MIT School of Science

The MIT School of Science is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The school is composed of 6 academic departments and grants S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. or Sc.D degrees. The current Dean of Science is Professor Michael Sipser. With approximately 300 faculty members, 1200 graduate students, 1000 undergraduate majors, the school is the second largest at MIT. 16 faculty members and 16 alumni of the school have won Nobel Prizes.

The Department of Biology (Course VII) began as a department of natural history in 1871.

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Course IX) began as the Department of Psychology in 1964.

The Department of Chemistry (Course V) was one of the original departments when MIT opened in 1865.

The Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (Course XII or EAPS) traces its origins to the establishment of MIT by the eminent geologist William Barton Rogers in 1861. Before distinguishing himself as the University’s founder and first president, Rogers was a professor of natural philosophy and chemistry. He also served as State Geologist of Virginia, which explains why geology courses have been taught at MIT for more than a century.

In 1983, EAPS was formed through the merger of two MIT departments: the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, which grew out of the first geology courses, and the Department of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, which had its roots in the meteorology courses that first emerged at MIT in 1941.

Today, EAPS offers an expansive range of scientific study unlike any other in the country. The department seeks to understand the fundamental workings of natural systems by examining physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring across a vast spectrum of time and space. Their highly integrated research requires direct observation as well as modeling, and the department thrives on interdisciplinary ventures that open new avenues of exploration.

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