PAOC offers its students unique opportunities for interdisciplinary study and research in atmospheres, oceans, and climate. In all areas we emphasize a combination of theoretical, observational and modeling approaches. The phenomena under study are complex and involve many scientific disciplines including geophysics, geochemistry, physical and chemical oceanography, biogeochemical cycles, meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, and planetary science. Perhaps more than any other program in the world, students are exposed to, and can receive instruction in, all these principal areas.
Students not only have access to world class researchers and their laboratories within PAOC and EAPS, but also benefit from the milieu of the wider MIT community. Moreover, due to our partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, students benefit from a vast expertise in oceanography and advanced sea-going capabilities enabling them to participate in field programs all over the world.