The doctoral program emphasizes the early involvement of all students in research, so students entering the PhD program should be prepared to work actively to define their research interests in consultation with faculty and to declare their area of specialization early in their studies. It is always possible to change specialization, although this may prolong the time needed to complete the program. Bear in mind that it is increasingly critical for those aiming for an academic or industry career to begin building a curriculum vitae (CV) at an early stage of the doctoral program. This means not only constructing the CV, or academic resume, according to the standard template, but also producing professional-level research products that you can include on that CV. These products range from conference presentations and posters to journal articles. The sooner you can define your research program, the more quickly you can begin to build your CV.