Biology General Institute Requirement
All undergraduate students are required to complete the Biology General Institute Requirement (GIR). There are two ways for you to complete this requirement: core class 7.01x or the Biology Advanced Standing Exam.
Biology Subjects
At MIT we refer to “majors” as courses and individual classes as “subjects.” You can search for classes on the Registrar’s website.
Most Biology subjects use Canvas as the learning management system for course material.
Click on this link for course schedule charts.
Lab Subjects
The Department of Biology offers two different laboratory subjects serving unique purposes for students. While the semester-long 7.002 Fundamentals of Experimental Molecular Biology provides an accessible entry point for any student to try a biology lab and learn more about the field from experts, 7.003 Applied Molecular Biology Laboratory aims to provide more in-depth experience for those majoring in biology-related courses to continue in their lab experience after completing 7.002.
Advanced Undergraduate Seminars
These seminars for juniors and seniors focus on the primary research literature, with the goal of introducing you to the methods of contemporary biological research and the logic of experimental design and interpretation.
Independent Activities Period
The MIT Independent Activities Period (IAP) is a special four-week term at MIT that runs for the month of January. We offer both credit and non-credit subjects during IAP.
MITx Biology
MITx Biology offers MIT students hybrid learning experiences through MITx sites to augment their on-campus classes, as well as free online Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and a bank of educational YouTube videos for the greater community.