For the past three summers, MIT master’s students and recently graduated planners have collaborated with cities and community organizations to advance climate, infrastructure, and economic development initiatives. They’re known as the Freedom Summer Fellows, participants in an impact-driven program launched in 2023 by the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), an expression of […]
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In a study focused on New York City, MIT researchers have shown that existing sensors and mobile data can be used to generate a near real-time, high-resolution picture of auto emissions, which could be used to develop local transportation and decarbonization policies. The new method produces much more detailed data than some other common approaches, […]
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QS World University Rankings has placed MIT in the No. 1 spot in 12 subject areas for 2026, the organization announced today. The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Civil and Structural Engineering; Computer Science and Information Systems; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Electrical and Electronic […]
Read More QS World University Rankings has placed MIT in the No. 1 spot in 12 subject areas for 2026, the organization announced today. The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Civil and Structural Engineering; Computer Science and Information Systems; Data Science and Artificial Intelligence; Electrical and Electronic […]
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Could a three-hour workshop on an advanced materials analysis technique turn someone into a detective — or perhaps an art restorer? At MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms in late January, about a dozen students explored that possibility during an Independent Activities Period (IAP) workshop on Raman spectroscopy, a technique that uses laser light to […]
Read MoreThe following is a joint announcement from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Hasso Plattner Institute, and Hasso Plattner Foundation. The MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD), MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), and Hasso Plattner Foundation celebrated the launch of the MIT and HPI AI […]
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MIT researchers have spent more than a decade studying techniques that enable robots to find and manipulate hidden objects by “seeing” through obstacles. Their methods utilize surface-penetrating wireless signals that reflect off concealed items. Now, the researchers are leveraging generative artificial intelligence models to overcome a longstanding bottleneck that limited the precision of prior approaches. […]
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Professor John Ochsendorf, a member of the MIT faculty since 2002, is taking on a new role in support of the research efforts of faculty and students in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P). At the start of this year, Ochsendorf was appointed to lead an initiative strengthening research strategy, support, and funding […]
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Young adults growing up in the attention economy — preparing for adult life, with social media and chatbots competing for their attention — can easily fall into unhealthy relationships with digital platforms. But what if chatbots weren’t mere distractions from real life? Could they be designed humanely, as moral partners whose digital goal is to […]
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Joseph Paradiso thinks that the most engaging research questions usually span disciplines. Paradiso was trained as a physicist and completed his PhD in experimental high-energy physics at MIT in 1981. His father was a photographer and filmmaker working at MIT, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and the MITRE Corporation, so he grew up in a house where artists, […]
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Each April in Japan, people participate in a tradition called “hanami,” or cherry-blossom viewing, where they picnic under the blooming trees. The tradition has a second purpose: The presence of people at these gatherings, often by water, helps solidify riverbanks and protect them from spring floods. The celebration has a dual purpose, by addressing, however […]
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One of the best forms of heat relief is pretty simple: trees. In cities, as studies have documented, more tree cover lowers surface temperatures and heat-related health risks. However, as a new study led by MIT researchers shows, the amount of tree cover varies widely within cities, and is generally connected to wealth levels. After […]
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Large language models (LLMs) have been championed as tools that could democratize access to information worldwide, offering knowledge in a user-friendly interface regardless of a person’s background or location. However, new research from MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication (CCC) suggests these artificial intelligence systems may actually perform worse for the very users who could most […]
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In many academic circles, innovation is imagined as a lab-to-market pipeline that travels through patent filings, venture rounds, and coastal research hubs. But a growing movement inside U.S. universities is pushing students toward a different frontier: solving real engineering problems alongside rural communities whose challenges directly shape national food security. A compelling example of this […]
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The 2026 Times Higher Education World University Ranking has ranked MIT first in three subject categories: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences, repeating the Institute’s top spot in the same subjects in 2025. The Times Higher Education World University Ranking is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education, a leading British […]
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Early in the 1969 film “Midnight Cowboy,” Dustin Hoffman, playing the character of Ratso Rizzo, crosses a Manhattan street and angrily bangs on the hood of an encroaching taxi. Hoffman’s line — “I’m walking here!” — has since been repeated by thousands of New Yorkers. Where cars and people mix, tensions rise. And yet, governments […]
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Before the thrill of victory; before the agony of defeat; before the gold medalist’s national anthem plays, there is the Olympic torch. A symbol of unity, friendship, and the spirit of competition, the torch links today’s Olympic Games to its heritage in ancient Greece. The torch for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games and Paralympic […]
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For people who are at high risk of developing breast cancer, frequent screenings with ultrasound can help detect tumors early. MIT researchers have now developed a miniaturized ultrasound system that could make it easier for breast ultrasounds to be performed more often, either at home or at a doctor’s office. The new system consists of […]
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