Owen Coté, military technology expert and longtime associate director of the...
Owen Coté PhD ’96, a principal research scientist with the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP), passed away on June 8 after battling cancer. He joined SSP in 1997 as associate director, a role he held...
View ArticleMelissa Choi named director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Melissa Choi has been named the next director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, effective July 1. Currently assistant director of the laboratory, Choi succeeds Eric Evans, who will step down on June 30 after...
View ArticleThe rules of the game
At the core of Raymond Wang’s work lies a seemingly simple question: Can’t we just get along?Wang, a fifth-year political science graduate student, is a native of Hong Kong who witnessed firsthand the...
View ArticlePioneering the future of materials extraction
The next time you cook pasta, imagine that you are cooking spaghetti, rigatoni, and seven other varieties all together, and they need to be separated onto 10 different plates before serving. A colander...
View ArticleResearchers study differences in attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines between...
While many studies over the past several years have examined people’s access to and attitudes toward Covid-19 vaccines, few studies in sub-Saharan Africa have looked at whether there were differences...
View ArticleMIT SHASS announces appointment of new heads for 2024-25
The MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) has announced several changes to the leadership of its academic units for the 2024-25 academic year.“I’m confident these outstanding...
View Article“The dance between autonomy and affinity creates morality”
MIT philosophy doctoral student Abe Mathew believes individual rights play an important role in protecting the autonomy we value. But he also thinks we risk serious dysfunction if we ignore the...
View ArticleLarge language models don’t behave like people, even though we may expect...
One thing that makes large language models (LLMs) so powerful is the diversity of tasks to which they can be applied. The same machine-learning model that can help a graduate student draft an email...
View ArticleCollaborating to advance LEADing-edge digital financial infrastructure
MIT’s Laboratory for Economic Analysis and Design (LEAD) has been awarded a 400,000-euro grant from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a German service provider...
View ArticleBalancing economic development with natural resources protection
It’s one of the paradoxes of economic development: Many countries currently offer large subsidies to their industrial fishing fleets, even though the harms of overfishing are well-known. Governments...
View ArticleGroundbreaking poverty alleviation project expands with new Arnold Ventures,...
J-PAL North America, a regional office of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), will significantly expand its work to conduct rigorous research and strengthen evidence-based policymaking...
View ArticleSchool of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences welcomes nine new faculty
Dean Agustín Rayo and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences recently welcomed nine new professors to the MIT community. They arrive with diverse backgrounds and vast knowledge in their...
View Article3 Questions: Preparing students in MIT’s naval ROTC program
Being able to say, “I fly helicopters” — specifically the Seahawk series that boast a maximum cruise elevation of 10,000 feet and 210 miles per hour — must be a great conversation starter. So must...
View ArticleRisk, culture, and control
Some people think the world is wildly unpredictable, and are glad insurance can handle the risk and uncertainty they face. Other people believe their destiny is written in the stars, and consult a...
View ArticleLincoln Laboratory and National Strategic Research Institute launch student...
The following announcement was released jointly by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the National Strategic Research Institute.MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at...
View Article3 Questions: From the bench to the battlefield
Pursuing an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program project (or two or three) is a quintessential part of the academic experience at MIT. The program, known as UROP, allows students to be “shoulder...
View ArticleMaking a measurable economic impact
How do you measure the value of an economic policy? Of an aid organization’s programming? For Saeed Miganeh, who completed an MITx MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy and is now...
View ArticleNurturing success
The start and finish of a degree program are pivotal moments in the lives of MIT's graduate students. In her first three years in MIT’s Department of Political Science, professor Mariya Grinberg’s...
View ArticleStudy: EV charging stations boost spending at nearby businesses
Charging stations for electric vehicles are essential for cleaning up the transportation sector. A new study by MIT researchers suggests they’re good for business, too.The study found that, in...
View ArticleEnabled by a significant gift, MIT’s Security Studies Program launches the...
MIT’s Security Studies Program has received a $45 million gift from The Stanton Foundation to expand its leading work on the vital issue of global nuclear security.The support will allow the program to...
View ArticleMeet the 2024 tenured professors in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and...
In 2024, eight faculty were granted tenure in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. They include the following:Dwaipayan Banerjee is an associate professor in the Program in Science,...
View ArticleHow social structure influences the way people share money
People around the globe often depend on informal financial arrangements, borrowing and lending money through social networks. Understanding this sheds light on local economies and helps fight...
View ArticleAI simulation gives people a glimpse of their potential future self
Have you ever wanted to travel through time to see what your future self might be like? Now, thanks to the power of generative AI, you can.Researchers from MIT and elsewhere created a system that...
View ArticleQ&A: A new initiative to help strengthen democracy
In the United States and around the world, democracy is under threat. Anti-democratic attitudes have become more prevalent, partisan polarization is growing, misinformation is omnipresent, and...
View Article3 Questions: Bridging anthropology and engineering for clean energy in Mongolia
In 2021, Michael Short, an associate professor of nuclear science and engineering, approached professor of anthropology Manduhai Buyandelger with an unusual pitch: collaborating on a project to...
View ArticleThe changing geography of “energy poverty”
A growing portion of Americans who are struggling to pay for their household energy live in the South and Southwest, reflecting a climate-driven shift away from heating needs and toward air...
View ArticleMixing joy and resolve, event celebrates women in science and addresses...
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...
View ArticleMIT 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...
View ArticleMIT linguist Irene Heim shares Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy
Linguist Irene Heim, professor emerita in MIT’s Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, has been named a co-recipient of the 2024 Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy.Heim shares the award with...
View ArticleHow is the world watching the 2024 US election?
No matter the outcome, the results of the 2024 United States presidential election are certain to have global impact. How are citizens and leaders in other parts of the world viewing this election?...
View ArticleHow cfDNA testing has changed prenatal care
The much-touted arrival of “precision medicine” promises tailored technologies that help individuals and may also reduce health care costs. New research shows how pregnancy screening can meet both of...
View ArticleMisinformation 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...
View ArticleStudy: Hospice care provides major Medicare savings
Hospice care aims to provide a health care alternative for people nearing the end of life by sparing them unwanted medical procedures and focusing on the patient’s comfort. A new study co-authored by...
View ArticleHow examining conflict can be “intellectually serious” and “incredibly fun”
The banging on the tables begins almost immediately.It’s September, and the 53 first-year students in MIT’s Concourse program are debating the pros and cons of capitalism during one of their Friday...
View ArticleEmpowering systemic racism research at MIT and beyond
At the turn of the 20th century, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about the conditions and culture of Black people in Philadelphia, documenting also the racist attitudes and beliefs that pervaded the white society...
View ArticleDespite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent...
Large language models can do impressive things, like write poetry or generate viable computer programs, even though these models are trained to predict words that come next in a piece of text.Such...
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