about their labs.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the atmosphere and culture within a PhD student’s thesis lab is more important than any sort of general atmosphere that can be identified for the program as a whole in biomedical sciences, because once a student starts his or her PhD thesis work, the lab will affect his or her day-to-day life much more than anyone else in the program will.</p>