MIT Department of Biological Engineering

PhD Course Requirements

Doctoral Subject Core

A two-subject core is required of all doctoral students.

Biological Engineering Core:

  • 20.420J Principles of Molecular Bioengineering
  • 20.440 Analysis of Biological Networks

Academic Program Restricted Electives

To enhance depth and breadth, the core subjects are supplemented by electives in science and/or engineering. The student in consultation with the advisor chooses four elective subjects. Elective subjects in three categories are acceptable upon approval by advisor and, for the subjects not listed here, the BE Graduate Program Chair.

  1. Biological Engineering Restricted Electives — Any Two Graduate Level Course 20 Subjects
  2. Engineering/Science — One Subject
    • To provide breadth in engineering or science, at least one graduate-level subject approved by the BE Graduate Program Chair must be selected.
  3. Biological Science — One Graduate Level Course 7 Subject
    • To provide a firm foundation in modern biology, the student will be expected to have biochemistry and cell biology as prerequisites and then select one graduate-level subject in Biology. If biochemistry and/or cell biology have not been previously taken, it/they must be taken as remedial undergraduate subjects (7.05 or 5.07 for biochemistry, 7.06 for cell biology) before taking the graduate-level subject.

For more information on courses, see the course catalog.