Mind/Brain/Behavior offers a secondary field open to any undergraduate. Students may consider the secondary wholly independently from their concentration studies, or may wish to integrate their course choices in their concentration and their secondary. Completion of the MBB secondary field will be noted on student transcripts.


Join our Mailing List!

If you plan to pursue the MBB secondary field, or are considering doing so, please sign up for the MBB mailing list, ideally as a first-year or sophomore. This is often the only way MBB knows who its students are, and allows us to keep you informed of important policies, events, and other opportunities.


Requirements

Five half-courses are required. All must be taken for a letter grade, and only one may overlap with concentration coursework.

1. Psychology 1: Introduction to Psychological Science (generally recommended first year)
2. Neuroscience 80: Neurobiology of Behavior, also listed as Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) 80, (generally recommended sophomore year)
3. Interdisciplinary Seminar, selected from a list that varies each year. (recommended junior year)
4. Two Mind/Brain/Behavior Courses, selected from a list that varies each year.
   Note: By prior petition, MBB courses may include courses taken abroad or during the summer, undergraduate courses not on the list, or graduate courses.

Although the MBB secondary does not require a senior thesis, if you are planning to write a thesis in your home concentration that relates to mind/brain/behavior, you are eligible to apply for the Mary Gordon Roberts MBB Summer Thesis Fellowship.

You are also encourage to take part in the annual MBB junior symposium and are welcome to joint the student organization the Harvard Society for Mind/Brain/Behavior (HSMBB).


Advising

Shawn Harriman can answer general questions, and will sign the official secondary field paperwork once the required courses have been completed. Feel free to contact him by e-mail, either to ask him a question or to schedule an appointment.

Students are also strongly encouraged to meet with MBB faculty to discuss their interests and course options, and MBB has created a Board of Faculty Advisors to provide you with general advice, about the kinds of courses you might take, about MBB and its constituent disciplines, methodologies, and questions; about how to become involved in MBB research; and about career development. Board members are listed on the MBB advising page.


Registering for the Secondary Field (Registrar)

The College requires you to register officially for your secondary field via my.harvard. To do that, follow the instructions at https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=529e5ecadb6f4f04a914fff31d96190c. You may register any time after you have declared a concentration in your sophomore year, and must do so no later than your degree application deadline in the second semester of your senior year. This year, the deadline is Monday, April 1st for May and November 2024 degree candidates. The registrar has been very strict about these deadlines, and it is your responsibility to register on time.

Completing the Secondary Field (MBB)

Once you have enrolled in courses that will complete your MBB secondary, you should complete and submit your MBB Secondary Information Form linked from the bottom of this page. This form gives us information about you and your studies, which we will use to give the registrar a final approval of your secondary field and to plan our senior recognition ceremony. The course record to be attached to this form does not need to be an official transcript. MBB should receive this form by Friday, April 1st if you will graduate in May or November 2024.