Meet The Graduate Students

To learn more about the Biological Engineering Ph.D. program and its students, see the BE Graduate Board's answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ).

There are around 20-25 students enrolled in each year of the Ph.D. program. The department values diversity, and BE graduate students come from public and private institutions in the US and abroad. Students come from specializations in a variety of fields, such as biophysics, chemical engineering, and computer science, in addition to biological and biomedical engineering.

Quotes from students:

"One of my favorite things about the BE department is how inclusive and positive the culture is. I had always assumed that an MIT program would be hypercompetitive and cold, and my experience with BE has been the exact opposite of that since the first day of interview weekend."

“I chose MIT BE because I felt that the Department put the students first. Throughout my matriculation and lab rotation process, I was supported and felt the faculty had my best interests at heart. Now that I joined a lab, I feel like my advisor cares more about my personal and professional development than just my research output.”

“I've played on sMITe, MIT's women's ultimate frisbee team, since I started grad school. Sometimes it can be hard to make the time to go to practice, but the flexibility of grad school has allowed me to make it work for the past two years. It's a fun way to get myself outside and stay active, and as an unexpected perk it's also been really great to get to know more undergrads!”

“My labmates are very social and supportive, and because of them I'm always happy to go to work no matter what. It's a great work environment, which makes it a lot easier to come back from vacation!”

"Whether I find myself in conversation with faculty or fellow students in MIT BE, I am continually energized by the passion and intensity that the community has for tackling key scientific and engineering challenges, driven by the desire to use our research to ultimately improve health of human populations and the environment."