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.
2025-2026 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
1.545/2.094J Atomistic Modeling and Simulation of Materials and Structures (Not offered this year, G 12 Units, Staff
1.685/2.034/18.377J Nonlinear Dynamics and Waves (Spring 2026, G, 12 Units, Staff)
1.89 Environmental Microbial Biogeochemistry (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. McRose)
1.873 Mathematical Modeling of Ecological Systems (Not offered this year, G, 12 Units, S. Saavedra)
1.881/HST.538J Genomics and Evolution of Infectious Disease (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, T. Lieberman)
Mechanical Engineering
2.18 Biomolecular Feedback Systems (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Del Vecchio)
2.160 Identification, Estimation, and Learning (Not offered 2025-2026, G, 12 Units, H.Asada)
2.717 Optical Engineering (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
Chemistry
5.64/HST.539J Advances in Interdisciplinary Science in Human Health and Disease (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, X. Wang, A. Shalek)
5.70/10.546J Statistical Thermodynamics (Fall 2025, 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, M.Ghassemi MUST BE TAKEN WITH:
20.C51/3.C51/10.C51J Machine Learning for Molecular Engineering (Spring 2026, G, 6 units, R. Gomez-Bombarelli, C. Coley, E. Fraenkel, J.Davis)[Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
6.3702 Introduction to Probability (Fall 2025/ Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Fall: W.Oliver, Spring: P.Golland)
6.3722 Introduction to Statistical Data Analysis (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Y. Polyanskiy, D. Shah)
6.5060 Algorithm Engineering ( Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J.Shun)
6.5150 Large-scale Symbolic Systems (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, G.J. Sussman)
6.5210/18.415J Advanced Algorithms (not offered this year)
6.5420 Randomness and Computation (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R. Rubinfeld)
6.6220 Power Electronics (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.6500/3.43J Integrated Microelectronic Devices (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J. Del Alamo)
6.7100/16.338J Dynamic Systems and Control (Spring 2026 G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7300/2.096/16.910J Introduction to Modeling and Simulation (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, L. Daniel)
6.7310/18.335J Introduction to Numerical Methods (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, S.Chen)
6.7330/2.097/16.920J Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J. Peraire)
6.7700/15.085J Fundamentals of Probability (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, P.Jailet)
6.7710 Discrete Stochastic Processes (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R.G. Gallager, V.W.S. Chan)
6.7720/15.070/18.619J Discrete Probability and Stochastic Process (Spring 2025, G,12, K.Liu)
6.7800 Inference and Information (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7810 Algorithms for Inference (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, D. Shah)
6.7830 Bayesian Modeling and Inference (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.7900 Machine Learning (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, T.Broderick)
6.7920/1.127/IDS.140J Reinforcement Learning: Foundations and Methods (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, M.Dahleh)
6.7930/HST.956 [J] Machine Learning for Healthcare (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Sontag, P.Szolovits)
6.7960 Deep Learning (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, S.Beery)
6.8610 Quantitative Methods for Natural Language Processing ( Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
6.8700/20.488/HST.507J Advanced Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, E. Alm, 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]
6.S982 Special Subject in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ( Spring 2026, G, 12 Units, Staff)
Biology
7.493/ 1.87/ 12.493/ 20.446J Microbial Genetics and Evolution (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, A. D. Grossman, Staff)
7.51 Principles of Biochemical Analysis (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, L. Case, A. Keating, J. Davis) [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.52 Genetics for Graduate Students (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, C. Kaiser)[Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.58 Molecular Biology (Spring 2026, G. 12 units, E. Calo, Y. Soto-Feliciano)[Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.60 Cell Biology: Structure and Functions of the Nucleus (not offered this year)[Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.61/20.561J Eukaryotic Cell Biology: Principles and Practice (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, M. Krieger, M.Yaffe) [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
7.63/ 20.630J Immunology (Not offered this year, 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 (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Housman)
7.66 Molecular Basis of Infectious Disease (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R. Lamason, E. Chen)
7.69/ 9.181J Developmental Neurobiology (Spring 2026 G, 12 units, E. Nedivi, S. Prescott)
7.70 Regulation of Gene Expression (Not offered this year, G, 12 units, Staff)
7.71 Biophysical Technique (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, C.Drennan, T. Schwartz)
7.72 Stem Cells, Regeneration, and Development (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R. P. Reddien)
7.75 Human Genetics and Genomics (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Page)
7.77 Nucleic Acids, Structure, Function, Evolution and Their Interactions with Proteins (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Bartel, A. Jain)
7.83 Design Principles of Biological Systems (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, D. Lew, H. Wong)
7.84 Advanced Concepts in Immunology (Spring 2026, G,12, E.Chen, H. Moura Silva)
7.85 The Hallmarks of Cancer (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, M. Hemann, T. Jacks)
7.86 Building with Cells (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, L. Boyer, P. Li)
7.91 The CRISPR Revolution: Engineering the Genome for Basic Science and Clinical Medicine (Fall 2025, G, 12 Units, F.Sanchez-Rivera, J. Weissman)
7.95 Cancer Biology (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R. Weinberg, O. Yilmaz)
Physics
8.333 Statistical Mechanics I (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J. Tailleur)
8.334 Statistical Mechanics II (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, M. Kardar)
8.431/6.6340J Nonlinear Optics (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
8.591/7.81J Systems Biology (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J. Gore) [Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
8.592/HST.452J Statistical Physics in Biology (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, M.Kardar)
8.593/HST.450J Biological Physics (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
9.013/7.68J Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Core II (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, G.Feng, L.-H. Tsai [Could also be used to satisfy Bio requirement]
9.015/7.65J Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Core I (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, J.T. Littleton, M.Shng, B. Weissbourd)
9.520/6.7910J Statistical Learning Theory and Applications (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, T. Poggio)
Chemical Engineering
10.544 Metabolic and Cell Engineering (Fall 2025, Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
10.555/HST.940J Bioinformatics: Principles, Methods, and Applications (Spring 2026. Not offered regularly; Consult ChemE, G, 12 units, Staff)
10.557 Mixed-integer and Nonconvex Optimization (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, P. I. Barton)
10.637/5.698J Computational Chemistry (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, H.J. Kulik)
Aeronautics and Astronautics
16.940 Numerical Methods for Stochastic Modeling and Inference (Not offered this year, G, 12 units, Y.M. Marzouk)
16.391 Statistics for Engineers and Scientists (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, M. Winn)
Mathematics
18.0651 Matrix Methods in Data Analysis, Signal Processing, and Machine Learning (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.0751 Methods for Scientists and Engineers (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, H. Cheng)
18.0851 Computational Science and Engineering I (Fall 2025, Spring 2026, G, 12 units, D. Kouskoulas)
18.0861 Computational Science and Engineering II (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.408 Topics in Theoretical Computer Science (Not Offered this year, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.417 Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, B. Berger)
18.418/HST.504J Topics in Computational Molecular Biology (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, B. Berger)
18.4531 Combinatorial Optimization (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
18.455 Advanced Combinatorial Optimization (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, M. X. Goemans)
18.6501 Fundamentals of Statistics (Fall 2025, Spring 2026, G, 12 units, P. Rigollet, A. Katsevich)
18.677 Topics in Stochastic Processes (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
Biological Engineering
20.201 Fundamentals of Drug Development (Fall 2025, Spring 2026, G, 12 units, P. C. Dedon, R. Sasisekharan)
20.405/6.8720J Principals of Synthetic Biology (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, R. Weiss)
20.409 Instrumentation and Measurement for Biological Systems (Fall 2025, Spring 2026, G, 12 units, E. Boyden, A. Hansen, P. Brooks, M. Jonas, S. Wasserman
20.410/2.798/3.971/6.842/10.537J Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Biomechanics (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, M. Bathe, P. So, R.Raman)
20.415 Physical Biology (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, Staff)
20.420/10.538J Principles of Molecular Bioengineering (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, A. Jasonoff, E. Fraenkel)
20.430/ 2.795/6.4832/10.539J Fields, Forces, and Flows in Biological Systems (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, C.Buie, A. Hansen)
20.440 Analysis of Biological Networks (Spring 2026, G, 15 units, B. Bryson, P. Blainey)
20.452/9.422/MAS. 881 Principles of Neuroengineering (Fall 2025, G, 12 Units, Ed Boyden III)
20.463/3.963J Biomaterials Science and Engineering (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, K. Ribbeck)
20.490 Computational Systems Biology: Deep Learning in the Life Sciences (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, E. Alm, B. Berger)[Could also be used to satisfy Comp Bio requirement]
20.535/10.535J Protein Engineering (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, K.D. Wittrup)
Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
IDS.136/6.7820J Graphical Models: A Geometric, Algebraic, and Combinatorial Perspective (Fall 2025 G, 12 units, C. Uhler)
IDS.147/15.077J Statistical Machine Learning and Data Science (Spring 2026, G, 12 units, R. Welsch)
Health Sciences and Technology
HST.176 Cellular and Molecular Immunology (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, S. Pillai, D. Wesemann, H.Wong)
HST.508/1.872 J Evolutionary and Quantitative Genomics (Fall 2025, G, 12 units, L. Mirny, T. Lieberman)