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In this premier marine science graduate program, students have the resources of two world-class institutions—Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution—at their fingertips. With unmatched access to instruments, ships, technology and scientific guidance, our students can tackle some of the biggest scientific and engineering questions of our world.

Partner institutions

Fields of Study

The goal of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program is for each student to achieve his/her full intellectual potential in a chosen area of research. Depending on their specific interests, students can either choose a disciplinary focal area or engage in interdisciplinary research spanning multiple focal areas and complementary fields (see the Joint Program Interdisciplinary Statement).

Disciplinary focal areas:

• Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
• Biological Oceanography
• Chemical Oceanography
• Marine Geology and Geophysics
• Physical Oceanography

Interdisciplinary focal areas:

• Climate Variability and Impacts
  
• Individualized course of study across two or more disciplines

The Interdisciplinary Statement provides guidelines for a student to formulate an individualized course of study.  Recent examples of customized courses of study for numerous topics can be seen here.

Students at Work

The Synergy Project

What would happen if you brought together scientists and artists to immerse themselves in each other’s worlds and create art works based on science?

Bacteria Hitchhike on Tiny Marine Life

Graduate student Amalia Aruda investigates complex, little-understood relationships between tiny marine animals called copepods and the bacteria that live on them, including those that cause cholera.

Groundwater: The River No One Sees

Groundwater that enters the coastal ocean from underground aquifers carries nutrients and pollutants, but scientists have lacked good techniques to measure that flow. Joint Program student Meagan Gonneea travels to the Yucatan Peninsula, where she is developing a method to use coral skeletons to track the flow of groundwater into the coastal ocean.