"However well-intentioned, this approach could lead to other problems," he said.

Ducey said that relying on outside sources for mental health help may lead to inequitable treatment of students and an absence of evaluation and quality control.

"I think it's a very bad idea to not have centralized resources. In that sense I think it's confusing and distracting," he said. "It's that kind of minor thing that could be improved [at Harvard]."

"It's certainly important that the chemistry dept. has taken this level of concern," said Paul Summergrad, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who chaired the committee that produced the University mental health report. "I think, however, it's important that the kind of systems that have been put in place apply to care across the board."

Yet graduate school is a particularly stressful time in people's lives, the chemistry department's Anderson said, and studying chemistry at this level can be especially difficult.

"We pick outstanding students, but the transition to research is hard," he said. "The educational system doesn't prepare anyone for it."

Instead of learning material, doing problem sets and taking tests, graduate students have the harder task of "posing the right question" and then tackling the challenge. Anderson said the intensity of research can be daunting.