Prospective doctoral students enjoyed a high-energy welcome to Rice University during Night at the Museum, a signature event in the paleontology hall of the Houston Museum of Natural Science Feb. 23.
More than 600 prospective students mingled with current Rice students, faculty and staff at the event hosted by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Students stamped their “Passport to Rice,” sampled the diverse tastes of Houston with a delectable menu from Masraff’s, checked out a photo booth in the second-floor Paleontology Overlook and posed for pictures with Fluffy, the juvenile T.rex museum mascot, while exploring the Morian Hall of Paleontology.
Guests saw firsthand that the Rice academic community is at the same time close-knit, interdisciplinary and broad. Most Rice departments from humanities, engineering and natural sciences joined together in one gala, and prospective students engaged in wide-ranging conversations with people from academic disciplines different from their own. They experienced one of the defining characteristics of Rice scholarship—no academic barriers. Interdisciplinary research is natural at Rice because researching across disciplines and celebrating across disciplines is intrinsic to the university’s culture.
