News & Stories

MIT in the media: 2025 in review

“At MIT, innovation ranges from awe-inspiring technology to down-to-Earth creativity,” noted Chronicle, during a campus visit this year for an episode of the program. In 2025, MIT researchers made headlines across print publications, podcasts, and video platforms for key scientific advances, from breakthroughs in quantum and artificial intelligence to new efforts aimed at improving pediatric health […]

Post-COP30, more aggressive policies needed to cap global warming at 1.5 C

The latest United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) concluded in November without a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and without significant progress in strengthening national pledges to reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions. In aggregate, today’s climate policies remain far too unambitious to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, setting the […]

MIT Solve announces 2025 Global Challenges

MIT Solve has launched its 2025 Global Challenges, calling on innovators worldwide to submit transformative, tech-driven solutions to some of the planet’s most pressing and persistent problems. With over $1 million in funding available, selected innovators have a unique opportunity to scale their solutions and gain an influential network. “In an era where technology is transforming […]

When learning at MIT means studying thousands of miles away

This summer, a group of MIT students traveled to Sicily’s southeastern coast to learn about threats to local communities related to sea level rise. They visited ancient archeological sites that are in danger of being wiped out, and worked with local college students on preservation and adaptation techniques. This past January, another group of MIT […]

How to tackle the global deforestation crisis

Imagine if France, Germany, and Spain were completely blanketed in forests — and then all those trees were quickly chopped down. That’s nearly the amount of deforestation that occurred globally between 2001 and 2020, with profound consequences. Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, producing between 6 and 17 percent of global greenhouse gas […]

Unlocking global research potential

In today’s interconnected world, fostering global collaboration is essential in addressing complex challenges and advancing scientific progress. The Global Seed Funds (GSF) program at the MIT Center for International Studies continues to be a vital catalyst, enabling MIT faculty to engage in cross-border collaborations, fueling groundbreaking research projects, and resulting in innovative solutions. Since its […]

Q&A: Three Tata Fellows on the program’s impact on themselves and the world

The Tata Fellowship at MIT gives graduate students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research and work with real-world applications in developing countries. Part of the MIT Tata Center for Technology and Design, this fellowship contributes to the center’s goal of designing appropriate, practical solutions for resource-constrained communities. Three Tata Fellows — Serena Patel, Rameen Hayat […]

Bringing sustainable and affordable electricity to all

When MIT electrical engineer Reja Amatya PhD ’12 arrived in Rwanda in 2015, she was whisked off to a village. She saw that diesel generators provided power to the local health center, bank, and shops, but like most of rural Rwanda, Karambi’s 200 homes did not have electricity. Amatya knew the hilly terrain would make […]

3 Questions: Noah Nathan and Ariel White on Global Diversity Lab summer internships

In June and July, the Global Diversity Lab (GDL) in the Department of Political Science hosted its first GDL Summer Research Program. Pathways@GDL is aimed at broadening the pipeline into U.S. political science PhD programs. Four current undergraduates from U.S. universities and two current master’s students at African universities mixed research assistant work and their own independent research projects, professionalizing their […]

System tracks movement of food through global humanitarian supply chain

Although more than enough food is produced to feed everyone in the world, as many as 828 million people face hunger today. Poverty, social inequity, climate change, natural disasters, and political conflicts all contribute to inhibiting access to food. For decades, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) has been […]