Microbial Sciences Secondary
MSI is proud to coordinate a secondary concentration in Microbial Sciences for Harvard undergraduate students, which allows for the focused, interdisciplinary study of diverse aspects of microbial chemistry, physiology, and ecology.
Overview
The microbial sciences secondary concentration allows for an interdisciplinary approach to studying the impact of microbes from global ecosystems down to single-celled microenvironments. The academic program is intended to be highly interdisciplinary, incorporating elements from both life and physical sciences to emphasize the joint study of microbial species diversity, metabolic function, geochemical impact, and biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Many microbial sciences secondary courses feature a laboratory component, providing students with meaningful hands-on experiential learning opportunities.
Students can take courses offered by the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Chemistry and Chemical Biology, as well as those offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health.
Guidelines
- Typically, with the exception of approved SAT/UNS Freshman Seminars, all courses must be taken for a letter grade in order to count toward secondary field credit, and under these conditions C is the minimum acceptable grade.
- Of the one introductory course and two additional microbial courses, two must be significantly outside the student's primary area of concentration, providing each student substantial interdisciplinary experience. Note that this aligns with the university-wide requirement that only one course may double-count for a student's concentration and secondary.
- Some courses for Microbial Sciences credit may have hidden prerequisites. Students should plan appropriately, as a prerequisite cannot be counted for Microbial Sciences credit unless it satisfies requirement 2 above.
- Students may receive credit for Life Sciences 100r twice. Students electing to do this may count one semester towards the Microbial Sciences secondary field and one towards their concentration, or they may count the second semester as one of their two 100-level electives in the secondary field. A single semester of Life Sciences 100r may not be double-counted.
- Courses from study abroad, Harvard Summer School, or MIT could count toward secondary field credit if approved by MSI. Approval must be obtained prior to the student's enrollment in these courses to be guaranteed. The petitioning student must provide a syllabus or detailed course summary to MSI for review. A petition to retroactively consider substituting one relevant Freshman Seminar for one of the two 100-level elective courses also will be considered.