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The Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) is home to an interdisciplinary group of world-class scientists and laboratories. Its mission to advance biological research beyond traditional boundaries is supported by innovative research centers and state-of-the-art resources located on an academic campus enriched by museums, libraries, symposia, and events. It is this interdisciplinary and collaborative culture—motivated by a passion for scientific discovery —that makes MCB an exciting place to study the unsolved questions in biology. Graduate students are trained to be the next generation of life scientists: creative, independent, and productive researchers working in academia, medicine, industry, law, business, or the non-profit sector. To learn more about the department’s faculty and labs; research facilities and resources; admissions and financial aid procedures; training programs and degree requirements; current graduate students and graduate student life, please visit our website or write directly to the Graduate Programs Office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (617) 495-3293. If you plan to visit the Boston area, we will be glad to arrange informational interviews with MCB faculty and students.
Training ProgramsThe Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology offers two interdisciplinary training programs in the life sciences leading to a PhD in Biology or Biochemistry: Molecules, Cells, and Organisms (MCO) and Engineering and Physical Biology (EPB). While all graduate students are admitted as Ph.D. degree candidates, the A.M. degree may be conferred as a non-terminal degree to mark the completion of the candidacy requirements. Both the MCO and EPB training programs take full advantage of the university’s outstanding faculty and extensive laboratory resources to provide pre-doctoral students with a solid foundation in the concepts and scientific approaches used in laboratories today to prepare them for a future at the forefront of life sciences.
Molecules, Cells and Organisms (MCO)Catherine Dulac, Program Director. Faculty participating in the Molecules, Cells, and Organisms training program come from the Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. In addition, members of the Center for Systems Biology, the Center for Brain Science, the Microbial Science Initiative, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute are active participants in the MCO training program. Foundational coursework in the first year prepares students for research in one of three tracks: Physical, Chemical, and Molecular Biology; Cellular, Neuro-, and Developmental Biology; and Genetics, Genomics, and Evolutionary Biology. MCO trainees spend the first year exploring a broad sweep of fundamental problems at every level through a set of core courses representing the three program tracks, followed by deep immersion in focused areas. The objective of the MCO training program is to prepare students for a future in science that will require interdisciplinary breadth, as well as depth in specific disciplines.
Engineering and Physical Biology Training Program (EPB)Nancy Kleckner, Program Director. Offered in partnership with the Department of Physics and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, EPB trains a new generation of scientists to view living systems through the lens of physics and engineering. EPB students work comfortably in both the life sciences and the physical sciences, and applicants may have their primary undergraduate training in either area. Program components combine flexibility with rigor, place a priority on independence and imagination, and emphasize extensive individual faculty-student interactions. Activities take place in the intellectual community of the daVinci Group, an interdepartmental community devoted to the analysis of living systems through the lens of physics and engineering. Students accepted into the EPB training program may apply through the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The Department of Physics, or the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Admission Requirements and Undergraduate PreparationApplications for admission are accepted from students who have received a bachelor’s degree or equivalent training. Entering students should have a record of introductory courses in chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics. While the following courses should not be regarded as prerequisites for admission to graduate study, most admitted students have completed these courses as undergraduates: 1. Biology (at least one general course in biology and two terms of biology at a more advanced level) Online submission of the application is strongly encouraged. Completed applications and all supporting materials, including letters of recommendation, are due online or at the below address by the announced deadline to ensure consideration for the following fall. Late applications will not be considered. Well-qualified candidates are invited to campus by the department’s admissions committee in early February. These visits bring potential candidates to campus for 2-3 days to meet with both faculty and students. Application forms for admission may be requested from: Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Financial SupportThe department of Molecular and Cellular Biology guarantees full financial support for five years to all PhD candidates while they are making satisfactory progress toward the Ph.D. degree. Students are expected to complete graduate work to obtain the Ph.D. within five years. Ordinarily, financial support will not be provided beyond the sixth year. Scholarship support may be supplemented by teaching fellowships after a period of required teaching has been completed. Prospective students are encouraged to apply for outside funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Often international students must apply for outside funding before coming to the United States. By the end of September, applicants should request fellowship applications from their undergraduate institution.
Degree RequirementsThe First YearAcademic Residence. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences requires a minimum of two years of full-time study in residence. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Handbook describes the regulations and rules that apply to students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Coursework. Each term students enroll in three courses with laboratory rotations counting as a fourth course (see below). MCO Training Program: First year graduate students in the MCO training program enroll in MCB 291, 292 and 293 in the fall term. In the spring term, each student enrolls in a quantitative methods course (ordinarily MCB 111) along with two elective courses selected from their chosen track, in consultation with their advisor or track head. Students may continue to take elective coursework in their second year. EPB Training Program: During the first term of the first year, EPB graduate students enroll in three courses, which include MCB 225 and ES 224, in order to explore different areas of project-based research. Three more courses are taken in the second semester, giving EPB students opportunities to explore and develop diverse areas of expertise. Students choose elective coursework in consultation with their faculty advisor and the program director. Laboratory Rotations. Students in both training programs spend their first year carrying out experimental research in the laboratories of faculty members. During the eight-week laboratory rotations, students interact with individual faculty members and explore possible subjects for future dissertation research. The laboratory rotations do not coincide with the semester start and end dates, but all first year students should register for MCB 300 in the fall and again in the spring to indicate the laboratory rotation course. Some students choose to carry out an additional rotation during the summer preceding their first year, or, if they have not decided upon a home lab following the spring term, may opt for an additional rotation in the summer before their second year. Each student arranges for a permanent faculty dissertation advisor and begins dissertation research by the end of the first year. Outside Fellowship Application. While prospective students are encouraged to apply for outside funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, if a student has not procured a fellowship, first year students are asked to submit a research proposal to a nationally recognized funding agency. A fellowship writing workshop is conducted early every fall to aid students in how to put together a compelling proposal. Ethics Workshop in the Responsible Conduct of Research. In addition to academic coursework, all MCB PhD candidates must complete a workshop in the responsible conduct of research, ordinarily by the end of the first year of study. The workshop is sponsored and conducted by members of the faculty. Journal Club. Reading and understanding scientific publications is an essential part of research. Although reading and discussing papers is part of the curriculum of many courses, the Journal Club provides an opportunity for developing presentation skills as well as an occasion for in-depth discussion of recently-published papers, analyses, and conclusions as well as the exploration of contributions to the field. Pre-doctoral trainees in the G1 and G2 year are coached in advance by faculty mentors and present to lead a discussion on a research topic of their choosing. Each student presents at Journal Club at least once per year. Each week a student will engage in practice talks with their faculty coaches in preparation for their presentation. Following the G1-G2 Journal Club Requirement, students may form their own Journal Clubs which can be organized by research topic, training program tracks, by class year, or however students would like.
After the First YearAcceptance for Candidacy. MCB students are evaluated in the spring of their second year by a faculty exam committee that meets with students to discuss their dissertation proposal. The Candidacy (Qualifying) Examination demonstrates a student’s qualifications for advanced research. Typically it is a one-hour presentation of the dissertation research proposal made to members of an Examination Committee, which is chosen by the student in consultation with the advisor. In addition, students may be examined on course work, readings, and other required knowledge in the field. Progress Meetings/Reports. Students accepted for candidacy arrange to meet annually with their dissertation advisory committee. At these progress meetings, students should summarize the status of their thesis research, detailing their accomplishments for the past year and goals for the coming year and the period until completion. The progress reports ensure that students, their advisors, and the advisory committee have the same understanding of students’ progress toward the Ph.D. degree. In the fourth year, students should make a formal presentation in preparation for their upcoming dissertation defense either to members of the department, or at a conference. Dissertation Defense. Four to five years of full-time research is required for completion of the PhD degree. Completed research is presented for approval as a written dissertation. Granting of the degree requires the approval of a faculty advisory committee that reviews the dissertation on its contents. The candidate will also be called upon to demonstrate the ability to formulate and defend original ideas on scientific topics not directly related to the subject of the dissertation. The dissertation defense is comprised of two components: the first is a public presentation made to the department and community as a whole; the second is a private defense and examination before the student’s dissertation advisory committee. The candidate must provide copies of the completed (unbound) dissertation to members of their committee and the Graduate Programs Office well in advance of the dissertation defense (at least two weeks prior to the defense). Electronic copies may be submitted. The dissertation should include an abstract of not more than 350 words, stating the purpose, main results and conclusions of the dissertation research. Upon successful completion of the public and private defense, students should submit two bound and one unbound copies of the completed dissertation to the Graduate Programs Office. Detailed requirements on the dissertation are published in The Form of the Ph.D. Dissertation, which is available online or in the Graduate Programs Office. Teaching. Students are required to serve as teaching fellows for two terms. Generally students teach for one term each in their second and third years. In one of these terms, students must teach in one of the major undergraduate courses taught by members of the department (generally LS1a, LS1b, LS100r, MCB 52 or MCB 54). Once required teaching has been completed, students may teach for an additional term with approval from their advisor and the Director of Graduate studies.
Recent MCB Dissertation TitlesSean Buchanan. “Studies of Protocadherin Function” (Maniatis Lab) Jiunn-Ren Chen. “Modeling PCZ domainpeptide interactions” (MacBeath Lab) Charisse Crenshaw. “Structures and Dynamics of DNA Repair Enzymes: Mechanistic Insights into Catalysis and Damage Targeting” (Verdine Lab) Evgeniy Gladyshev. “The structure of telomeres in rotifers of the Class Bdelloidea” (Meselson Lab) James Kain. “Subcellular localization and compartmentalization of the ClpP proteases in bacillus subtillis” (Losick Lab) Adam Kampff. “Neuroethology of the Zebrafish: Describing the Neural Circuits That Control Innate Behavior” (Engert Lab) Ming Lei. “Functional Study of Polo-like Kinase 1 in Cancer and Normal Nontransformed Cells” (Erikson Lab) Yiuka Leung. “Actin-based Motility of Intracellular Shigella flexneri” (Goldberg Lab) Stanley Lo. “Mechanistic Studies of Polycomb Group Proteins” (Francis Lab) Joshua Mugford. “The Molecular Specification and Cellular Origins of the Mammalian Metanephric Kidney” (McMahon Lab) Danaya Pakotiprapha. “Structural and Biochemical Studies of Bacterial Nucleotide Excision Repair” (Verdine Lab) Lorena Pont-Lezica. “The molecular logic of pheromone stimulus coding in the mouse vomeronasal system” (Dulac Lab) Erik Procko. “General mechanisms for ABC transporters revealed by the transporter associated with antigen processing” (Gaudet Lab) Joseph Shih. “Properties of the SID-1 double-stranded RNA channel” (Hunter Lab) Charisios Tsiaris. “Breaking Bilateral Symmetry and the Role of Hh Signaling” (McMahon Lab) Paula Emma Voinescu. “Genetic control of retina development” (Sanes Lab)
FacultyHoward C. Berg, Herchel Smith Professor of Physics; Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Motile behavior of bacteria. Briana Burton, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Membrane-bound DNA transport machines involved in antibiotic resistance, chromosome segregation, and spore formation. Philippe Cluzel, Professor Molecular and Cellular Biology; Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics. Real-time analysis of signal transduction and genetic networks at the single cell level. Vladimir Denic, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Mechanisms of membrane-associated cell biological processes. John E. Dowling, Llura and Gordon Gund Professor of Neurosciences; Professor of Ophtalmology. Structure, function, development, and genetics of the vertebrate retina. Victoria M. D’ Souza, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Structural biology of retrovirus replication. Catherine Dulac, Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; Chair of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Molecular and developmental biology of olfactory and pheromone sensing. Kevin Eggan, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Assistant Investigator of the Stowers Medical Institute; Principal Investigator of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Cloning by nuclear transplantation, epigenetic reprogramming and human ES cell-based models of disease. Florian Engert, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Processing of visual information in tadpoles and zebrafish. Raymond L. Erikson, John F. Drum American Cancer Society Professor of Cellular and Developmental Biology. Reversible phosphorylation in cell proliferation. Nicole Francis, Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Biochemistry of epigenetic inheritance by polycomb group proteins. Rachelle Gaudet, Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Structural studies of ion channels and transporters; X-ray crystallography. William M. Gelbart, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Developmental genetics; genomics; bioinformatics. Guido Guidotti, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry. Structure and function of membrane proteins. J. Woodland Hastings, Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences. Biochemistry of bioluminescence; mechanism of the circadian cellular biological clock. Takao Hensch, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Professor of Neurology. Experience-dependent brain development; critical periods. Craig P. Hunter, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. C. elegans genetics and genomics and intercellular RNA transport. David Jeruzalmi, Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Structure and function of the nucleo-protein complexes that are utilized to replicate chromosomal DNA. Nancy Kleckner, Herchel Smith Professor of Molecular Biology. Chromosomes; motion, mechanics, DNA dynamics and spatial patterning. Samuel Kunes, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Neural development, function, and behavior. Andres Leschziner, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Structural biology of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling. Jeff Lichtman, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Synaptic structure and competition. Richard Losick, Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Gene regulation and development in microorganisms. Susan Mango, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Developmental plasticity and cell fate specification; development of the digestive tract and its role in nutritional signaling. Tom Maniatis, Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Mechanisms of gene regulation. Andrew P. McMahon, Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science. Unraveling the developmental logic underlying function, repair, and evolution of the mammalian kidney. Markus Meister, Jeff C. Tarr Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Function of neuronal circuits. Douglas A. Melton, Harvard College Professor; Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor in the Natural Sciences; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Developmental biology of the pancreas with the longterm aim of making insulin- producing beta cells for the treatment of diabetes. Matthew S. Meselson, Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences. Molecular genetics and evolution. Matthew Michael, Associate Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Genomic instability. Andrew W. Murray, Herchel Smith Professor of Molecular Genetics; Director of Bauer Fellows Program. Mitosis, meiosis, experimental evolution, and signal transduction. Venkatesh N. Murthy, Morris Kahn Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Neuronal cell biology, synaptic transmission and plasticity. Daniel Needleman, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Assistant Professor of Applied Physics. Physical aspects of the organization and dynamics of subcellular structures. David R. Nelson, Arthur K. Solomon Professor of Biophysics; Professor of Physics and Applied Physics. Force-induced denaturation of DNA, sequence heterogeneity and the dynamics of motor proteins, population growth and mutation in disordered media. Erin O’Shea, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology; Director of FAS Center for Systems Biology; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Systems levels and molecular analysis of signaling pathways; transcriptional regulatory networks. Sharad Ramanathan, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Assistant Professor of Applied Physics. Signal processing and decision making. Joshua Sanes, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Paul J. Finnegan Family Director, Center for Brain Science. Synapse formation. Alexander Schier, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Developmental genetics and neurobiology. Stuart L. Schreiber, Morris Loeb Professor of Chemical Biology; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Chemical genetics and chemical genomics. Jack L. Strominger, Higgins Professor of Biochemistry. Molecular basis of immune recognition. Naoshige Uchida, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Neural basis of olfactory coding and decision making. Gregory Verdine, Erving Professor of Chemistry; Director, Harvard and Dana-Farber Program in Cancer Chemical Biology. Structural biology, chemical biology. Structure and function of DNA-and RNA-processing enzymes, small-molecule RNA interference.
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