Computational and Systems Biology

Fall Term (September)

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

• Behavioral Genetics and Genomics
• Bioengineering and Neuroengineering
• Biological Networks and Machine Learning
• Cancer Systems Biology
• Cellular Biophysics
• Chemical Biology and Metabolomics
• Evolutionary and Computational Biology
• Microbiology and Systems Ecology
• Molecular Biophysics and Structural Biology
• Precision Medicine and Medical Genomics
• Quantitative Imaging 
• Regulatory Genomics, Epigenomics, and Proteomics
• Single Cell Manipulations and Measurement
• Stem Cell and Developmental Systems Biology
• Synthetic Biology and Biological Design
• Systems Immunology

• Online application
• Statement of objectives
• Three letters of recommendation
• Transcripts
• English proficiency exam scores – international applicants only

For all applicants:

The graduate program in Computational and Systems Biology does not accept GRE scores and will not consider GRE scores during the evaluation of your application. If you have shared your scores in other applications, these scores will not be visible to the review committee.

For international applicants:

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

• Minimum score required: 7
• Electronic scores send to: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate
• Current scores only; must be less than 2 years old

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

• Minimum score required: 110 (iBT) or 5.5 (iBT26)
• Institute code: 3514
• Current scores only; must be less than 2 years old

Department ELP Waiver Policy

International applicants to the graduate program in Computational and Systems Biology may request a waiver for the English Language Proficiency test requirement if they meet one or both of the following criteria:

• English is/was the language of instruction in your four-year undergraduate program outside of the countries listed in the Graduate Admissions ELP Exemption Policy
• English was your language of instruction in both primary and secondary school

If you believe you meet the criteria to request a waiver, you may do so directly in your Computational and Systems Biology application. In your request, you must provide documentation of your Medium of Instruction. All academic history and unofficial transcripts should be submitted in the Academic History section of your application prior to requesting a waiver. The last day to request an ELP test waiver is November 20, 2026.

Review the Graduate Admissions test scores policy here

Test Score Verification

All test scores shared with MIT must be verified by the testing agency in order to be reviewed. If you do not see your score verification status change upon submission, you may request assistance with test score verification in your application status portal. All test scores must be verified by December 6, 2026 in order to complete your application and have it reviewed.

Applicants are not required to complete the Subjects Taken page. All other sections are required. We generally do not review CVs, as information can be included in your online application.

All CSB students are fully supported until they complete all the requirements of the PhD program. This support may come from sources such as a NIH T32 Training Grant; federally-sponsored fellowships from the NSF, DOD, DOD NDSEG, and DOE CSGF; and fellowships and awards from international organizations. Please see the CSB website for more information.