Joint Program 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 through study and research ocean sciences and engineering. While the Joint Program is organized around five major disciplinary groups*, inter-disciplinary research commonly cuts across these boundaries. Many Joint Program students are engaged in such cross-cutting efforts.

For practical purposes, every student in the program has a primary association with one of the five disciplines and each discipline’s Joint Committee oversees the academic progress of the associated students. Students with cross-cutting research interests are admitted to the discipline that best matches their background and primary focus, establishing a clear academic “home” within the Joint Program. During their first semester, each student should develop a tentative course of study with their advisor and identify additional mentors who can guide the student in cross-disciplinary aspects of the research. The student should also consult the student handbook for additional guidance on pre-candidacy advising.

The individualized course of study will prepare the student for a general examination which covers the appropriate foundational knowledge needed for their research. The scope of the general examination may be modified to accommodate interdisciplinary preparation.

*Biological Oceanography; Chemical Oceanography; Marine Geology and Geophysics; Physical Oceanography; and Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering,

Version 9. revised (8/25/26)

Examples of Interdisciplinary Academic Studies

Physical Oceanography
Physical-biological interactions track

These are the courses taken by two a Ph.D. graduates who focused on mechanisms of physical-biological interaction in the open ocean.  These programs of study included extensive coursework in both physical and biological oceanography, as well an introductory course in marine chemistry.  One student supplemented the Joint Program offerings with extra-curricular summer courses in microbial ecology and ecosystems/climate.

Ph.D. Graduate Example 1:

Courses completed for master's degree:

12.800 - Fluid Dynamics of Atmosphere & Ocean

12.818 - Atmospheric Data & Synoptic Meteorology

18.075 - Advanced Calculus for Engineers

Term	Course Number	Course Name
Fall	12.742	Marine Chemistry
	12.808	Intro to Observational Physical Oceanography
	12.862	Coastal Physical Oceanography
	18.085	Computational Science & Engineering I
Spring	7.440	Introduction to Mathematical Ecology
	7.47	Biological Oceanography
	12.802	Wave Motions in the Ocean and Atmosphere
	12.823	Modeling the Biology and Physics of the Ocean
Summer		C-MORE Agouron course on Microbial Oceanography
		NCAR ASP Colloquium on Ecosystems and Climate
Fall	2.29	Numerical Fluid Mechanics
	12.803	Quasi-Balanced Circulations
	12.804	Large-scale Flow Dynamics Lab
Spring	7.437	Topics:Molec Biol Oceanography
	12.801	General Circulation of Ocean
	12.820	Turbulence in Ocean and Atmos
Spring 3rd year	7.410	Applied Statistics

Ph.D. Graduate Example 2:

Term	Course Number	Course Name
Fall	12.800	Fluid Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean
	12.808	Introduction to Observational Physical Oceanography
	12.842	Climate Physics and Chemistry
	12.491	Topics in Geophysics: Biogeochemistry of Sulfur
Spring	7.430	Linking Models to Observations of Plankton Ecosystems
	12.801	Steady Circulation of the Ocean
	12.802	Waves
	18.075	Advanced Calculus for Engineers
Summer		C-MORE Agouron course on Microbial Oceanography
Fall	12.803	Quasi-Balanced Circulations
	12.804	Large-Scale Flow Dynamics Lab
	12.742	Marine Chemistry
Spring	7.440	Mathematical Ecology
	12.823	Biological Physical Modelling
Fall	12.747	Modeling, Data Analysis and Numerical Techniques for Geochemistry

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

This is the course syllabus followed by a Ph.D. graduate who studied the ways in which the ocean's physical environment, especially the flow environment, affects 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 Ph.D. 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
	2.066 (formerly 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	7.434	Time Series Analysis
	2.691 (formerly 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	12.961	Modeling the Biology and Physics of the Oceans