A requirement of four advanced electives is designed to develop both breadth and depth for students in the CSB PhD Program. These should be 12-unit G-level graduate subjects. The electives add to the base of the core curriculum and contribute strength in areas related to student interest and research direction. Two of the four restricted electives must be in the same area (department). At least one of the electives must be from an engineering discipline and at least one from a biology-related field.
As is typical for students in other doctoral programs at MIT, CSB PhD students may take classes beyond the required restricted electives. These additional subjects might be useful to explore advanced topics important for thesis research in later years.
Each student will design a program of advanced electives that satisfies the distribution and area requirements in close consultation with members of the CSB PhD Graduate Committee and with their thesis advisor. Examples of combinations of courses that might be particularly appropriate for students with certain interests are described below. These examples are intended as illustrations only – individual programs will vary.
Students with an interest in model building and theory might include Network Optimization (Computer Science/Operations Research) and/or Foundations of Algorithms for Computational Biology (Computer Science/Biological Engineering).
Students with a focus on developing novel tools might select subjects such as Integrated Microelectronic Devices (Electrical Engineering/Materials Science) and/or Fundamental Limits of Biological Measurement (Biological Engineering).
Students who intend to pursue computational biology or bioinformatics can take courses in Computational Functional Genomics (Biology, Computer Science), Bioinformatics: Principles, Applications, and Methods (Chemical Engineering), or Biomedical Information Technology (Mechanical Engineering).
The following is a list of subjects that students may consider for advanced electives or additional subjects, organized by department. See the MIT online subject descriptions for more information.
2024-2025 Approved Advanced Electives (subject to change)
(Not a complete list. Please petition the committee if there is an unlisted 12 units, G-Level course you wish to have considered as an advanced elective.) All courses must be taken for a letter grade.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
1.685/2.034/18.377J Nonlinear Dynamics and Waves (not offered this year)
1.89 Environmental Microbial Biogeochemistry (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. McRose)
1.881/HST.538J Genomics and Evolution of Infectious Disease (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, T. Lieberman)
Mechanical Engineering
2.18 Biomolecular Feedback Systems (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. Del Vecchio)
2.717 Optical Engineering (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
Chemistry
5.64/HST.539J Advances in Interdisciplinary Science in Human Health and Disease (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, X. Wang, A. Shalek)
5.70/10.546J Statistical Thermodynamics (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, B. Zhang, J. Cao)
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
6.C51 Modeling with Machine Learning: from Algorithms to Applications (Spring 2025, G, 6 units, R.Barzilay, T. Jaakkola) MUST BE TAKEN WITH:
20.C51/3.C51/10.C51J Machine Learning for Molecular Engineering (Spring 2025, G, 6 units, R. Gomez-Bombarelli, C. Coley, E. Fraenkel, J.Davis)
6.3702 Introduction to Probability (Fall 2024/ Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Fall: L. Zheng, Spring: G. P. Jaillet)
6.3722 Introduction to Statistical Data Analysis (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Y. Polyanskiy, D. Shah)
6.5060 Algorithm Engineering ( Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.5150 Large-scale Symbolic Systems (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, G.J. Sussman)
6.5210/18.415J Advanced Algorithms (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, D. Karger)
6.5420 Randomness and Computation (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, R. Rubinfeld)
6.6220 Power Electronics (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.6500/3.43J Integrated Microelectronic Devices (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, J. Del Alamo)
6.7100/6.338J Dynamic Systems and Control (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7300/2.096/16.910J Introduction to Modeling and Simulation (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, L. Daniel)
6.7310/18.335J Introduction to Numerical Methods (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7330/2.097/16.920J Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, J. Peraire)
6.7700/15.085J Fundamentals of Probability (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, D. Gamarnik)
6.7710 Discrete Stochastic Processes (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7720/15.070J Discrete Probability and Stochastic Process (Spring 2024, G,12, D. Gamarnik)
6.7800 Inference and Information (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7810 Algorithms for Inference (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, D. Shah)
6.7830 Bayesian Modeling and Inference (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7900 Machine Learning (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, T.Broderick)
6.7920/1.127/IDS.140J Reinforcement Learning: Foundations and Methods (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, C.Wu)
6.7930/HST.956 [J] Machine Learning for Healthcare (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. Sontag, P.Szolovits)
6.8610 Quantitative Methods for Natural Language Processing ( Fall 2024, G, 12 units, J. Andreas)
6.8700/HST.507J Advanced Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, M. Kellis) [Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
6.8710/HST.506 [J] Computational Systems Biology: Deep Learning in the Life Sciences (Not offered this year) [Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
Biology
7.493/ 1.87/ 12.493/ 20.446J Microbial Genetics and Evolution (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, A. D. Grossman, Staff)
7.60 Cell Biology: Structure and Functions of the Nucleus (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, L. Boyer, R. Young, Staff)
7.61/20.561J Eukaryotic Cell Biology: Principles and Practice (not offered this year, G, 12 units, M. Krieger, M.Yaffe) [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.63/ 20.630J Immunology (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, S. Spranger, M. Birnbaum) [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.64 Molecular Mechanisms, Pathology and Therapy of Human Neuromuscular Disorders (not offered this year, G, 12 units, D. Housman)
7.66 Molecular Basis of Infectious Disease (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, R. Lamason, E. Chen)
7.69/ 9.181J Developmental Neurobiology (Spring 2025 G, 12 units, Staff)
7.70 Regulation of Gene Expression (Not offered this year, G, 12 units, Staff)
7.71 Biophysical Technique (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, C.Drennan, T. Schwartz)
7.72 Stem Cells, Regeneration, and Development (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, R. Jaenisch, P. Reddien)
7.73 Principles of Chemical Biology (Not offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, B. Imperiali, J.K. Weng)
7.75 Human Genetics and Genomics (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. Page)
7.77 Nucleic Acids, Structure, Function, Evolution and Their Interactions with Proteins (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. Bartel, A. Jain)
7.83 Design Principles of Biological Systems (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, D. Lew, H. Wong)
7.85 The Hallmarks of Cancer (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, M. Hemann, T. Jacks)
7.86 Building with Cells (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, L. Boyer, P. Li)
7.95 Cancer Biology (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, R. Weinberg, O. Yilmaz)
Physics
8.333 Statistical Mechanics I (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, J. Tailleur)
8.334 Statistical Mechanics II (Not Offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, M. Kardar)
8.431/6.6340J Nonlinear Optics (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
8.591/7.81J Systems Biology (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, J. Gore) [Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
8.592/HST.452J Statistical Physics in Biology (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
8.593/HST.450J Biological Physics (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
9.013/7.68J Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Core II (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff) [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
9.015/7.65J Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Core I (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, B. Weissbourd)
9.520/6.7910J Statistical Learning Theory and Applications (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, T. Poggio)
Chemical Engineering
10.544 Metabolic and Cell Engineering (Fall 2024, Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
10.555/HST.940J Bioinformatics: Principles, Methods, and Applications (Spring 2025. Not offered regularly; Consult ChemE, G, 12 units, Staff)
10.557 Mixed-integer and Nonconvex Optimization (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, P. I. Barton)
10.637/5.698J Computational Chemistry (Not offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, H.J. Kulik)
Aeronautics and Astronautics
16.940 Numerical Methods for Stochastic Modeling and Inference (Not offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, Y.M. Marzouk)
16.391 Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, M. Winn)
Mathematics
18.0651 Matrix Methods in Data Analysis, Signal Processing, and Machine Learning (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.0751 Methods for Scientists and Engineers (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, H. Cheng)
18.0851 Computational Science and Engineering I (Fall 2024, Spring 2025, G, 12 units, D. Kouskoulas)
18.0861 Computational Science and Engineering II (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.408 Topics in Theoretical Computer Science (Not Offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.417 Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology (Spring 2024, G, 12 units, B. Berger)
18.418/HST.504J Topics in Computational Molecular Biology (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, B. Berger)
18.4531 Combinatorial Optimization (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.455 Advanced Combinatorial Optimization (Not offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, M. X. Goemans)
18.6501 Fundamentals of Statistics (Fall 2024, Spring 2025, G, 12 units, P. Rigollet, A. Katsevich)
18.677 Topics in Stochastic Processes (Not offered 2024-2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
Biological Engineering
20.201 Fundamentals of Drug Development (Fall 2024, Spring 2025, G, 12 units, P. C. Dedon, R. Sasisekharan)
20.405/6.8720J Principals of Synthetic Biology (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, R. Weiss)
20.409 Biological Engineering II: Instrumentation and Measurement (Fall 2024, Spring 2025, G, 12 units, E. Boyden, A. Jasanoff, P. So, M. Jonas, J. Sutton, S. Wasserman)
20.410/2.798/3.971/6.842/10.537J Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, P. So, R.Raman)
20.415 Physical Biology (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, Staff)
20.420/10.538J Principles of Molecular Bioengineering (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, A. Jasonoff, E. Fraenkel)
20.430/ 2.795/6.4832/10.539J Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, C.Buie, A. Hansen)
20.440 Analysis of Biological Networks (Spring 2025, G, 15 units, B. Bryson, P. Blainey)
20.463/3.963J Biomaterials Science and Engineering (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, K. Ribbeck)
20.490 Computational Systems Biology: Deep Learning in the Life Sciences (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, E. Alm, B. Berger)[Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
20.535/10.535J Protein Engineering (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, K.D. Wittrup)
Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
IDS.136/6.7820J Graphical Models: A Geometric, Algebraic, and Combinatorial Perspective (Fall2024 G, 12 units, C. Uhler)
IDS.147/15.077J Statistical Machine Learning and Data Science (Spring 2025, G, 12 units, R. Welsch)
Health Sciences and Technology
HST.176 Cellular and Molecular Immunology (Fall 2024, G, 12 units, S. Pillai, B. Cherayil)