Graduate Student Orientation
Wondering how to start your transition to campus? Check out our After Admission guide and click through each header for detailed checklists.
International Student Orientation
Fall: August 18-19, 2025
Spring: TBD
oiss.rice.edu/orientation
oiss.rice.edu/gio
More information can be found here.
Graduate International Orientation (GIO) is a mandatory orientation program for all new international graduate and graduate exchange students. Students will review immigration regulations, graduate specific policies, and programs geared specifically to support the international graduate population.
Any student unable to attend must notify OISS in advance and schedule a make-up session. Unfortunately, those students who do not attend will have a hold placed on their student record, which blocks them from registration until check-in and orientation requirements are met.
*Please note that MBA has a special session designed for MBA international students that will take place during the international immersion week.
President's Welcome Event for Incoming Students
Monday, August 18th 7 pm - 9 pm
Location: Academic Quad at Lovett Hall
Online General Graduate Student Orientation
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 for Fall admits, Wednesday, January 7, 2026 for Spring 2026 admits
The online portion of Graduate Student Orientation for incoming students is available here. Online orientation must be completed no later than noon on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 for Fall 2025 incoming graduate students*.
Access Online General Graduate Student Orientation by logging in with your NetID.
If you have not received your NetID or you have questions, please email your graduate administrator. Many graduate departments also hold their own orientations. Please check with your graduate administrator for additional information. Orientation modules are listed below and are subject to change.
First -Year Doctoral In-Person Orientation
Wednesday, August 20th, 9 am - 12 pm
The in-person doctoral graduate student orientation will be held in Hamman Hall from 9 am to 12 pm. This mandatory half-day event will focus on connecting students with campus resources through the shared experiences of current graduate students. We will also hold a matriculation ceremony to officially welcome our new students as Rice Graduate Students. At the end of the orientation, there will be grad-and-go food available, as well as a chance for a photo opportunity.
As a way to kick off a morning filled with acclimating to Rice, we invite our incoming doctoral students to start the morning off by partaking in a Rice University tradition. The walk through Sallyport is a known rite of passage to begin your journey as a Rice owl. Please plan to meet at Sallyport at 8:15 am so that your cohort can walk through Sallyport at 8:30 am. This will not only be a great photo op, but a monumental moment for the journey ahead. From there, we will head to orientation together.
GSA New Student Picnic
Friday, August 22nd 5 pm - 8 pm
The GSA will welcome new graduate students for a picnic on Friday, August 22nd. Join the GSA at the Graduate Commons (picnic tables outside Valhalla between buildings 8 and 45 on the campus map) for free food, drinks, and t-shirts! Current students are welcome to volunteer!
Training
https://graduate.rice.edu/admissions/after-admission/training
Responsible Conduct of Research Training is available online. Information on training, including links to access, can be found here. RCR is due Oct. 15 (for Fall admits) and Feb 15 (for Spring admits).
Lab safety training is for the safety of the students in the Schools of Engineering and Natural Science and all others who work in labs.
Thursday, August 21st 9 am
Location: Sewall 309
New students in the schools of Engineering and Natural Sciences and the Department of Psychological Sciences admitted in the fall must attend the EHS Safety Training unless other arrangements have been made for your cohort and communicated to you by your graduate administrator. You can view training requirements online here. Non-thesis master's students are NOT exempt from lab safety training. Only students in Computational Applied Mathematics & Operations Research, Engineering Management Leadership, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction and Industrial-Organizational Psychology are exempt from the training.
All students (regardless of their program who conduct experiments in a laboratory where chemicals, biological agents and/or physical hazards are present must take the appropriate training before beginning work in the lab. Students must attend make-up training if they miss the August session.
Failure to complete lab safety training by the deadline may result in your inability to access the lab and stipend checks being held.
Note: Anyone who will be working with human blood or tissue is required to take the Hepatitis B shots if they have not previously had it as part of their regular childhood immunizations.
Contact Environmental Health & Safety for more information.
*New Master of Business Administration, Master of Accounting, Master of Interdisciplinary Studies, and online Master of Computer Science, Data Science and Engineering Management and Leadership students are not required to complete the General Online Graduate Student Orientation; all thesis and non-thesis master's not listed, and non-MBA professional master's students are required to complete, but please check with your program coordinator for additional information. All Ph.D. and DMA students are required to attend orientation. Rice students who have completed a master's degree at Rice University and are starting their PhD do not need to complete the online general graduate student orientation if previously completed.