Context : Pulsations in pre-main sequence stars have been discovered several times within the last years . But nearly all of these pulsators are of \delta  Scuti-type . \gamma  Doradus-type pulsation in young stars has been predicted by theory , but lack observational evidence . Aims : We present the investigation of variability caused by rotation and ( \gamma  Doradus-type ) pulsation in two pre-main sequence members of the young open cluster NGC 2264 using high-precision time series photometry from the CoRoT satellite and dedicated high-resolution spectroscopy . Methods : The variability found using the CoRoT data was combined with the fundamental parameters and chemical abundances derived from high-resolution spectroscopy , obtained at the Mc Donald Observatory , to discuss the presence of pulsation and rotation in the two NGC 2264 cluster members . Time series photometry of NGC 2264 VAS 20 and NGC 2264 VAS 87 was obtained by the CoRoT satellite during the dedicated short run SRa01 in March 2008 . NGC 2264 VAS 87 was re-observed by CoRoT during the short run SRa05 in December 2011 and January 2012 . Frequency analysis was conducted using Period04 and SigSpec . The spectral analysis was performed using equivalent widths and spectral synthesis . Results : The frequency analysis yielded ten and fourteen intrinsic frequencies for NGC 2264 VAS 20 and NGC 2264 VAS 87 , respectively , in the range from 0 to 1.5d ^ { -1 } which are attributed to be caused by a combination of rotation and pulsation . The effective temperatures were derived to be 6380 \pm 150 K for NGC 2264 VAS 20 and 6220 \pm 150 K for NGC 2264 VAS 87 . Membership of the two stars to the cluster is confirmed independently using X-ray fluxes , radial velocity measurements and proper motions available in the literature . The derived Lithium abundances of \log n ( Li ) = 3.34 and 3.54 for NGC 2264 VAS 20 and NGC 2264 VAS 87 , respectively , are in agreement with the Lithium abundance for other stars in NGC 2264 of similar T _ { \mathrm { eff } }  reported in the literature . Conclusions : We conclude that the two objects are members of NGC 2264 and therefore are in their pre-main sequence evolutionary stage . Their variability is attributed to be caused by rotation and g -mode pulsation rather than rotation only . Assuming that part of their variability is caused by pulsation , these two stars might be the first pre-main sequence \gamma Doradus candidates .