The Department of Biology offers a number of science outreach programs. There are programs with hands-on activities for high school science teachers and their students, as well as laboratory training and summer research opportunities for high school science teachers, summer research internships for undergraduate students from other colleges and universities, and mini-sabbaticals for faculty from minority-serving institutions. These programs are funded in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The goal of these science outreach programs is to develop students' interests in biology and basic research early in their education.

In addition, these programs aim to help science teachers keep up with the latest developments in biological and biomedical sciences, and provide opportunities for collaborations between MIT scientists and faculty at minority serving institutions with limited research facilities.

By sharing its intellectual wealth, cutting-edge research, teaching facilities, and technical expertise, the MIT biology community and the MIT community at large hope to make important contributions to science education and the development of future scientists.