The Mind, Brain, and Behavior Program

Students interested in addressing questions of neuroscience and cognition from the perspective of computer science may pursue a special program of study affiliated with the University-wide Mind, Brain, and Behavior initiative, that allows them to participate in a variety of related activities. (Similar programs are available through the Anthropology, History and Science, Human Evolutionary Biology, Linguistics, Neurobiology, Philosophy, and Psychology concentrations.) Requirements for this program are based on those of the computer science requirements for honors eligibility, except that:

In item 1b, either Statistics 110 or Computer Science 124 replaces the second theory course.

In item 1d, the six half-courses comprise: MCB 80 (formerly Biological Sciences 80); one approved biology or psychology course; an approved MBB junior tutorial; Computer Science 181 or 182; one half-course in Computer Science for which the middle digit is either 4 (computer hardware), 5 (programming languages), 6 (systems), or 7 (graphics); and one additional half-course in Computer Science (which may be Computer Science 91r).

In item 3, a computationally-oriented thesis on a Mind, Brain, and Behavior-related topic is required. Students pursuing thesis research may want to enroll in Computer Science 91r under item 1d.

Students pursuing the computational neuroscience track are assigned an adviser in the field and are expected to participate in the University-wide Mind, Brain, and Behavior research milieu, including a non-credit senior year seminar for Mind, Brain, and Behavior thesis writers. To participate in the MBB track, students must both complete the Computer Science concentration plan of study and register at the beginning of every academic year on the MBB website: mbb.harvard.edu/undergrad/home.html. Interested students should contact the Computer Science liaison to the MBB program, Professor Avrom Pfeffer (avi@eecs.harvard.edu).