Topics in Computational and Systems Biology
A graduate seminar from MIT's Initiative in Computational and Systems Biology (CSBi), built entirely around discussion of research papers rather than lectures. Readings are chosen to illustrate central problems and methods in computational and systems biology, spanning the intersection of biology, engineering, and computer science, and to give students a framework for evaluating new work in the field. The course is one of the core subjects in MIT's CSB PhD program, aimed at students pursuing interdisciplinary training in modeling complex biological systems. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus and reading list used to structure weekly paper discussions. There are no video lectures; the format assumes active participation in analyzing and critiquing primary literature. It suits students who already have some grounding in biology or computation and want exposure to how the field's open problems are actually framed and argued over in the research itself.