Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology hosts two interdisciplinary training programs:

Both programs take 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.

MCO Training Program faculty are members of 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.

MCO training involves an initial exposure to a broad sweep of fundamental problems at every level through a set of core courses, followed by deep immersion in focused areas. Incoming MCO students are required to take three core courses during the first semester, corresponding to three track concentrations: Physical, Chemical and Molecular Biology; Cellular, Neuro and Developmental Biology; and Genetics, Genomics and Evolutionary Biology.  The objective of these courses is to provide students with a broad foundation in the life science disciplines and prepare them for a future in science that will undoubtedly draw from many disciplines in biology.  In addition, these courses will help students choose a specific track for elective courses to be taken in the second semester, and to choose their lab rotations. A course in quantitative methods and approaches to biological problems is required in the second semester of the first year.  The intent of this requirement is to strengthen the mathematical skills necessary to approach complex problems in modern biology.  The formal class work and research components of the program will be complemented by a rigorous advising and mentoring program, which includes a required yearly written and oral progress report, journal clubs and a permanent non-thesis advisor.

All MCO students must complete three eight-week laboratory rotations, two of which must be in participating faculty labs.  Trainees are allotted significant flexibility in scheduling these rotations, as they are essential in finding the right laboratory fit – both intellectually and personally.  The rotations expose trainees to the practices of a number of different labs outfitting future scientists with the broad intellectual framework they will inevitably draw on as they conduct cutting edge science in subsequent years.

Predoctoral students in Molecular and Cellular Biology continue to interact with students in their cohort even after joining a laboratory.  With “nanocourses,” monthly journal clubs, and annual retreats, among other activities, fellow students will continue to share in each others’ research and discovery processes, and will maintain a broad exposure to advances in life science research outside of their home laboratory.

Day Courses / Nanocourses
MCO Day Courses (or Nanocourses) are six- to 10-hour short sessions, given over one or two days, in which faculty mentors delve into their individual research interests.  They are open to all trainees, as well as the department’s post-doctoral students, and faculty.  At least one nanocourse will be offered in each MCO track each year, and students are encouraged to attend nanocourses outside their chosen track. 

Model Systems Jamboree
All first-year students (and any others who are interested) will take part in a new program on experimental methods.  Most of the training takes place in actual faculty laboratories, rather than teaching labs, where scientists are working with yeast, bacteria, zebrafish, mice and many other models.  The goal is to expose students to as wide a range of experimental models and systems as possible and maybe even to entice students to work with a model system they hadn’t expected.

Monthly Journal Club
In scientific research, reading and understanding scientific publications is imperative.  While students read and discuss many articles from a variety of journals in classes, the journal club gives an opportunity to enhance the student’s presentation skills as well as provide another forum in which to hold in-depth discussions of recently published papers.

Once each month, two students will present and lead a discussion on a topic in the current literature.  When it is a student’s turn to present (and it will be, more than once during a student’s MCB career), a faculty mentor will offer advice on what current paper might be a good choice, and how it might be best presented.

Seminar Series
A large number of speakers – at the invitation of the participating MCO departments – give seminars to all members of the life sciences community.  Additionally, MCB-affiliated research centers, institutes, initiatives and programs offer ongoing seminars, workshops and colloquia are open to students in the MCO program.

Students are encouraged not only to attend these seminars, but to be actively engaged.  Students may suggest speakers and are often invited to meet with them after the lectures, for example to share an informal lunch.  Also, students in their fourth year (or higher) often offer their own public seminars, presenting their own experimental results and gaining valuable presentation experience.

Annual Retreats
The MCO program holds an annual one-day retreat for participating students and faculty.  Held locally during the spring reading period – but away from campus – the retreat features a series of short talks, keynote speakers, and a “business meeting” (which includes faculty, students and the speakers) to discuss the overall progress of the training program.

In addition to the MCO-specific retreat, there is the department-wide fall retreat: a two-day scientific retreat that includes all faculty, postdocs and students of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.  It is an outstanding opportunity for members of different labs to see what their colleagues are up to.  For the newcomer, it is an excellent introduction to the department, its faculty, and the stunning breadth of science conducted here.

Engineering and Physical Biology

Adjoining Centers and Institutes

The mission of the FAS Center for Systems Biology (CSB) is to combine a variety of experimental and theoretical approaches in several research areas to find general principles that help to explain the structure, behavior, and evolution of cells and organisms. The CSB occupies the Bauer Laboratory, a new building linking the Naito Laboratory and the Sherman Fairchild Biochemistry Building. This state-of- the-art 60,000 square-foot facility houses robotics and instrumentation labs, wet and dry laboratory space, an advanced computational infrastructure, and areas for social interactions.

The Center for Brain Science (CBS) brings together scientists involved in experimental and theoretical research on the nervous system, from neurons and neural circuits to behavior and cognition. The Center fosters interactions and collaborations across disciplinary boundaries, with faculty from Biology, Psychology, Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Center recently moved into the Northwest Building, a joint interdepartmental research space.

The Harvard Stem Cell Intitute (HSCI) is committed to exploring the development and application of embryonic and adult stem cells. The Institute aims to bring stem cells to the clinic as quickly as possible for as many different diseases as possible. Achieving this will require advances on many levels, from basic biology to patient delivery systems. The Harvard community, comprising the university, the medical school, and 18 hospitals and research institutions, is one of the largest concentrations of biomedical researchers in the world and is well positioned to make this vision a reality.

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