# Harvard Systems Biology Graduate Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $289,234

## Abstract

Project Summary/abstract
This application requests support for the PhD Program in Systems Biology at Harvard University. This
profoundly interdisciplinary program attracts top students with backgrounds ranging from pure mathematics to
medicine, and offers them the resources and support to develop an independent and quantitative approach to
important biological questions. The Systems Biology program integrates systems biology research across the
whole of Harvard University, including Harvard's main (Cambridge) campus and the basic science departments
of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and its teaching hospitals, creating a genuinely unified cross-Harvard
program that encourages student creativity and choice of both research area and of future career.
The behavior of biological systems is complex and often unpredictable, in ways that profoundly challenge our
ability to diagnose and treat diseases or understand the behavior of the world around us. We believe that
students who have a deep understanding of both quantitative measurement technologies and mathematical or
computational approaches will develop creative new ways to grapple with the complexity of biological systems.
The program is also a major vehicle for bringing quantitative and theoretical approaches into problems relevant
to the clinic.
Since the last submission of this grant, the program has made major strides towards a representative student
population: this year, for the first time, female scientists are in the majority in the entering cohort of 8 women
and 3 men and applications from underrepresented minorities doubled in 2017-18 compared to previous years.
The average time to degree is 5.4 years. The previous grant supported 6 trainees. In this funding period we
request support for 8 trainees.
The Harvard Systems Biology PhD Program is a pioneering program and an ongoing experiment. The program
aims to help students identify biological questions to which an interdisciplinary approach can provide uniquely
satisfying answers, and to prepare them to identify and address such questions in their future careers. The
program pays particular attention to rigor and reproducibility, training students in the physicochemical basis of
the measurements they make and in appropriate techniques, and common pitfalls, in statistical analysis.
Training for communication across disciplines and to the lay public is foundational for the Program and is
emphasized throughout each student's career.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9852224
- **Project number:** 1T32GM135014-01
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy J Mitchison
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $289,234
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9852224

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9852224, Harvard Systems Biology Graduate Program (1T32GM135014-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9852224. Licensed CC0.

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