Questions About Eligibility - Major, Research, Degree Type
Do I need research experience? Do I need publications?
Showing a strong interest in research is an important part of the application. Research experience is perhaps the best way to demonstrate an interest in a research degree. While it is common for admitted SSQB students to have significant research experiences, it is understood that not all valuable undergraduate research experiences lead to publications. Several current SSQB students did not have publications when applying.
What are my odds of admission?
The admission rates of the program vary from year to year so we cannot provide a specific odds/percent.
Questions About Program Fit / the HILS Ecosystem
What is the difference between the SSQBio program and the Systems Biology department?
SSQBio and the Systems Biology department are two related but distinct entities. SSQBio is the name of the Systems, Synthetic and Quantitative Biology PhD program, while “Systems Biology” refers to the affiliated Department at Harvard Medical School. While we are most closely associated with the Systems Biology department at the Medical School, we are also closely linked to several departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences including the Molecular & Cellular Biology department as well as the NSF-Simmons Center for Mathematical & Statistical Analysis of Biological Systems.
Can I apply to multiple programs in Harvard Integrated Life Sciences (HILS)?
Please refer to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) website.
What distinguishes SSQB from other programs in HILS? What other programs might be of interest? (Biophysics, Chemical Biology, MCO, Biological and Biomedical Sciences…)
The SSQB program is a research-focused degree program emphasizing quantitative and interdisciplinary approaches to biological problems. Systems biology seeks to explain the relationships between parts and wholes at multiple scales of complexity through integrated empirical, computational, and theoretical approaches. Our mission as a program is to help you tackle this challenge through training that advances our understanding of how evolved systems are organized. We also aim to leverage our understanding of these relationships to make new biological systems (molecules to organisms) for a variety of purposes. Our training particularly emphasizes the development and application of formal ideas from mathematics, statistics and computer science as well as the innovation of experimental techniques to acquire new kinds of quantitative data at scale. We don't focus on a particular field of biology, instead we focus on novel approaches to biology through experimental methods development, modeling and computation.
Our core faculty are listed on our website, and we encourage you to explore their lab pages and papers to see if your interests strongly align with any of them.
Other HILS programs focus more on training in cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics and genomics with less of an integrative focus.
Which professors can I work with?
SSQB students generally work with our core faculty, but with permission from the co-Directors may work in other labs at Harvard (including Harvard-affiliated hospitals).
How do I find out about professors’ research?
To find more information about what a lab is doing, we recommend reading their recent publications (on Google Scholar, for example) and their lab websites.
Should I contact professors ahead of time?
Contacting professors prior to applying is not a requirement, and it does not increase your chances of admission. If you have specific questions about a professor’s research or their availability as an advisor, sending them a short email may be appropriate.
Questions About Program Requirements
Many of the questions in this section are also answered in more detail on the Prospective Students page.
What are the course requirements?
Students are required to take a minimum of at least 4 science courses offered at either Harvard or MIT. Please see the Prospective Students page for details.
Additional science courses will be chosen in consultation with class advisors, depending on the student's background and research interests.
Can I defer my admission?
This is decided on a case-by-case basis, and also varies each year, depending on applicant pools and class sizes.
How long does it take to graduate?
There is no set timeline for the PhD program. Most students take 5-6 years, but shorter or longer PhDs are not uncommon. It is rare to take more than 6 or fewer than 4 years.
What is the teaching load?
Students are required to teach one semester.
What is the format of qualifying exams and when do students take them?
SSQB students take two qualifying exams referred to as the preliminary qualifying exams (PQE), part 1 and 2.
PQE1 occurs in the spring of students’ first year. For this exam, students spend 2-3 weeks carrying out a theoretical or computational project which they then present in a chalk-talk format to a committee of faculty.
PQE2 takes place in the spring of year two. At this point, students will have finished rotations and joined their PhD lab. For PQE2, students propose and defend the work they intend to do in their chosen labs to another committee of three faculty.
How many students are in a given year?
Cohort sizes vary from year to year. Cohort sizes range from around 8 to 11 students.
How do students choose a lab?
SSQB students typically complete 3-4 rotations in different labs over the course of their first year. Following these rotations students officially join a lab and begin their thesis research.
Questions About How to Apply
How should I apply?
In order to apply you will need to fill out an online application. Note that all Harvard Integrated Life Sciences (HILS) use the same application and you may apply to more than one program. The application also requires a copy of your transcripts. GRE scores are not required for admission.
Should I apply directly to professors?
No, prospective students apply to the SSQB program directly. Students in SSQB are not committed to a professor when they join the program. Rather, they try out 3-4 labs in their first year to figure out a good fit. This is different than in the European system where students usually get a master's and then commit to doing a PhD under a pre-selected professor.
Should I apply for fellowships?
The decision to apply for one or more fellowships, in addition to applying to a PhD program, is going to depend on your specific situation. Writing a fellowship application is generally good practice for the graduate school application process.
Fellowships are not required for admission into SSQB.
Can I apply for a fee waiver?
Yes! If the application fee is a barrier for you, please apply for a waiver via the GSAS website. As stated on this website: Waivers are available to those for whom payment of the application fee would be financially challenging. Applicants can determine eligibility for a fee waiver by completing a series of questions in the Application Fee section of the application. Once these questions have been answered, the application system will provide an immediate response regarding fee waiver eligibility.
How does applying to multiple HILS programs work?
Adapted from the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences (HILS) website: “While prospective students are encouraged to carefully choose the HILS program that best fits their academic goals, interested applicants may apply to up to three programs and pay only one application fee.
The fee waiver for additional applications is ONLY available for those applying to multiple programs in the HILS federation.
After you submit your first application and pay the application fee, the fee will be waived for subsequent submissions.”
What should my statement of purpose look like?
You can learn about the statement of purpose on the GSAS website.
In addition, SSQB current students run an application assistance program to demystify the application process for students who lack appropriate mentorship in this area. We are incredibly grateful to the students who have taken the initiative to do this. Please be aware that working with the application assistance program does not guarantee admission into the SSQB PhD program.
Who should write my letters of recommendation?
Letters of recommendation should be written by faculty (or other principal investigators) who can attest to a student’s research and academic potential in the sciences.
UC Berkeley’s Career website offers more insights. You can also learn about letters of recommendation on the GSAS website.
Questions About Funding and Support
How much does it cost? Are students funded?
Admitted students who accept their offer of admission (including international students) are guaranteed support (payment of tuition, health insurance and a competitive stipend). Visit the GSAS website for more information on financial support for incoming PhD students.