Education

Harvard University: Arts & Sciences: Systems Biology

Category Art and Social Sciences, Biological Sciences, Doctoral, Harvard University, Postgraduate, Science, USA
Tags Arts, Biology, Harvard University, Sciences, Systems

Introduction to Program and Program Rationale The goal of the Systems Biology Program at Harvard University is to prepare investigators with diverse backgrounds for independent research careers in which combined theoretical and experimental approaches are used to address biological problems. The program is administered by the Committee on Higher Degrees in Systems Biology, which comprises senior representatives from the Departments of Systems Biology (DSB), Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP), Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB), Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB), and the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (DEAS). Students may choose advisors from any science department at Harvard, including the research departments of the 11 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals.

The Systems Biology program will engage graduate students in creating a new approach to biology, with the aim of explaining how the higher-level properties of complex systems appear from the interactions among their parts. Because both the field and the program are new, this program will require unusual levels of independence and creativity from its participants and attention from faculty in return.

The courses offered in the first year are intended to equip students to use appropriate experimental and theoretical approaches to develop physical and quantitative models of biological processes. Each of the courses offered by the Program will aim to emphasize concepts, unsolved problems and novel technology, and to develop an understanding of how and why theoretical approaches can drive new experiments and deliver novel insight. Students should leave the program better able to identify important unsolved problems in biology, and with an appreciation of how to select problems for which quantitative and theoretical approaches will be productive.

Students will meet participating faculty and hear about their research, both in formal lectures and in informal settings. After the first two years a student may choose a single faculty member as their advisor, or may elect to initiate a collaboration between two or more labs. The research topic chosen may be entirely theoretical, or entirely experimental, or anything in between.

For more information, please visit http://sysbio.med.harvard.edu/phd.

Admissions

Students considering graduate work should request an application from the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Online submission of the application is encouraged; see www.gsas.harvard.edu for forms and more information.

The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

A number of candidates will be invited to interview in late January. Final decisions concerning admission are made by the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the candidates are notified by letter from the Admissions Office.

Combined MD-PhD Program

Students admitted to Harvard Medical School as candidates for the MD degree may also apply for admission to the Systems Biology program in order to earn a PhD degree in systems biology.

This program may be of particular interest to prospective medical students with a strong theoretical background and to students enrolled in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Suggested Undergraduate Preparation

The Program aims to recruit students from a variety of backgrounds including all areas of biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, engineering, and mathematics. Students who are in doubt about whether their background is appropriate are encouraged to contact the Program Administrator with a resume.

Program of Study

Each student’s program of graduate study is planned in consultation with faculty advisors. The degree program is designed to be completed in a maximum of six years. The program consists of three parts:

Coursework

This will be designed, in consultation with faculty advisors, to meet the individual student’s needs. Four courses will be offered through the program:

(1) A Systems Approach to Biology
Introduces theoretical tools and computational approaches from mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering in the context of biological problems and situations.

(2) Systems Cell Biology
An exploration of modern basic cell biology and cutting edge research approaches that used chemical, physical or computational tools to address important problems.

(3) Introduction to Systems Biology Research
Introductory lectures by Systems Biology Program members. Weekly one and a half hour lectures will introduce the research areas of faculty performing research in systems biology.

(4) Special Topics in Systems Biology
An exploration of new directions for the field of systems biology. This course will identify major unsolved questions in biology and discuss the possible new approaches to these questions offered by systems biology.

In addition, a wide variety of courses taught at Harvard and MIT are available.

Students are required to take four courses during their first year; there are only 2 required courses: Special Topics in Systems Biology and Introduction to Systems Biology Research. Students are encouraged to continue to take courses in later years.

Lab rotations.

To facilitate choice of advisor(s), we recommend that students temporarily join research groups for periods of 6-12 weeks during their first year of study. Two to four “rotations” are allowed, with the last to be completed by summer of the first year, after which the student will select an area of research and one or more advisors.

Independent research

Acceptable modes of thesis research will include molecular/cell biology-type experiment-based research, computer science/math/physics/engineering theoretical research, and combinations of the two. The program will not attempt to constrain students to thesis research in the traditional formats of systems biology’s parent disciplines. Collaborative research will be encouraged.

Dissertation Qualifying Examination

By spring of the second year, students will be required to submit a brief discussion of the research they wish to undertake. At the same time, they will form a Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). At the first meeting of the DAC, the research proposal will be reviewed and the student will be required to defend it.

Dissertation

Independent research begins once the qualifying examination is successfully completed. The DAC, in consultation with the student’s faculty advisor(s), will periodically evaluate the progress of the student’s dissertation research and will determine at what point the student is ready to defend his or her dissertation.

The final manuscript of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in The Form of the Doctoral Thesis.

Participating Faculty and Their Research Interests

A total of 39 members of the Harvard faculty are currently affiliated with the Systems Biology Program; dissertation research with other faculty members is possible by arrangement.