WHAT IS LS 50: INTEGRATED SCIENCE
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| Integrated Curriculum | Hands-on experience | Learning Support |
| Analytical, experimental, and simulation-based approaches to the life sciences enmeshed with the math, physics, chemistry, and computer science topics that explain them. | Learn the ropes in wet lab and programming bootcamps, then join a Harvard lab to conduct original research during freshman year. | A team of fourteen enthusiastic instructors shepherd twenty-five students through a challenging, fast-paced curriculum. |
WHAT IS LS 50: INTEGRATED SCIENCE?
This is LS50! LS50 Hype Video LS50 Highlights Reel Video
LS 50 is a small, year-long, double course that will introduce you to biology, chemistry, computing, math, and physics as the inseparable components that make up the toolkit that modern scientists use to frame, tackle, and
solve the fundamental questions about the world around us. We focus on the life sciences to integrate the concepts and methods you will learn. Thus questions we will ask include: How can collections of molecules that obey the laws of physics and chemistry produce tiny, but enormously complicated self-replicating machines? How do these machines receive, interpret, and act on information from their environment? And how do these machines evolve to acquire new properties?
In addition to a curriculum of roughly 100 lectures in a wide variety of topics in biology (from structural biology, through cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry to neuroscience, evolution and the origin of life), statistical mechanics, chemistry, dynamical systems, network theory, bioinformatics, and stochastic processes, you will engage in original research projects in throughout the year. Early involvement in science will help you assess your interests in research while applying new analytical, experimental, and simulation-based approaches under real-world conditions.
You can explore the course's subject matter through the list of lecture titles. You can also learn more about the course instructors on the biography page. If you're a current LS 50 student looking for the page containing course materials, please click here.
WHAT PREPARATION DO I NEED?
Much less than you might think. We want you to be jazzed about science, prepared to work hard, and ready for a big and exciting educational challenge. We don't need you to have gone to a fancy high school with state-of-the-art labs, spent summers at science camps, or done internships in research labs. Some of the teachers in this course went to distinctly below-average high schools and the only thing we will assume is that you know the elements of calculus and that you're prepared to learn a lot of other stuff. Each of you will undoubtedly have moments of thinking that you are wildly unprepared for a particular part of the course and being convinced that you can't learn the material. As scientists we get that feeling too when we make discoveries that take us into new areas and we find people who know about them and ask them to help us muddle through. As long as you reach out, the same strategy will work for you.
Speaking more formally, Harvard's placement tests offer some guide to whether you and LS50 will be a good fit for each other. If your scores on the math placement test recommend Math 18 and above, the math in LS50 lies within your grasp. If you are recommended to take Math 1b it probably does and you're welcome to come and talk to us; last year 7 of the 20 students who took LS50 were recommended to take Math 1b and all of them thrived in LS50. It's not a requirement that you take Harvard's Chemistry or Biology placement tests, but if you did, students who have taken LS50 have typically scored above 500 on both tests.
HOW BIG A COMMITMENT WILL I BE MAKING?
As a freshman, you take 8 classes distributed over two semesters. This course counts for four of those classes, so it's half your academic effort for your freshman year. We're not trying to mount a year-long hazing ritual, but we will expect you to work hard in return for the effort that the faculty and teaching fellows are investing to develop a new and ambitious course. You will have lectures five days a week.
You will work in small teams to perform original research, working on one project in the fall and another in the spring.
If you join LS 50, you will likely be unable to take introductory physics sequences in mechanics and electromagnetism because of scheduling issues. You may also find it challenging to balance the LS 50 workload with additional math courses (although previous LS50 students have done this and survived!). Don't worry: delaying physics and math sequences until sophomore year will not prevent you from concentrating in math or physics if you later choose to do so. In fact, since LS 50 will expose you to quantitative approaches and demonstrate the value of math and physics in the life sciences, we hope you will be motivated to try a more challenging sequence (e.g., Ph 15abc rather than PS 2/3) than you would have attempted as a freshman.
WHAT WILL I LEARN AND HOW MANY FACTS WILL I HAVE TO REMEMBER?
Many students enter college having concluded that doing well in biology (and sometimes chemistry) is largely a question of remembering and regurgitating a series of poorly-connected facts. Our goal is to teach you the c
oncepts and tools that you need to understand and do science. We believe three things: (i) the concepts and tools are far more important than any trivia nugget, (ii) no scientific discipline exists in a vacuum, nor should it be taught that way, because (iii) you will retain useful information and apply it creatively if you appreciate its relationship to the subjects you care about.
From a practical perspective, you can expect to learn most of the concepts in LS 1a and LS1b (a traditional freshman life sciences sequence) and Math 19a (Modeling and differential equations for the life sciences), as well as selected topics from physics, computer science, and probability. LS 50a fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning with Data requirement of the Harvard College Curriculum. LS 50 may fulfill math, research course, or elective requirements specific to your concentration, but we hope that LS 50 will be only the first of many science and math courses and research experiences for you at Harvard!
ARE WE GOING TO BE COMPETING WITH OR COLLABORATING WITH EACH OTHER?
Despite scientists’ reputation for being poorly socialized, competitive nerds who don't like making eye contact, science is a surprisingly social and collaborative mutual obsession. We talk to each other and work together because we have a common struggle, harvesting small nuggets of knowledge about how the world works. We'll encourage you to do the same. For tests you'll have to work alone so that you (and we) can figure out how you're doing, and for problem sets we'll ask you to talk about ideas and concepts with each other as much as you want, but tell you that you have to sit down and write on your own, again to make sure that you understand what you understand and what you haven't yet grasped.
HOW HARD WILL I HAVE TO WORK AND WILL I STRUGGLE?
Hard and yes.
"But I thought you said it wasn't a hazing ritual.”
It's not, but our goal is to make you the best young scientists you can be, and that will require substantial effort from you and us. As much as we've tried to pare the things you need to be able to understand and do science down to the bare essentials, there's still a lot to learn. And since, in science as in life, failure tends to be as effective a teacher as success, you will often end up failing before you succeed. You'll struggle because however much you've loved and learnt about science, it's very unlikely that you will walk into this course already knowing everything that it will attempt to teach you. Some of you will know a lot of biology and a little physics, and you'll be scared of and struggle with the physics, and some of you will be the reverse. Because your backgrounds will vary like this, we want you to help each other.
You can read about what previous students have said about LS50 in the CUE GUIDE. Their responses are remarkably uniform: LS50 is challenging and they had to work hard but they enjoyed the experience, learnt a lot, and valued the connections they made with each other and with the faculty, teaching fellows, and course assistants (current Harvard undergrads who were LS50 students last year or the year before).
IS THERE A LAB FOR THE COURSE AND WILL WE BE ABLE TO DO OUR OWN RESEARCH?
Yes, the course will have labs and our goal is to make sure that you never do an experiment whose outcome you can look up because someone else has done it before. You will do project research as follows; AY2024-2025 - Fall term: SUBJECT TBD with INSTRUCTOR TBD, and Spring term: SUBJECT TBD with INSTRUCTOR TBD. After you've been trained in basic procedures and lab safety and have demonstrated that you're capable of working independently, you'll have access to the labs anytime when other courses aren't using them. We expect that you'll spend roughly four to six hours per week in lab.
WILL IT BE A PROBLEM IF I'VE NEVER DONE MY OWN RESEARCH BEFORE?
No. Everyone does research in their everyday life, without realizing it, because they use evidence from the world around them to formulate and test hypotheses. Some of you will have entered every science fair that was available since your were six and others will never have entered a single one, either because science hadn't caught your fancy or because you were too busy doing other things. Our experience is that how much research you've done before getting to college isn't a very good predictor of how much you'll either enjoy or succeed at research in college.
IS THIS COURSE A SMOOTH, WELL-OILED MACHINE?
Not exactly. This course is still fairly new, and we will be teaching it for the fifth time this year, which means that you should be grateful to the guinea pigs who participated in the first four years, but you will still be part of an educational experiment, since we will be trying to improve the course on the basis of their suggestions and our observations. On the plus side, this means that the faculty and teaching fellows are especially excited about th
e course, and you will have a level of contact with them that is often rare for freshmen. On the minus side, despite the past years' experience and this year's advance planning, we will undoubtedly have minor crises and have to make mid-course adjustments.
Both during this year and in changes we make for coming years, we hope you will work with us to give us honest feedback, make suggestions, and brainstorm about how to teach science effectively. Our long term ambition is to export the idea of teaching science as an integrated subject more broadly and you can help us achieve that goal.
WHAT NEXT? LIFE AFTER LS 50
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After LS 50, you'll be poised for all sophomore-level coursework in the life sciences. A few of the many possibilities are highlighted at left. |
Ma 23ab | Linear algebra and real analysis |
| Stat 110/111 | Probability and statistics | |
| PS 1 or PS 11 | General chemistry | |
| Ch 20/30 | Organic chemistry | |
| Ch 160 | Quantum-based physical chemistry | |
| Ph 15abc | Mechanics, electromagnetism, and waves | |
| MCB 60 | Cellular biology | |
| MCB 80 | Neurobiology | |
| OEB 53 | Evolutionary biology |
HOW WILL I PROGRESS THROUGH MY GRADUATION/CONCENTRATION/PRE-MEDICINE REQUIREMENTS?
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Concentrations which have confirmed requirements fulfilled by LS 50: |
The short answer is that we're in discussion with concentrations now to determine which requirements LS 50 will satisfy. In the cluster of nine Life Science concentrations, LS 50 will most likely satisfy requirements that include LS 1a, LS 1b, some sophomore biology requirements, and part of the requirements for math and physics. In concentrations outside the life sciences, LS 50 will introduce you to concepts you will use in your concentrations, but there will be fewer individual courses (except for concentrations that require biology courses) that it will satisfy. As we finish our conversations with various concentrations, we will update this information. Of course, we hope that you'll be excited to continue in math, physics, and research after taking LS 50! |
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Neuroscience |
LS 1a, LS 1b, one "intermediate biology" requirement, and one mathematics course |
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Molecular and Cellular Biology |
LS 1a, LS 1b, Ma 19a, and a "research course* |
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Chemical and Physical Biology |
LS 1a, LS 1b, Ma 19a, and a "research course* |
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Integrative Biology |
LS 1a, LS 1b, and two "related fields" requirements (e.g., math and physics) |
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Human Development and Regenerative Biology |
LS 1a, LS 1b, and one mathematics course |
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Human Evolutionary Biology |
LS 1a and LS 1b |
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Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology |
LS 1a and LS 1b |
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Biomedical Engineering |
LS 1a and LS 1b |
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Engineering Sciences (SB) |
LS 1a and LS 1b |
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Engineering Sciences (AB), Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering |
LS 1a |
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Statistics |
Taking LS 50 (for both terms) fulfills LS1a, LS1b, and Ma 19a |
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* We are hopeful that students will get excited about research and take additional research courses such as 100r, 91r, and thesis (99) later. |
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WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Check out the LS50 FAQ. If you are still unsure and want to hear more about this course, reach out to some students who have previously taken it. Send them an email here to ask your questions or ask to meet with someone.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
We may have a table at the Academic Fair on DATE TBD, from TIME TBD under the Science Center Plaza Tent where you can ask questions and meet some staff. Or, drop into one of the two LS50 Informational Zoom Sessions as follows:
Session 1: DAY, DATE & TIME TBD EDT -
Topic: LS50 Info Session
Join Zoom meeting: Link To Be Provided
Password: TBD
● Prof attendees TBD and Course Assistants
Session 2: DAY, DATE & TIME TBD EDT -
Topic: LS50 Info Session
Join Zoom meeting: Link To Be Provided
Password: TBD
● Prof attendees TBD and Course Assistants
You can raise questions or concerns speaking with instructors and former students.
HOW DO I GET IN?
LS 50: Integrated Science has room for approximately 30-40 students (freshmen only, no exceptions). We encourage you to complete our survey form by 11:59 PM EDT on Monday, August 26th. You don't have to do this to take the course, but if you do and you want to talk to us about the course, it means we already have some information about you to help guide the conversation.
Initially, we held a lottery and then had a wait list for those who didn't lottery into the class. We have always been able to give everyone on the wait list a chance to take LS50, since then we have been doing things differently. Until registration, we may hold the class in a larger room, and everyone who is interested is welcome to come, but we ask you to email us (ls50harvard@gmail.com) either to tell us that you want to take the class, or to tell us, if you later change your mind, that you don't. Whether or not you complete the survey, if you are sure you want to take this course, YOU MUST 1) send an email expressing your interest/intent, 2) petition to enroll in my.Harvard.edu, 3) wait to see if we have to hold a lottery or if your petition is approved, and 4) remember to enroll once your petition has been approved in order to be considered and included if we have to hold a lottery. Completing the course survey to provide info so we have some background info on you is voluntary and not required, but very helpful to us.
If we have more than 40 students petition to take LS50, we'll hold a lottery to select no more than 40 students and notify you by email. Given that enrollment has ranged between 25 and 40 students, it is likely that we will have room for everyone who wants to take LS50. Classes begin on Tuesday, September 3rd.
If you would like to learn more about the course (beyond what you can find here and on the official course website (https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/136886) before the fall semester begins, contact us at ls50harvard@gmail.com if you have any questions.
HOW TO PETITION FOR LS50 AND HOW A LOTTERY WILL WORK
LS50 has room for 40 students all of whom must be freshmen. If more than 40 students want to take the course, we will hold a lottery to determine who is allowed to enroll. To indicate your intention to enroll, you go to my.Harvard.edu and attempt to register for LS50. This will generate a petition to take the course and the petition will appear on the Worklist of the course head. You can make sure you have petitioned correctly by checking to see if you can see an orange clock next to the course name on my.Harvard after you start trying to enroll.
What will happen next depends on how many students petition:
1) If 40 or fewer students petition, we will approve all the petitions, thus allowing those students to enroll and take the course.
2) If more than 40 students petition by 11:59 PM EDT on Monday, August 26th, we will hold a lottery by 5:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, August 27th, approve the petitions of 40 students, and email those who will unable to enroll. All selected enrollees will be approved and accepted by Thursday, August 29th.
Some notes:
a) Please do not petition until you have decided you want to take the class; when you petition, it has no influence on the lottery, which is done using a random number generator.
b) If you petition and then decide you don’t want to take LS50, email ls50harvard@gmail.com to tell us. If you don’t, you may keep someone else from enrolling.
c) If you are having trouble generating the petition, check that your freshman advisor has released the Hold that keeps you from registering for courses.
d) If we have a lottery and your petition is approved, you must then formally enroll to be part of the class.
e) If we have to lottery, we will notify the 5 people who came closest to being able to take LS50, asking if they want to audit the course for the first week in case some of the enrolled students decide to drop the course. Apart from this procedure, we do not allow students to audit LS50.
f) Because it’s a real lottery, you needn’t fill out anything for the petition text.
The petition to enroll in LS50a in my.Harvard should be by 11:59 PM on Monday, August 26th. This would give us Tuesday, August 27th, to hold the lottery if necessary and make notifications. Thus allowing students to formally enroll, or make alternate course selections, by the Registration Deadline.
WHAT IF I NEED TO DROP LS 50?
We recognize that LS 50 is an ambitious undertaking. We strive to support our students through office hours, recitation sections, collaborative work on problem sets in study groups, peer tutoring, and on-on-one discussions. However, we will do our best to ease the transition of students who choose to leave LS 50. Freshmen are required to enroll in three letter-graded courses per semester, so students leaving LS 50 will need to enroll in at least one additional class (we recommend LS 1a and/or an appropriate math course). Transferring to another course becomes more challenging as the term progresses, so please speak with us as your concerns arise.