#  Curriculum 

 



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First-year students meet individually with their class advisors to discuss their background and interests, and together they design a course of study to complement the student's existing training.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 4 courses offered at either Harvard or MIT, which includes the 3 required courses. Most courses are taken in the G1 or G2 year.

**Required courses:**

SSQB200: Modern Systems Biology. This graduate-level course prepares students for research in modern systems biology by providing mathematical foundations and computational tools needed for systems-level understanding. It does so by introducing problems spanning different scales of biological organization, which emphasize different approaches. In taking this course, you will bridge dynamical system modeling, stochastic processes and contemporary computational inference (machine learning) methods.

SysBio 300: Research Topics in Systems, Synthetic and Quantitative Biology. This is a seminar course with talks on current research topics from individual SSQB faculty. This is a year-long G1 course.

SysBio 240: Scientific Writing and Analysis. This course trains Systems Biology PhD students in the skills of scientific writing, critical analysis of papers, and research proposal development. Anchored around the Department’s weekly seminar series, the class provides structured opportunities to analyze recent high-impact papers from leading systems biology labs and to practice writing and defending independent research proposals. Students learn to identify the core narrative of a scientific story, evaluate methodological rigor and impact, and formulate creative, testable hypotheses that could serve as the basis for future fellowship and grant applications, and for their qualifying exams. This is taken with SB300 in the G1 year.

SysBio250: Synthetic Biology Practicum. This is a quarter course that seeks to apply engineering principles to biological systems in order to solve real-world problems in health, environment, and industry. This design-focused practicum integrates conceptual foundations with practical design exercises using current computational and experimental tools. This is taken in late spring of your G1 year.

MedSci300qc: Conduct of Science. The course follows a discussion group format in which 8-12 second-year students meet with a faculty member who leads discussions on the ethical and responsible conduct of research. This is taken in the fall of your G2 year.

SysBio212: Scientific Presentation. Students will work collaboratively with faculty and one another on critical science communication skills and giving oral presentations.