3 Questions: Looking to Artemis I for a return to the moon
This week, NASA will attempt to launch the Artemis I mission. Artemis I is an uncrewed test flight that will launch the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and send the Orion spacecraft around the moon and back to test the system and hardware extensively before future flights with astronauts. The first of several missions, Artemis […]
Nonabah Lane, Navajo educator and environmental sustainability specialist with numerous ties to MIT, dies at 46
Nonabah Lane, a Navajo educator and environmental sustainability specialist with numerous MIT ties to MIT, passed away in October. She was 46. Lane had recently been an MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow; MIT Solve 2019 Indigenous Communities Fellow; Department of Urban Studies and Planning guest lecturer and community partner; community partner with the PKG Public […]
3 Questions: Robert Stoner unpacks US climate and infrastructure laws
This month, the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) takes place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, bringing together governments, experts, journalists, industry, and civil society to discuss climate action to enable countries to collectively sharply limit anthropogenic climate change. As MIT Energy Initiative Deputy Director for Science and Technology Robert Stoner attends the conference, […]
From B1G to little
My undergraduate university couldn’t be much more different from MIT. Penn State is a school of 50,000 students in a small town surrounded by farmland. The campus culture centers around varsity sports, and grad students make up a small minority of the student population. MIT is home to approximately 12,000 students, a majority of whom […]
MIT PhD students shed light on important water and food research
One glance at the news lately will reveal countless headlines on the dire state of global water and food security. Pollution, supply chain disruptions, and the war in Ukraine are all threatening water and food systems, compounding climate change impacts from heat waves, drought, floods, and wildfires. Every year, MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Water and […]
David Autor
Ice hockey may not be the first hobby that jumps to mind when it comes to economists, but MIT Professor of Economics David Autor has proudly captained his department’s intramural hockey team for several years. Autor readily admits that the team he leads is downright terrible (and that he brings down the average!), but that’s […]
Advancing the energy transition amidst global crises
“The past six years have been the warmest on the planet, and our track record on climate change mitigation is drastically short of what it needs to be,” said Robert C. Armstrong, MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) director and the Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering, introducing MITEI’s 15th Annual Research Conference. At the symposium, participants from […]
3 Questions: Supporting student veterans at MIT
Last spring, Liam Gale joined the MIT Office of the Vice Chancellor’s staff in a newly created role to provide services geared for student veterans and their families. As the program administrator for the Student Veteran Success (SVS) office, he helps them navigate the MIT and United States Veterans Affairs landscapes and develops programming to […]
Professor Emeritus Louis Braida, speech and hearing scientist and hearing aid innovator, dies at 79
Louis Braida, the Henry Ellis Warren (1894) Professor Emeritus in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), died Sept. 2. He was 79. Braida was a principal researcher in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and a faculty member in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), which is housed in […]
Non-sense or non-science?
Imagine a group of people falling into a deep ditch. Some make ladders to climb their way out. Others wait for floods to fill the ditch and then swim their way out. Many others mimic these survivors, but fail to escape the ditch. Instead, they complain about why they don’t have that luck to escape, […]
Doctoral Long-Term Financial Hardship Funding: FAQs
If you have questions about long-term financial hardship assistance, browse these FAQs or contact GradSupport directly. Reach the GradSupport team by emailing gradsupport@mit.edu. We are here to help! General questions Application process Special circumstances
Why the 2022 elections might determine the future of democracy in the US
Voters need to pay attention to races up and down the ballot — especially to more obscure county-level contests — to protect democracy, panelists said during an Oct. 12 discussion titled “Why the 2022 Elections May Determine the Future of Democracy in the U.S.” While national and congressional races get the most attention, voters may […]
Liang Fu and Patrick Lee receive Larkin Awards in Theoretical Physics
MIT condensed matter theory professors of physics Liang Fu and Patrick A. Lee received the inaugural Larkin Awards in Theoretical Physics, awarded by the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Minnesota. Fu received the 2022 Anatoly Larkin Award for a junior researcher for his work on 3D topological insulators and odd-parity topological […]
Geophysicist Leigh Royden looks at Earth from the top down
The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has counted some of the greatest scientists in history among its ranks. Founded in 1652, and named in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, the scientific organization has included among its members Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Alexander von Humboldt, and Charles Darwin, to name a few. But […]
Community members greet MIT’s 18th president
On a warm, sunny afternoon last Thursday, MIT’s community gathered under a tent on Hockfield Court to meet the Institute’s next president, Sally Kornbluth. Amid a festive, celebratory atmosphere that included live music and fall treats, Kornbluth soaked in MIT’s culture; chatted with faculty, students, and staff; heard from members of MIT leadership; and took […]
Biological Engineering Admissions Webinar
Join faculty and graduate students to learn about Biological Engineering at MIT and learn about our PhD application process. Please register to receive the Zoom Link.
Pesticide innovation takes top prize at Collegiate Inventors Competition
On Oct. 12, MIT mechanical engineering alumnus Vishnu Jayaprakash SM ’19, PhD ’22 was named the first-place winner in the graduate category of the Collegiate Inventors Competition. The annual competition, which is organized by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, celebrates college and university student inventors. Jayaprakash won for his pesticide innovation AgZen-Cloak, which he […]
Frank Sidney Jones, professor emeritus of urban affairs, dies at 93
Frank Sidney Jones, professor emeritus in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), passed away on Aug. 28 at the age of 93. In 1971, Jones was named Ford Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning, becoming the first African American to be tenured at MIT. He also taught courses in civil engineering. From his […]
3 Questions: How AI image generators could help robots
AI image generators, which create fantastical sights at the intersection of dreams and reality, bubble up on every corner of the web. Their entertainment value is demonstrated by an ever-expanding treasure trove of whimsical and random images serving as indirect portals to the brains of human designers. A simple text prompt yields a nearly instantaneous […]
Seven with MIT ties receive awards from the American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) recently honored a number of individuals with ties to MIT with prizes and awards for their contributions to physics. They include: Institute Professor Arup Chakraborty; associate professors Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruiz and Lina Necib; Yuan Cao SM ’16 PhD ’20; Alina Kononov ’14; Elliott H. Lieb ’53; Haocun Yu PhD ’20; and several […]
Artsy at thirty
When I turned 30 on August 6th, I had a feeling that this is my decade. I don’t know why, but I was quite excited, unlike many who might feel daunted by this age milestone. I, however, had a feeling that this is THE decade; the one in which I will discover myself and figure […]
Math enthusiasts take aim at STEM glass ceiling
A good math problem is like a walled, secret garden, according to Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) head and MIT Professor Asu Ozdaglar, who was addressing an audience of middle and high school female-identifying mathematics contestants at the 14th annual Math Prize for Girls (MP4G) event. “Many people walking around the outside […]
Doubling down on sustainability innovation in Kendall Square
From its new headquarters in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, The Engine is investing in a number of “tough tech” startups seeking to transform the world’s energy systems. A few blocks away, the startup Inari is using gene editing to improve seeds’ resilience to climate change. On the MIT campus nearby, researchers are working on groundbreaking innovations […]
Celebrating the life of undergraduate Mohamed Magdi Taha
Mohamed Magdi Taha, an undergraduate student in Course 6-9 (Computation and Cognition) passed away in August. A native of California and Khartoum, Sudan, the rising junior and New Vassar resident was passionate about social justice issues, had deep love for his home country and family, and had a penchant for writing and studying poetry. Writing […]
Toward compassion and equity
Ice hockey may not be the first hobby that jumps to mind when it comes to economists, but MIT professor of economics David Autor has proudly captained his department’s intramural hockey team for several years. Autor readily admits that the team he leads is downright terrible (and that he brings down the average!), but that’s […]
Finding community in high-energy-density physics
Skylar Dannhoff knew one thing: She did not want to be working alone. As an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University, she had committed to a senior project that often felt like solitary lab work, a feeling heightened by the pandemic. Though it was an enriching experience, she was determined to find a graduate school […]
On campus, a warm welcome for MIT’s next president, Sally Kornbluth
Incoming MIT President Sally Kornbluth greeted members of the Institute community at a campus event on Thursday afternoon, outlining her vision and values, and thanking everyone for the reception she has enjoyed. “The warmth and welcome I’ve received from all of you at MIT has been incredible,” said Kornbluth, speaking to a large audience in […]
Sally Kornbluth is named as MIT’s 18th president
Sally A. Kornbluth, a cell biologist whose eight-year tenure as Duke University’s provost has earned her a reputation as a brilliant administrator, a creative problem-solver, and a leading advocate of academic excellence, has been selected as MIT’s 18th president. Kornbluth, 61, was elected to the post this morning by a vote of the MIT Corporation. […]
Reprogrammable materials selectively self-assemble
While automated manufacturing is ubiquitous today, it was once a nascent field birthed by inventors such as Oliver Evans, who is credited with creating the first fully automated industrial process, in flour mill he built and gradually automated in the late 1700s. The processes for creating automated structures or machines are still very top-down, requiring […]
“Drawing Together” is awarded Norman B. Leventhal City Prize
“Drawing Together,” a social and ecological resilience project in New York City, has been awarded the 2022 Norman B. Leventhal City Prize. The project is a collaboration between MIT faculty, researchers, and students, and Green City Force (GCF), a nonprofit organization in New York City that trains young people for careers with a sustainability focus […]
Remarks by President-Elect Sally Kornbluth to the MIT community
The following remarks were given by President-Elect Sally Kornbluth to a gathering of community members in room 10-250 on Thursday, Oct. 20. Thank you, Madam Chair, for the warm introduction. And thank you also for the careful and thorough way that you led the search process, and for the outstanding questions you and your colleagues posed. […]
Do it now. Seek help now.
Mental illness is not unfamiliar to many MIT graduate students. People as smart as typical MIT students, when placed under that much pressure, are bound to have it. Look beyond three feet in front of you, and you’ll find evidence of it: that friend you haven’t seen in two weeks, long lines at MIT Mental […]
Ad hoc committee releases report on remote teaching best practices for on-campus education
The Ad Hoc Committee on Leveraging Best Practices from Remote Teaching for On-Campus Education has released a report that captures how instructors are weaving lessons learned from remote teaching into in-person classes. Despite the challenges imposed by teaching and learning remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, the report says, “there were seeds planted then that, we […]
Five with MIT ties elected to the National Academy of Medicine for 2022
On October 17, the National Academy of Medicine announced the election of 100 new members to join their esteemed ranks. MIT faculty members Laura L. Kiessling ’83 and Mark Bear were among the new members, along with MIT alumni Krishna Shenoy SM ’92, PhD ’95 and David Tuveson ’87. Martin Burke, a former student in […]
Unlocking the mysteries of how neurons learn
When he matriculated in 2019 as a graduate student, Raúl Mojica Soto-Albors was no stranger to MIT. He’d spent time here on multiple occasions as an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, including eight months in 2018 as a displaced student after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Those experiences — including participating in […]
Developing community around design
When the creation of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) — a major interdisciplinary center housed in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) — was announced last spring, it promised to build on the Institute’s legendary leadership in design-focused education and provide a hub for cross-disciplinary design work across MIT. The 14 […]
