Advances in knowledge, together with an awareness of the complexity of today's world, have led researchers to pursue multifaceted problems that cannot be resolved from the vantage point of a single academic discipline.
As a result, MIT students and faculty frequently work together in a multitude of interdisciplinary centers, laboratories, and programs that cut across departmental or school boundaries. Most of these organizations offer opportunities for undergraduate research through thesis work and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. For graduate students, interdisciplinary research opportunities may involve thesis topics—and often research assistantships—and can lead to 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 Advanced Visual Studies
Center for Archaeological Materials
Center for Biomedical Engineering
Center for Biomedical Innovation
Center for Collective Intelligence
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 Fellows Program
Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems
Laboratory for Energy and the Environment
Laboratory for Financial Engineering
Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems
Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
Laboratory for Nuclear Science
McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Microsystems Technology Laboratories
MIT Center for Digital Business
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Office of Professional Education Programs
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Productivity from Information Technology Initiative
Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry
Research Laboratory of Electronics
Technology and Development Program
Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
Women's and Gender Studies Program
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research