Many undergraduates find avenues for participation in the research activity of MIT's interdisciplinary centers, laboratories, and programs through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. For graduate students, interdisciplinary research opportunities can often lead to thesis topics—and research assistantships—as well as advanced degrees.
Some interdepartmental educational programs have been approved for graduate students by the Committee on Graduate School Programs. Students must be admitted by a regular academic department in order to participate in one of these programs (with the exception of the Operations Research Center, which accepts students directly). Each has a standing faculty committee that administers the program, but degrees in the field of study are granted by the student's department of registration. The program descriptions in this section indicate any advanced degrees that may be offered.
Center for Archaeological Materials
Center for Biomedical Engineering
Center for Collective Intelligence
Center for Computational Engineering
Center for Computational Research in Economics and Management Science
Center for Educational Computing Initiatives
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
Center for Environmental Health Sciences
Center for Global Change Science
Center for International Studies
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development
Center for Transportation and Logistics
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation
Division of Comparative Medicine
Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory
Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
Institute for Work and Employment Research
Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
Knight Science Journalism Program
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Laboratory for Financial Engineering
Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems
Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
Laboratory for Nuclear Science
Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Microsystems Technology Laboratories
MIT Catalyst Clinical Research Center
MIT Center for Digital Business
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Research Laboratory of Electronics
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology
Technology and Development Program
Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
Women's and Gender Studies Program
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research