Award shines a spotlight on local science journalism
Local reporting is a critical tool in the battle against disinformation and misinformation. It can also provide valuable data about everything from environmental damage derived from questionable agribusiness practices to the long-term effects of logging on communities. Reporting like this requires more than just journalistic chops. It needs a network that can share these important […]
Solving complex problems with technology and varied perspectives at Sphere Las Vegas
Something new, large, and round has dominated the Las Vegas skyline since July: Sphere. After debuting this summer, the state-of-the-art entertainment venue became instantly recognizable thanks to pictures and videos on social media and Reddit. Some of the most viral posts depict the 580,000-square-foot, fully programmable LED Exosphere projecting a giant yellow emoji that smiles, […]
Getfit, MIT Health’s winter exercise challenge, turns 20 in 2024
“Getfit” isn’t a command, but rather a friendly challenge from MIT Health (formerly MIT Medical) to spend the cold months exercising with a group of people you choose in any way you choose. This year, the popular winter fitness program is celebrating its 20th year. What began as a goal-oriented exercise incentive for MIT Health […]
An (MIT) Room with a View
I did not pick the lab I joined based on the view. But my desk, and everyone else’s in the lab, which is situated on the 2nd floor of building 68, overlooks Hockfield Court. As a coveted area of green space between Buildings 66, 68, 76, and the Stata, the Court serves as a bustling […]
Soaring high, in the Army and the lab
Starting off as a junior helicopter pilot, Lt. Col. Jill Rahon deployed to Afghanistan three times. During the last one, she was an air mission commander, the pilot who is designated to interface with the ground troops throughout the mission. Today, Rahon is a fourth-year doctoral student studying applied physics at the Department of Nuclear […]
Reasoning and reliability in AI
In order for natural language to be an effective form of communication, the parties involved need to be able to understand words and their context, assume that the content is largely shared in good faith and is trustworthy, reason about the information being shared, and then apply it to real-world scenarios. MIT PhD students interning with […]
3 Questions: Renaud Fournier on transforming MIT’s digital landscape
Renaud Fournier SM ’95 joined the Institute in September 2023 in the newly established role of chief officer for business and digital transformation and is leading a team focused on simplifying business operations and systems for the MIT community. Fournier has extensive experience implementing systems and solving data challenges, both in higher education and the […]
3 Questions: Implementing the MIT Graduate Student Union’s collective bargaining agreement
When eligible MIT graduate students voted to be represented by a union in April 2022, the decision set in motion significant changes in the graduate student ecosystem at the Institute. Moving forward, graduate students in the Graduate Student Union (GSU)’s bargaining unit — about 3,500 research assistants, teaching assistants, and instructors-G — will be represented […]
This nonprofit is proving that creating good jobs is good business
There’s a widely held belief that in order for places like retail stores, restaurants, and fulfillment centers to be successful, they need to squeeze everything they can out of frontline workers and offer as little in return as possible. This extends beyond offering low pay to include irregular schedules, minimal benefits, no real career paths, […]
Michael John Gorman named MIT Museum director
MIT has appointed Michael John Gorman the Mark R. Epstein (Class of 1963) Director of the recently re-imagined MIT Museum. Gorman replaces longtime museum director John Durant, who stepped down in 2023. Originally from Ireland, Gorman is the founding director of BIOTOPIA – Naturkundemuseum Bayern in Munich, Germany, a newly established innovative center and museum […]
Three honored with 2023 School of Science teaching prizes
The MIT School of Science has announced the winners of its 2023 Teaching Prizes for Graduate and Undergraduate Education. The prizes are awarded to School of Science faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching. Winners are chosen from nominations by their students or colleagues. Roger Levy, a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive […]
Food for thought
MIT graduate student Juana De La O describes herself as a food-motivated organism, so it’s no surprise that she reaches for food and baking analogies when she’s discussing her thesis work in the lab of undergraduate officer and professor of biology Adam Martin. Consider the formative stages of a croissant, she offers, occasionally providing homemade […]
Juana De La O: Food for thought
MIT graduate student Juana De La O describes herself as a food-motivated organism, so it’s no surprise that she reaches for food and baking analogies when she’s discussing her thesis work in the lab of undergraduate officer and professor of biology Adam Martin. Consider the formative stages of a croissant, she offers, occasionally providing homemade […]
Richard Wiesman, professor of the practice in mechanical engineering, dies at age 69
Richard M. Wiesman ’76, SM ’76, PhD ’83, a professor of the practice in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), died on Sunday, Jan. 7. He was 69. A technology innovator and leader who saw many complex engineering systems reach the marketplace, Wiesman’s work spanned from laboratory development to field deployment. His broad skills […]
The future of motorcycles could be hydrogen
MIT’s Electric Vehicle Team, which has a long record of building and racing innovative electric vehicles, including cars and motorcycles, in international professional-level competitions, is trying something very different this year: The team is building a hydrogen-powered electric motorcycle, using a fuel cell system, as a testbed for new hydrogen-based transportation. The motorcycle successfully underwent […]
3 Questions: A new home for music at MIT
More than 1,500 students enroll in music classes each year at MIT. More than 500 student musicians participate in one of 30 on-campus ensembles. In spring 2025, to better provide for its thriving musical program, MIT will inaugurate its new music building, a 35,000-square-foot three-volume facility adjacent to Kresge Auditorium. The new building will feature […]
Inclusive research for social change
Pair a decades-old program dedicated to creating research opportunities for underrepresented minorities and populations with a growing initiative committed to tackling the very issues at the heart of such disparities, and you’ll get a transformative partnership that only MIT can deliver. Since 1986, the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) has led an institutional effort to […]
MIT community members elected to the National Academy of Inventors for 2023
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) recently announced the election of more than 160 individuals to their 2023 class of fellows. Among them are two members of the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Professor Daniel G. Anderson and Principal Research Scientist Ana Jaklenec. In addition, 11 MIT alumni were also recognized. The highest professional […]
Positive Procrastination
I think procrastination gets a bad rep. It’s something you’re meant to grow out of and certainly, as a busy graduate student, there’s no time to procrastinate. Well, I think procrastination is really misunderstood and should not have an immediate negative connotation. When you don’t feel like doing something, there is often a reason why. […]
Culturally informed design: Unearthing ingenuity where it always was
Pedro Reynolds-Cuéllar, an MIT PhD student in both media arts and sciences and art, culture, and technology (ACT), explores how technology and culture intersect in spaces often overlooked by mainstream society, stretching beyond the usual scope of design research. A former lecturer and researcher at MIT D-Lab with experience in robotics, Reynolds-Cuéllar is an ACT […]
The creative future of generative AI
Few technologies have shown as much potential to shape our future as artificial intelligence. Specialists in fields ranging from medicine to microfinance to the military are evaluating AI tools, exploring how these might transform their work and worlds. For creative professionals, AI poses a unique set of challenges and opportunities — particularly generative AI, the […]
Leveraging language to understand machines
Natural language conveys ideas, actions, information, and intent through context and syntax; further, there are volumes of it contained in databases. This makes it an excellent source of data to train machine-learning systems on. Two master’s of engineering students in the 6A MEng Thesis Program at MIT, Irene Terpstra ’23 and Rujul Gandhi ’22, are […]
Winter break activities & connections
Note: If you need support while the Institute is closed, please don’t hesitate to use these resources. Free or discounted tickets to museums and arts events Take some time to feed your soul! MITAC (MIT Activities Committee) and Arts Access offer discounted tickets to concerts, museums, theater performances, ski lift tickets, and more. Your local […]
Need support while OGE is closed for the winter break?
The Institute is closed from December 25-January 1, but there are still resources available if you need help! Don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the people below. Searching for social connection or things to do? Take a look at this article for free or affordable ideas, tailored for you as a graduate student. […]
MIT community in 2023: A year in review
The year 2023 saw the turning of a new page for MIT, as the Institute welcomed its 18th president. MIT also saw the opening of new and renovated spaces, launched a new “Dialogues Across Difference” speaker series, and celebrated a Nobel Prize, Turing Award, National Medals of Technology and Science, and many more honors for […]
Minicourse open to the MIT community gives context to the Middle East crisis
MIT community members can learn more about the Israel-Hamas conflict through a recently developed online course organized by Middle East and North Africa (MENA)/MIT at MIT’s Center for International Studies. The three-session course, titled “Israel, Palestine, Gaza before and after October 7: Understanding historical context and contrasting narratives,” was first held between Nov. 29 and […]
A flexible solution to help artists improve animation
Artists who bring to life heroes and villains in animated movies and video games could have more control over their animations, thanks to a new technique introduced by MIT researchers. Their method generates mathematical functions known as barycentric coordinates, which define how 2D and 3D shapes can bend, stretch, and move through space. For example, […]
Navy officer deepens her engineering and leadership skills at MIT
Trained to be a leader even as a child, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Asia Allison is acquiring a new level of expertise as a graduate student at MIT — and a new approach to technical leadership in the Daniel J. Riccio Graduate Engineering Leadership (GradEL) program. “The Navy has a need for engineering leaders,” Allison says. […]
“MIT can give you ‘superpowers’”
Speaking at the virtual MITx MicroMasters Program Joint Completion Celebration last summer, Diogo da Silva Branco Magalhães described watching a Spider-Man movie with his 8-year-old son and realizing that his son thought MIT was a fictional entity that existed only in the Marvel universe. “I had to tell him that MIT also exists in the […]
Hearing Amazônia: MIT musicians in Manaus, Brazil
On Dec. 13, the MIT community came together for the premiere of “We Are The Forest,” a documentary by MIT Video Productions that tells the story of the MIT musicians who traveled to the Brazilian Amazon seeking culture and scientific exchange. The film features performances by Djuena Tikuna, Luciana Souza, Anat Cohen, and Evan Ziporyn, with […]
How to make an apartment a home
So you’ve just survived the Boston housing process and signed a lease on a cozy new apartment. Now what? While moving can feel like a daunting task at first, it really isn’t as bad as it seems. Take it from someone who’s moved 8 times within the past 5 years. Whether it was for school, […]
Have something to say or share? Then blog about it!
Hi MIT Grads! The MIT Graduate Admissions Blog is excited to announce its upcoming IAP workshop on blog writing. In brief, Attend a 2-day blogging workshop: January 17th and 19th, 11am-1pm. Write one blog submission Earn $100 upon completion of post Continue writing for the blog and earn $100 per piece Your work will be eligible […]
Three MIT students selected as inaugural MIT-Pillar AI Collective Fellows
MIT-Pillar AI Collective has announced three inaugural fellows for the fall 2023 semester. With support from the program, the graduate students, who are in their final year of a master’s or PhD program, will conduct research in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science with the aim of commercializing their innovations. Launched […]
Angela Belcher delivers 2023 Dresselhaus Lecture on evolving organisms for new nanomaterials
“How do we get to making nanomaterials that haven’t been evolved before?” asked Angela Belcher at the 2023 Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture at MIT on Nov. 20. “We can use elements that biology has already given us.” The combined in-person and virtual audience of over 300 was treated to a light-up, 3D model of M13 […]
Leaves, accommodations, and time off
Please see the pages in this section for more information about Childbirth Accommodation and Parental Accommodation; Leave for US National Service; Medical leave; and Personal leave. The summary below helps graduate students understand their eligibility for various types of academic and employment leaves, accommodations, and other time off. Specifically, the information below provides a high-level […]
MIT campus goals in food, water, waste support decarbonization efforts
With the launch of Fast Forward: MIT’s Climate Action Plan for the Decade, the Institute committed to decarbonize campus operations by 2050 — an effort that touches on every corner of MIT, from building energy use to procurement and waste. At the operational level, the plan called for establishing a set of quantitative climate impact […]
