Overview
Harvard and MIT Jointly Offer a Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Human Communication
Human communication involves a complex interplay of neural, biomechanical, acoustic and cognitive systems. The Harvard-MIT program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology (SHBT) is a tight-knit research community dedicated to multidisciplinary training in basic, clinical, and applied approaches to the study of all aspects of human communication and the treatment of its disorders.
The program is administered by the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and leads to a PhD degree awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). On average, it takes five years to complete a PhD degree in SHBT.
SHBT Students Benefit from Interdisciplinary Study and a Community of Individuals with Diverse Perspectives
The Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology faculty includes physicists, biologists, psychologists, linguists, clinicians, neurophysiologists, and engineers from a variety of disciplines. This group works with approximately fifty SHBT students at various stages in their doctoral work, and operates out of more than twenty different labs at Harvard, MIT, Boston University and the Harvard teaching hospitals.
The broad range of disciplines and locations represented in this relatively small, close-knit community makes the SHBT learning experience truly interdisciplinary. PhD candidates agree that the most valuable part of the degree program is the ability to experience such a wide array of perspectives on problem-solving: Linguists learn from engineers, and vice versa. Both faculty and students provide multiple perspectives and contribute to mutual broadening of approaches to solving problems related to speech and hearing.
Hands-On Clinical Training Is an Integral Part of the Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Program
The Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology program is one of several multidisciplinary graduate programs within the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). For more than 35 years, HST has provided exceptional training at the interface of science, engineering, and clinical medicine. In this tradition, the SHBT program features a strong quantitative orientation, hands-on experience in clinical settings, and a focused, interdisciplinary research project. The curricula and faculty of other HST degree programs provide SHBT students with an expansive view of science and its relationship to clinical practice and biomedical industries.
During their first year, students gain broad exposure to clinical issues and practice, as well as a solid foundation in an integrated set of core subjects. They also encounter a range of research labs that take different approaches to solving problems in speech and hearing. Because students participate directly in research, their classroom learning comes to life.
Students form strong, durable ties with their classmates, building a network of contacts they can call upon throughout their careers. They establish further ties across classes through work in individual labs and through the many social gatherings the students organize themselves. SHBT students enjoy great flexibility in shaping their concentration area, following the completion of the core subjects. We encourage students to cultivate their own special interests, consistent with the objectives of the program.
Students Have Access to Harvard's and MIT's World-Class Research Faculty and Facilities
The research training resources available to Harvard-MIT Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology program doctoral students include laboratories at MIT, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals, as well as a number of other speech and hearing research labs in the Boston area. Students have full access to the libraries and other educational resources of both Harvard and MIT.
Access to resources operated by a number of institutions increases the research opportunities available to students and underscores the collaborative value of the SHBT program.
Faculty and Students Undergo Research Projects in Every Area of Human Communication
The faculty's diverse research interests range across speech, hearing, voice, language, and balance.
Current thesis research subjects include: basic studies on motor control or acoustics of speech production and laryngeal function; clinical studies of the human voice and voice disorders; the mechanics, biophysics, physiology, and molecular biology of the middle and inner ear; the mechanisms underlying acquired or genetic disorders of hearing; neurophysical, neurophysiological, pyschophysical or modeling approaches to study the neural codes and circuitry underlying auditory central processing; neuroimaging approaches to study the mechanisms underlying tinnitus; cognitive neuroscience approaches to study language processing; and designing, developing, and improving hardware and software systems such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, vestibular prostheses or automatic speech-recognition algorithms.
