MIT Faculty Founder Initiative announces three winners of entrepreneurship awards
Patients with intractable cancers, chronic pain sufferers, and people who depend on battery-powered medical implants may all benefit from the ideas presented at the 2023-24 MIT-Royalty Pharma Prize Competition’s recent awards. This year’s top prizes went to researchers and biotech entrepreneurs Anne Carpenter, Frederike Petzschner, and Betar Gallant ’08, SM ’10, PhD ’13.MIT Faculty Founder […]
How a quantum scientist, a nurse, and an economist are joining the fight against global poverty
A trip to Ghana changed Sofia Martinez Galvez’s life. In 2021, she volunteered at a nonprofit that provides technology and digital literacy training to people in the West African country. As she was setting up computers and connecting cables, Martinez SM ʼ23 witnessed extreme poverty. The experience was transformative. That same year, she left her […]
Through econometrics, Isaiah Andrews is making research more robust
When you read about a new study, you may wonder: How accurate are these results? MIT economist Isaiah Andrews PhD ’14 often asks that as well, especially about social sciences research. Unlike most of us, though, Andrews’ job involves answering that question. Andrews, a professor in MIT’s Department of Economics, is an expert in econometrics, […]
Students research pathways for MIT to reach decarbonization goals
A number of emerging technologies hold promise for helping organizations move away from fossil fuels and achieve deep decarbonization. The challenge is deciding which technologies to adopt, and when. MIT, which has a goal of eliminating direct campus emissions by 2050, must make such decisions sooner than most to achieve its mission. That was the […]
A nanotechnologist and a social scientist walk into MIT MechE….
“What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “What’s your research area?” These are, without fail, the first three questions exchanged between MIT Mechanical Engineering grad students who are meeting for the first time. I quickly learned this convention after spending just a few minutes at department orientation events when I first got to campus in […]
Nuh Gedik receives 2024 National Brown Investigator Award
Nuh Gedik, MIT’s Donner Professor of Physics, has been named a 2024 Ross Brown Investigator by the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at Caltech. One of eight awarded mid-career faculty working on fundamental challenges in the physical sciences, Gedik will receive up to $2 million over five years. Gedik will use the award to develop a […]
Advocating for science funding on Capitol Hill
This spring, 26 MIT students and postdocs traveled to Washington to meet with congressional staffers to advocate for increased science funding for fiscal year 2025. These conversations were impactful given the recent announcement of budget cuts for several federal science agencies for FY24. The participants met with 85 congressional offices representing 30 states over two […]
Paid positions available in the Grad Blog community!
Dear grad students, We’re excited to announce that the MIT Grad Blog is searching for several new editors! As you all know, the Grad Blog serves as an avenue for MIT students to share their experiences with peers and prospective students. As an editor, you would help bloggers like you hone their story into a […]
QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2024-25
MIT has again been named the world’s top university by the QS World University Rankings, which were announced today. This is the 13th year in a row MIT has received this distinction. The full 2025 edition of the rankings — published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an organization specializing in education and study abroad — can be […]
All in the family
It’s no news that companies use money to influence politics. But it may come as a surprise to learn that many family-owned firms — the most common form of business in the world — do not play by the same rules. New research by political science PhD candidate Sukrit Puri reveals that “family businesses depart […]
Ten with MIT connections win 2024 Hertz Foundation Fellowships
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation announced that it has awarded fellowships to 10 PhD students with ties to MIT. The prestigious award provides each recipient with five years of doctoral-level research funding (up to a total of $250,000), which allows them the flexibility and autonomy to pursue their own innovative ideas. Fellows also receive lifelong […]
MIT Corporation elects 10 term members, two life members
The MIT Corporation — the Institute’s board of trustees — has elected 10 full-term members, who will serve one-, two-, or five-year terms, and two life members. Corporation Chair Mark P. Gorenberg ’76 announced the election results today. The full-term members are: Nancy C. Andrews, Dedric A. Carter, David Fialkow, Bennett W. Golub, Temitope O. […]
Diane Hoskins ’79: How going off-track can lead new SA+P graduates to become integrators of ideas
For the graduating class of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, the advice they received from their highly accomplished Commencement speaker may have come as a surprise. “The title of this talk is ‘Off Track is On Track,’” said Diane Hoskins ’79, the global co-chair of Gensler, an international architecture, design, and planning firm with 55 […]
Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87 gives new MIT graduates a special assignment
Biotechnology leader Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87 urged the MIT Class of 2024 to “accept impossible missions” for the betterment of the world, in a rousing keynote speech at the OneMIT Commencement ceremony this afternoon. Afeyan is chair and co-founder of the biotechnology firm Moderna, whose groundbreaking Covid-19 vaccine has been distributed to billions of people […]
Commencement address by Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87
Below is the text of MIT alumnus Noubar Afeyan’s Commencement remarks, as prepared for delivery on May 30. Thank you, Mark, for that generous but somewhat embarrassing introduction. President Kornbluth, trustees and faculty, students and families, guests, and members of this remarkable community of scholars and solvers: It’s a special honor to be with you […]
President Sally Kornbluth’s charge to the Class of 2024
Below is the text of President Sally Kornbluth’s Commencement remarks, as prepared for delivery today. Penny, and Mikala — thank you both, for your reflections today, and for your leadership in our community. Good afternoon, everyone. It’s customary, on this day of celebration, for the president to deliver a “charge” to the graduating class. In […]
Modeling the threat of nuclear war
It’s a question that occupies significant bandwidth in the world of nuclear arms security: Could hypersonic missiles, which fly at speeds of least five times the speed of sound, increase the likelihood of nuclear war? Eli Sanchez, who recently completed his doctoral studies at MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), explored these harrowing […]
A Thoreau-ly nice day trip
The idea of a day trip always makes me feel nostalgic of my childhood. I picture a car ride, a picnic, and a day spent in parks or museums. Now, as an adult, I think day trips are also ideal for grad students, since they are mini vacations when you don’t have the time or […]
2024: Alex Schmid & Eppa Rixey
Fourth-year Operations Research PhD student Alex Schmid’s efforts as a teacher in the classroom had a tremendous impact on the learning experience of her students. Schmid has served as a teaching assistant, instructor of record, and session instructor in three courses at MIT, including coordinating an eight-session course as well as designing a workshop for […]
Using art and science to depict the MIT family from 1861 to the present
In MIT.nano’s laboratories, researchers use silicon wafers as the platform to shape transformative technologies such as quantum circuitry, microfluidic devices, or energy-harvesting structures. But these substrates can also serve as a canvas for an artist, as MIT Professor W. Craig Carter demonstrates in the latest One.MIT mosaic. The One.MIT project celebrates the people of MIT […]
A community collaboration for progress
While decades of discriminatory policies and practices continue to fuel the affordable housing crisis in the United States, less than three miles from the MIT campus exists a beacon of innovation and community empowerment. “We are very proud to continue MIT’s long-standing partnership with Camfield Estates,” says Catherine D’Ignazio, associate professor of urban science and […]
MIT scholars will take commercial break with entrepreneurial scholarship
Two MIT scholars, each with a strong entrepreneurial drive, have received 2024 Kavanaugh Fellowship awards, advancing their quest to turn pioneering research into profitable commercial enterprises. The Kavanaugh Translational Fellows Program gives scholars training to lead organizations that will bring their research to market. PhD candidates Grant Knappe and Arjav Shah are this year’s recipients. […]
Measure twice, cut once, then force it to fit
It was during last year’s Independent Activities Period, also popularly known as IAP, when I came across the woodworking class taught by Lee Zamir. I was browsing through classes that were offered during IAP, scouting for fun ones. The woodworking course, offered by Project Manus, caught my eye because it seemed like the polar opposite […]
NSF GRFP Presentation – Prospective and Applying Fellows
We will host a presentation providing an overview of the NSF GRFP at MIT for students looking to apply to the NSF this fall!
Making steel with electricity
Steel is one of the most useful materials on the planet. A backbone of modern life, it’s used in skyscrapers, cars, airplanes, bridges, and more. Unfortunately, steelmaking is an extremely dirty process. The most common way it’s produced involves mining iron ore, reducing it in a blast furnace through the addition of coal, and then […]
2024 MAD Design Fellows announced
Since its launch in 2022, the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) has supported MIT graduate students with a fellowship, allowing recipients to pursue design research and projects while creating community. Pulling from different corners of design, they explore solutions in fields such as sustainability, health, architecture, urban planning, engineering, and social justice. On May […]
Eleven from MIT awarded 2024 Fulbright fellowships
Eleven MIT undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni have won Fulbright grants to embark on projects overseas in the 2024-25 grant cycle. Two other students were offered awards but declined them to pursue other opportunities. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers year-long opportunities for American citizen students and recent […]
Trying to make the grade
As of 2015, about one-third of all 15-year-old students in Latin America lacked rudimentary literacy and math skills, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Those students may have been enrolled in school, but they were not getting an education. “They’re essentially condemned to a life of unskilled jobs,” says MIT professor of […]
Navigating longevity with industry leaders at MIT AgeLab PLAN Forum
How can people better imagine and plan for their future selves? A two-day event hosted at MIT featured two chief executives at the forefront of an emerging industry centered around helping the public prepare for longer lives. Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS, and Penny Pennington, managing partner at Edward Jones, were the opening speakers for […]
Jeong Min Park earns 2024 Schmidt Science Fellowship
Physics graduate student Jeong Min (Jane) Park is among the 32 exceptional early-career scientists worldwide chosen to receive the prestigious 2024 Schmidt Science Fellows award. As a 2024 Schmidt Science Fellow, Park’s postdoctoral work will seek to directly detect phases that could host new particles by employing an instrument that can visualize subatomic-scale phenomena. […]
John Joannopoulos receives 2024-2025 Killian Award
John Joannopoulos, an innovator and mentor in the fields of theoretical condensed matter physics and nanophotonics, has been named the recipient of the 2024-2025 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award. Joannopoulos is the Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics and director of MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. He has been a member of the […]
The MIT Bike Lab: A place for community, hands-on learning
Bianca Champenois SM ’22 learned to ride a bike when she was 5 years old. She can still hear her sister yelling “equal elbows!” as she pushed her off into the street. Although she started young, her love of bikes really materialized when she was in college. Champenois studied mechanical engineering (MechE) at the University […]
Robotic “SuperLimbs” could help moonwalkers recover from falls
Need a moment of levity? Try watching videos of astronauts falling on the moon. NASA’s outtakes of Apollo astronauts tripping and stumbling as they bounce in slow motion are delightfully relatable. For MIT engineers, the lunar bloopers also highlight an opportunity to innovate. “Astronauts are physically very capable, but they can struggle on the moon, […]
3 Questions: Technology roadmapping in teaching and industry
Innovation is rarely accidental. Behind every new invention and product, including the device you are using to read this story, is years of research, investment, and planning. Organizations that want to reach these milestones in the fastest and most efficient way possible use technology roadmaps. Olivier de Weck, the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and […]
Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2024
The National Academy of Sciences has elected 120 members and 24 international members, including five faculty members from MIT. Guoping Feng, Piotr Indyk, Daniel J. Kleitman, Daniela Rus, and Senthil Todadri were elected in recognition of their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.” Membership to the National Academy of Sciences is one of the […]
Professor Emeritus Jerome Connor, pioneer in structural mechanics, dies at 91
Jerome J. Connor ’53, SM ’54, ScD ’59, professor emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a member of the MIT faculty since 1959, died on March 31. He was 91 years old. Over a remarkable career spanning nearly six decades at the Institute, Connor was a prolific scholar and highly respected […]
