Interdisciplinary Statement

MIT/WHOI Joint Program Students have courses of study and research that are tailored to each student's scholarly interests.

The MIT/WHOI Joint Program's goal is for each student to achieve their full intellectual potential in their chosen area of study and research, either within the more traditional disciplines of ocean sciences and engineering or within interdisciplinary studies incorporating two or more disciplines.

To guide students in this endeavor the MIT/WHOI Joint Program faculty has established five focal areas: biological oceanography, chemical oceanography, marine geology and geophysics, physical oceanography and applied ocean physics and engineering. The Joint Committee associated with each focal area provides guidance as to the course of study for incoming students who have strong interests in that focal area.

Many applicants have interests, academic background, and experience that are appropriate for one of these focal areas and they will be admitted to pursue their degree in that area. It is also likely that some incoming students will have, or develop, interests that span two or more of these focal areas. These students will be admitted to the focal area that is most appropriate for their preparation and stated interests. This ensures that the student has a well defined 'home' within the Joint Program.

During the first semester in the Joint Program, as early as practical, each student should assemble and meet with an academic advisory committee to discuss their research interests and formulate a tentative individual course of study. The structure of the advisory committee will be defined by the student's primary Joint Committee, but typically the advisory committee will consist of at least the student's primary research advisor (who may or may not be from the 'home' focal area) and a faculty member from the other institution.

For those students whose research interests significantly overlap two or more Joint Committee focal areas this advisory committee should, at the request of the student and the principal advisor, include faculty from the related focal area(s) at one or both institutions. The individual course of study will lead to a general examination with a format and scope that are both generally consistent with the requirements of the primary focal area's Joint Committee and flexible enough to recognize the individualized aspects of the course of study. The course of study must be approved by the primary Joint Committee, preferably by the end of the first year. The format of the exam also must be determined by the primary Joint Committee, and will be set no later than early in the semester before the exam. It is expected that the advisory committee will guide the student up to and through the general exam, after which the oversight will move to the student's Ph.D. thesis committee, whose membership must be approved by the home Joint Committee. The home Joint Committee will be responsible for monitoring the student's academic progress through the thesis defense.

Version 8. revised (5/14/04)

Examples of Interdisciplinary Academic Studies

Applied Ocean Science and Engineering - Civil Engineering
Physical-biological interactions track

This is the course syllabus followed by a recent PhD graduate who studied the ways in which the ocean's physical environment, especially the flow environment, effects the distribution of marine organisms. This syllabus thus includes a significant fluid mechanics component along with biological oceanography and applied mathematics.

Term	Course Number	Course Name
Fall	1.67	Sediment Transport and Coastal Processes
	1.69	Introduction to Coastal Engineering
	12.800	Fluid Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean
Spring	7.47	Biological Oceanography
	12.801	Steady Circulation of the Oceans
	12.862	Coastal Physical Oceanography
Fall	1.89	Environmental Microbiology
	18.085	Mathematical Methods for Engineers I
Spring	1.77	Water Quality Control
	18.086	Mathematical Methods for Engineers II
Fall	12.742	Marine Chemistry
Spring	12.864	Inference from Data and Models

Biology-Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
Bio-acoustics track

This PhD student studied the use of acoustic methods as a means to sample marine ecosystems. This course curriclum thus includes components from acoustics/underwater sound, along with mathematical methods and marine ecology.

Term	Course Number	Course Name
Fall	7.51	Graduate Biochemistry
	18.03	Ordinary Differential Equations
	12.742	Marine Chemistry
	12.808	Observational Physical Oceanography
Spring	6.041	Probabilistic Systems Analysis
	18.075	Advanced Calculus for Engineers
	7.47	Biological Oceanography
Fall	12.710	Marine Geology and Geophysics
	13.851	Fundamentals and Applications of Underwater Sound
	12.961	Special Problems in Physical Oceanography
Spring	7.440	Introduction to Mathematical Ecology
	7.431	Coral Reef Fish Ecology
Fall		Time Series Analysis
	13.871	Wave Scattering by Rough Surfaces and Randomly Inhomogeneous Media
Spring	7.433	Fisheries Oceanography
Fall	11.952	Science, Politics, and Environmental Policy
Spring		Modeling the Biology and Physics of the Oceans