The goal of the MIT/WHOI Joint Program is that each student will achieve his or her full intellectual potential and that each student will have the greatest possible opportunity to pursue research of their choice.

Most students enter the Joint Program with a Ph.D. as their goal, though other degree options are available. For a student entering with appropriate undergraduate preparation (a BS or equivalent in a relevant science), the academic program is typically made up of two years of graduate-level course work, with courses that may be selected from an extensive course list offered specifically by the Joint Program as well as the full resources of MIT. At the end of their second year, Ph.D. students then take a general examination that tests several aspects of their preparation to go forward with thesis research, which then requires another two to three years. Joint Program students are encouraged to complete a Ph.D. within a nominal five-year term.

During the classroom intensive phase of their studies, many students are in residence near MIT (Cambridge, Boston). Then depending on the site of their main research activity, they may choose to remain in the Cambridge area or move to Woods Hole. Students at either campus have access to a wide range of assistance and other resources, including transportation to and from Woods Hole and MIT.

Academic Guidance

To guide students in their academic preparation, the MIT/WHOI Joint Program faculty is organized around five basic science and engineering disciplines. Applicants who know that their interests and experience lie principally within one of these disciplines may indicate this on their application under "Area of Research".

Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
Keywords: fluid mechanics, acoustics, vehicles, instruments

Biological Oceanography
Keywords: phytoplankton, zooplankton, microbial ecology, marine mammals, environmental toxicology, larval ecology, benthic ecology, mathematical ecology, population genetics, microbiology, fish ecology, biogeochemistry

Chemical Oceanography
Keywords: air-sea exchange, atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemistry, carbon cycle science, environmental chemistry, geochemistry, global change, ocean tracers, radiochemistry

Marine Geology and Geophysics
Keywords: seafloor volcanic, tectonic and hydrothermal processes, mantle dynamics, ocean crustal structure, continental rifting, paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, coastal processes

Physical Oceanography
Keywords: physics, fluid dynamics, applied mathematics, observations, theory, modeling, ocean circulation, climate

Students who have academic interests that span two or more science disciplines may readily combine courses and other academic preparation drawn from these disciplines. Joint Program policy is aimed to facilitate such interdisciplinary studies and includes examples of recent Joint Program students' curriculum.

All entering students are assigned a primary academic advisor chosen from the faculty of either MIT or WHOI, and assigned to a home discipline from the list above. These important choices are made based upon either a student's request at the time of the application or admission, or based upon a match of the student's preparation and stated interests. It is not unusual that a student might change advisors or home disciplines as he/she develops specific research interests.

During the first semester, or as early as practical, each Joint Program student should form an Academic Advisory Committee to plan a tentative, individualized course of study. The Academic Advisory Committee will consist of at least the student's primary academic advisor, who need not be from his/her home discipline, and a faculty member from the other institution. The student's Academic Advisory Committee will be responsible for monitoring his/her progress up to and through the general exam, after which the oversight will shift to the student's Ph.D. thesis committee.