25 Years of MIT Presidential Fellows
On October 15, 2024, the Office of Graduate Education and Chancellor Melissa Nobles hosted the 25th Presidential Fellows Reception. MIT established this prestigious program of Presidential Fellowships to recruit the most outstanding students worldwide to pursue graduate studies at the Institute. Within this year’s cohort, there were 143 fellows representing all five schools at MIT […]
New internal website: GradCentral
In response to administrator feedback, we are making strides to centralize important information for administrators and faculty supporting graduate students. To accomplish that goal, the OGE has built a new site: MIT GradCentral. Content GradCentral will be an administrator’s first stop for many key resources: The site is launching with initial available content, but will […]
Med is dead
Mediterranean Gannet. Now, to anyone outside of the close-knit community of MIT Sloan, that phrase makes almost no sense. Gannets live nowhere near the Mediterranean! At Sloan, a regular conversation among new students goes as follows: What ocean are you? Oh! I’m Caribbean (or one of the 5 other “oceans”) What’s your bird group? Penguin! […]
Misinformation is all around. How can we combat it?
Political misinformation is a hard problem. False statements pervade contemporary politics, sowing division and distrust, and making it harder for society to operate on the basis of fact and law. Even in matters of health and medicine, where people would seem to have a strong self-interest in knowing the facts, problems such as vaccine misinformation […]
Seven with MIT ties elected to National Academy of Medicine for 2024
The National Academy of Medicine recently announced the election of more than 90 members during its annual meeting, including MIT faculty members Matthew Vander Heiden and Fan Wang, along with five MIT alumni. Election to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine […]
General Fellowships Overview Webinar 3
Why are fellowships great? What is the application process? What are the types of resources available? Highlight: Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund Fellowship, Regeneron Prize, and OGE Competitive Fellowships.
The beauty of Boston’s bánh mìs
There’s no sandwich more beautiful than the humble bánh mì. Part of its beauty lies in the sandwich’s symphony of flavors and textures: savory, sour, sweet, spicy, umami, crunchy, soft, and tender, all at the same time. But another part comes from what the sandwich represents. Between the baguette buns hides a rich history and […]
2024 MIT Virtual Graduate Fair
This will be an opportunity for prospective students to meet with representatives from our 46 academic graduate programs, learn about summer research opportunities at MIT or explore life at MIT and the Boston/Cambridge Area. Tap into the Mind + Hand of MIT and find out what makes us uniquely us!
Using spatial learning to transform math and science education
Legend has it that Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head, sparking a bout of scientific thinking that led to the theory of gravity. It’s one of the most famous stories in science, perhaps because it shows the power of simple human experiences to revolutionize our understanding of […]
The TA Chronicles: Being volunteered as tribute
There exists a poignant event in the career of all PhD students that truly tests their mettle… Come to think of it, there are actually many of these – but there’s one in particular that fills me with a little extra anxiety. I’m talking about none other than the dreaded teaching assistant (TA) assignment. Depending […]
Dr Anthony Jack book talk: Class Dismissed
On October 9th, the Office of Graduate Education and the Office of Undergraduate Advising co-hosted best selling author and Boston University professor Dr. Anthony Jack to discuss his newest book, Class Dismissed. In order to accommodate both employees and students’, MIT hosted two separate events. The first event was a professional development opportunity open to […]
MIT economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson share Nobel Prize
MIT economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson PhD ’89, whose work has illuminated the relationship between political systems and economic growth, have been named winners of the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Political scientist James Robinson of the University of Chicago, with whom they have worked closely, also shares the award. […]
My brat summer turned out to be very demure, very mindful
My Instagram DMs witnessed an overwhelming inpour of the ‘Go Kylie Go’ reels from well-meaning friends. I’d bombarded their WhatsApp chats with the horror stories of being unable to add my Forex card to Uber, almost missing my flight, forgetting to pack my toothpaste, and trying to make friends while jet-lagged in a new country. […]
Mixing joy and resolve, event celebrates women in science and addresses persistent inequalities
For two days at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, participants in the Kuggie Vallee Distinguished Lectures and Workshops celebrated the success of women in science and shared strategies to persist through, or better yet dissipate, the stiff headwinds women still face in the field. “Everyone is here to celebrate and to […]
MIT Energy and Climate Club mobilizes future leaders to address global climate issues
One of MIT’s missions is helping to solve the world’s greatest problems — with a large focus on one of the most pressing topics facing the world today, climate change. The MIT Energy and Climate Club, (MITEC) formerly known as the MIT Energy Club, has been working since 2004 to inform and educate the entire […]
Cooking made easy
My jaw dropped when I heard: “Can I join you for dinner every night until my quals next Friday? I don’t want to think about anything other than my research presentation, and I know anything you cook will be good.” My friend and I both think going straight from the lab to the dorm after […]
Teen uses pharmacology learned through MIT OpenCourseWare to extract and study medicinal properties of plants
Tomás Orellana, a 17-year-old high school student in Chile, had a vision: to create a kit of medicinal plants for Chilean school infirmaries. But first, he needed to understand the basic principles of pharmacology. That’s when Orellana turned to the internet and stumbled upon a gold mine of free educational resources and courses on the […]
Applying risk and reliability analysis across industries
On Feb. 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth, killing all seven astronauts on board. The tragic incident compelled NASA to amp up their risk safety assessments and protocols. They knew whom to call: Curtis Smith PhD ’02, who is now the KEPCO Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Science […]
Victor Ambros ’75, PhD ’79 and Gary Ruvkun share Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
MIT alumnus Victor Ambros ’75, PhD ’79 and Gary Ruvkun, who did his postdoctoral training at MIT, will share the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced this morning in Stockholm. Ambros, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and Ruvkun, a professor at Harvard […]
MIT Mondays
MIT Mondays is a new series of webinars moderated by Senior Associate Dean Denzil Streete on the journey to graduate education. These sessions will offer different perspectives from current MIT graduate students as they tell their stories of finding their way to MIT. There is no linear path to graduate education! MIT Mondays highlight the […]
On technology in schools, think evolution, not revolution
Back in 1913 Thomas Edison confidently proclaimed, “Books will soon be obsolete in the public schools.” At the time, Edison was advocating for motion pictures as an educational device. “Our school system will be completely changed inside of 10 years,” he added. Edison was not wrong that video recordings could help people learn. On the […]
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Celebrating the people behind Kendall Square’s innovation ecosystem
While it’s easy to be amazed by the constant drumbeat of innovations coming from Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sometimes overlooked are the dedicated individuals working to make those scientific and technological breakthroughs a reality. Every day, people in the neighborhood tackle previously intractable problems and push the frontiers of their fields. This year’s Kendall […]
General Fellowships Overview Webinar 2
Why are fellowships great? What is the application process? What are the types of resources available? Highlight: DOE CSGF/SSGF, HHMI Gilliam, and Martin Family Fellows.
Celebrating National Student Parent Month (Week 4)
Happy National Student Parent Month! This month, the Office of Graduate Education is featuring one graduate student parent per week, highlighting their academic work and parenting journey at MIT. This is the last student parent feature of the month, but you can check out the previous weeks’ features. Matthew Webb Family: Wife, Rachel, and three […]
MIT launches new Music Technology and Computation Graduate Program
A new, multidisciplinary MIT graduate program in music technology and computation will feature faculty, labs, and curricula from across the Institute. The program is a collaboration between the Music and Theater Arts Section in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS); Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) in the School of Engineering; […]
The mountains you didn’t know you needed
It was 10 pm on an inconsequential day in February when a friend texted me, “What if we went hiking tonight?” Deep in a notorious junior-year thermodynamics assignment, I picked up my phone to turn him down, as I had so many times before, with so many people. There was no question that I needed […]
MAS Virtual Open House
Hear more about the Media Arts and Sciences program from MAS staff, faculty, & current students. The event will give you some insight into what it is like to be an MAS student, how to prepare your application materials, hear directly from research groups, and ask any questions!
MIT named No. 2 university by U.S. News for 2024-25
MIT has placed second in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s best colleges and universities, announced today. As in past years, MIT’s engineering program continues to lead the list of undergraduate engineering programs at a doctoral institution. The Institute also placed first in six out of nine engineering disciplines. U.S. News placed MIT […]
GradThriving
GradThriving is designed to foster the holistic well-being and academic success of MIT graduate students. Our mission is to create an environment where students not only survive, but thrive in their academic and personal lives. This new unit will bring together existing and expanding services: Straightforward access to what you needOne unit makes it simpler […]
VPF Fall Tax Workshop for Graduate Students
The VPF Tax team is holding a Tax Workshop for Graduate Students on Thursday, October 10, 2024 featuring presentations prepared by the VPF Tax and HR/Payroll teams. Open to all MIT graduate students, regardless of residency or citizenship status. No registration is required.
MIT course helps researchers crack secrets of ancient pottery
Jennifer Meanwell carefully placed a pottery sherd — or broken fragment of ceramic — under the circular, diamond-coated blade of a benchtop saw. “Cutting the sample is the first big step,” says Meanwell, a lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. She was leading a lab in making thin sections of […]
Improving biology education here, there, and everywhere
When she was a child, Mary Ellen Wiltrout PhD ’09 didn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a K-12 teacher. Growing up in southwestern Pennsylvania, Wiltrout was studious with an early interest in science — and ended up pursuing biology as a career. But following her doctorate at MIT, she pivoted toward education […]
Liftoff: The Climate Project at MIT takes flight
The leaders of The Climate Project at MIT met with community members at a campus forum on Monday, helping to kick off the Institute’s major new effort to accelerate and scale up climate change solutions. “The Climate Project is a whole-of-MIT mobilization,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in her opening remarks. “It’s designed to focus […]
Bridging the heavens and Earth
When Jared Bryan talks about his seismology research, it’s with a natural finesse. He’s a fifth-year PhD student working with MIT Assistant Professor William Frank on seismology research, drawn in by the lab’s combination of GPS observations, satellites, and seismic station data to understand the underlying physics of earthquakes. He has no trouble talking about […]
