Doctor of Philosophy in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology

Harvard SHBT is an innovative, interdisciplinary doctoral program that trains researchers in basic science, translational medicine, and engineering approaches to the field of human communication. SHBT faculty and students pursue research questions related to auditory neuroscience, signal processing, perception and cognition, and speech-language pathology, combining rigorous training in a range of rigorous scientific disciplines with valuable exposure to clinical practice. Our graduates take on leadership roles in academia and industry, where they work at the forefront of scientific discovery and develop novel biomedical devices and remediation strategies for those affected by disorders of hearing, voice, speech, language, and balance. Some combine research careers with clinical practice in otology, laryngology, audiology, or speech-language pathology. We seek applicants to the program with diverse undergraduate backgrounds in physics, engineering, computer science, biology, neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, audiology, vestibular science, and speech-language pathology. The program is dedicated to recruiting and mentoring a diverse student body, especially from under-represented ethnic, cultural, and hearing-impaired backgrounds.

GSAS welcomes applications for admission from individuals who have or will have by the time of matriculation a BA, BS, or equivalent undergraduate degree (for prospective international students, a three- or four-year undergraduate degree from an institution of recognized standing) and actively seeks applicants from groups historically underrepresented in graduate schools.
Transcripts uploaded to the application
Letters of recommendation
Statement of purpose
Applicants are required to upload transcript copies from each college/university they attended into our online application system: official hard copy/paper transcripts are not required at the time of application.
Applicants who are non-native English speakers and who received their undergraduate degree from an academic institution where English is not the primary language of instruction must prove their English proficiency by earning either a minimum score of 100 on the Internet based test (iBT) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a minimum score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic test.