News & Stories

President Kornbluth shares message about the violence in Israel and Gaza

Empowering students to bring change in the Middle East

Growing up as a shy kid in Palestine, Joseph Michael didn’t have much exposure to computer science. As a result, he couldn’t see how it applied to his life. But in 2018, at the age of 14, Michael joined the Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET), a three-year, Jerusalem-based program that brings together promising young […]

Fellowship program empowers Nigerian academics to transform engineering education in their local universities

Empowering the Teachers (ETT), a program launched at MIT in 2011, is helping to change the face of engineering education in Nigerian universities. The program brings talented Nigerian academics at the postdoctoral level to MIT for a semester-long immersive experience, then sends them back out into the field to teach, research, and grow into influential […]

One scientist’s journey from the Middle East to MIT

“I recently exhaled a breath I’ve been holding in for nearly half my life. After applying over a decade ago, I’m finally an American. This means so many things to me. Foremost, it means I can go back to the the Middle East, and see my mama and the family, for the first time in […]

Nicole Wilson: The politics of a shifting middle class in Nigeria

Before her time at MIT, Nicole Wilson worked as a research assistant for two graduate students studying informal trade in Lagos, Nigeria. She was quickly captivated by the nation’s vibrant commercial center, with its population of nearly 22 million. “I had never spent more than a week or two out of the country, but I […]

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 […]

In new French class, MIT students serve as jury members of US Goncourt Prize

MIT’s French+ Initiative was recently designated as a “Center of Excellence in French Studies” by the Embassy of France, during a 2022 campus visit by Philippe Etienne, then-ambassador of France to the United States. The French+ Initiative gathers scholars working across the humanities and social sciences at MIT whose research and teaching center on the […]

Making life friendlier with personal robots

“As a child, I wished for a robot that would explain others’ emotions to me” says Sharifa Alghowinem, a research scientist in the Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group (PRG). Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Alghowinem says she dreamed of coming to MIT one day to develop Arabic-based technologies, and of creating a robot that could […]

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 […]

Apekshya Prasai: Up in arms

Although women’s wartime roles and agency tend to be neglected in conventional discourses on conflict, there are times when women not only take up arms but also shape the practices and policies of insurgent groups they fight for. Apekshya Prasai, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Political Science, studies how rebel groups subvert entrenched […]