Master of Science (SM)

The Master of Science (SM) degree in Music Technology and Computation is designed to be completed in two semesters and is only available to MIT students who complete their undergraduate degree and wish to stay for one additional year of graduate study. Students considering the SM degree should already have a strong background in both music and computation—most likely having already taken undergraduate courses in music, computer science, and engineering at MIT.

One semester of fellowship funding is automatically awarded to all students admitted to the program. See “Funding” tier below for more information.

Candidates apply in the fall semester of their senior year. Admission decisions are sent by the end of January and program study begins the following fall.

Applications for enrollment will open on October 15, 2026.

The Master of Science (SM) degree requires 68 units of graduate credit and 24 units of thesis credit. None of these units can double-count towards any undergraduate requirement. In order to have enough time to complete a meaningful research project, we highly recommend that students complete at least 12 units (ideally 24 units) of graduate coursework towards this degree by the end of their senior year.

As a general overview, the SM degree requires:

• 21M.590 Colloquium in Music Technology (2 units, 1 each semester)
• 21M.595 Music Technology and Computation Graduate Seminar (6 units, 3 each semester)
• 21M.THG Graduate Thesis (24 units) 
• 60 units (e.g., 5 x 12-units) of graduate classes related to music technology or approved electives

All students accepted to the program receive one semester of fellowship funding, which includes the cost of tuition, health benefits, and a standard stipend for living expenses.

The fellowship is awarded in the second semester. Paying for the remaining semester is the student’s responsibility. Thus, a funding plan for the first semester must be presented during the application process. Other than self-funding, options for funding the first semester include loans, Teaching Assistantships (TAs), Research Assistantships (RAs), or other fellowships (either internal to MIT or external). A few TAs are available for MIT Music Technology classes, but most must be secured from other departments. The fellowship may be awarded in a student’s first semester only if second semester funding is guaranteed (like a TA appointment). MIT does not offer need-based scholarships to graduate students.

Other funding options are listed below for convenience. Some may not apply in all cases. There may be additional opportunities not listed here.

• RAships from EECS groups may be advertised and be found on the EECS Opportunities List.
• The School of Engineering offers a few competitive fellowships.
• The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) lists several fellowships (MIT-administered, federal, featured external, other external).

Students applying for the Master of Science (SM) degree write a research statement that expounds on the music technology research areas that they would like to pursue. Students should become familiar with the current Music Technology faculty and their areas of interest. Admitted students are then assigned a faculty member to be their thesis advisor. Our current Music Technology thesis advisors are:

• Eran Egozy: interactive music, music gaming, audience participation, and music education systems
• Ian Hattwick: digital instrument design, hardware and sensing, laptop ensembles
• Anna Huang: artificial intelligence, machine learning, human-computer interaction as related to generative music systems and Human-AI creative partnerships
• Mark Rau: instrument acoustics and measurement, physical modeling synthesis, audio signal processing, real-time digital audio effects
• Paris Smaragdis: fundamental audio technologies using signal processing and machine learning for music, acoustics, and hearing perception

Once admitted, students should contact their assigned Music Technology advisor and begin planning for their thesis project. We recommend that students make significant progress on their thesis proposal (a roughly 10-page document) during the summer before the program officially begins and dedicate all of Independent Activities Period (IAP) to their thesis project. While the normal deadline for finishing a thesis is mid-May of the spring semester, students who finish all of their coursework but need additional time to complete their thesis may petition for a summer extension until mid-August with no need to pay additional tuition.