News From SHASS

(From left to right): MIT professors Mary Fuller, Paula Hammond, Ann Graybiel, and Sangeeta Bhatia

Women in STEM — A celebration of excellence and curiosity

Dario Salati | Sharece Corner | MindHandHeart

April 16, 2024

An MIT Values event showcased three women's career journeys and how they are paving the way for the next generation.

Situated in the heart of campus on Vassar Street, the central location of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing building will help form a new cluster of connectivity across a spectrum of disciplines in computing and artificial intelligence at MIT.

A crossroads for computing at MIT

Terri Park | MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

April 11, 2024

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing building will form a new cluster of connectivity across a spectrum of disciplines in computing and artificial intelligence.

Left to right: Paulo Lozano, Agustín Rayo, and Griselda Gómez celebrate 20 years of MIT-Mexico with MIT alumni in Mexico City.

MIT-Mexico Program fosters cross-border collaboration

Lisa Capone | Office of the Vice Provost for International Activities | MIT Center for International Studies

April 10, 2024

For two decades, MIT-Mexico has funded student internships and teaching, as well as faculty research collaborations.

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2024

MIT News

April 10, 2024

The Institute also ranks second in five subject areas.

MIT researchers developed a new measure to understand whether homophily occurred in group interactions. Their work can help identify when certain characteristics are important for predicting if groups will interact in the future.

Characterizing social networks

Stephanie Martinovich | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

April 2, 2024

A new method to measure homophily in large group interactions offers insights into how groups might interact in the future.

An aspiring physician, MIT senior Daisy Wang hopes to engineer solutions for social problems that have the potential to effect systemic change.

Designing solutions to ensure equity in health care

Danna Lorch | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 2, 2024

MIT senior Daisy Wang interweaves biological engineering and women’s and gender studies as a way to address social problems.

A new program in the MIT Department of Economics will support predoctoral research fellows working with the department’s junior faculty. Thanks to the new program, predoc Wonjoon Choi (right) will be able to extend his contract with Tobias Salz (left), the Castle Krob Career Development Associate Professor of Economics.

MIT economics to launch new predoctoral fellowship program

Michael Brindley | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

April 2, 2024

Made possible by an ongoing fundraising initiative, the new program prioritizes building resources for economics faculty research.

Economists used new methods to examine how many U.S. jobs have been lost to machine automation, and how many have been created as technology leads to new tasks. On net, and particularly since 1980, technology has replaced more U.S. jobs than it has generated.

Does technology help or hurt employment?

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

April 1, 2024

Combing through 35,000 job categories in U.S. census data, economists found a new way to quantify technology’s effects on job loss and creation.

Most U.S. workers are in occupations that have only emerged widely since 1940, according to a large-scale study of 80 years of U.S. census data, led by MIT economist David Autor.

Most work is new work, long-term study of U.S. census data shows

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

April 1, 2024

The majority of U.S. jobs are in occupations that have emerged since 1940, MIT research finds — telling us much about the ways jobs are created and lost.

 Co-authored by interdisciplinary teams of faculty and researchers affiliated with all five of the Institute’s schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, the proposals offer insights and perspectives on the potential impact and applications of generative AI across a broad range of topics and disciplines.

Second round of seed grants awarded to MIT scholars studying the impact and applications of generative AI

Mary Beth Gallagher | School of Engineering

March 28, 2024

The 16 finalists — representing every school at MIT — will explore generative AI’s impact on privacy, art, drug discovery, aging, and more.

New research by MIT economists shows school quality ratings significantly reflect the preparation of a school’s students, not just the school’s contribution to learning gains.

Is it the school, or the students?

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

March 28, 2024

Study shows perceptions of “good” schools are heavily dependent on the preparation of the students entering them.

The Chuquicamata copper mine in the north of Chile

Understanding the impacts of mining on local environments and communities

Carolyn Blais | Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab

March 21, 2024

Extractive industries threaten water, glaciers, and livelihoods, but new research offers hope.

MIT is one of only eight U.S. colleges with a fully need-blind undergraduate admissions policy that meets the full financial need of all students, and it continues to be focused on making the cost of an MIT education more affordable.

MIT announces financial aid and tuition rates for the 2024–25 academic year

Office of the Vice Chancellor

March 21, 2024

Financial aid increased, more than offsetting a 3.75 percent increase in tuition.

Senior Amber Velez is double-majoring in mechanical engineering and creative writing in history. "I study history to understand what needs to be changed and I write about our world and the ways it can be better," she says.

Forging her own path

Danna Lorch | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

March 21, 2024

By blending mechanical engineering, creative writing, and history studies, senior Amber Velez is discovering new ways of addressing climate change.

MIT provost Cynthia Barnhart (at podium) welcomes the first cohort of Global MIT At-Risk Fellows. Attendees and speakers at the event included (left to right) Suzanne Berger, an MIT Institute Professor; Pascale Laborier, a political scientist who co-developed the related PAUSE exhibit; fellows Kateryna Lopatiuk, Dmytro Chumachenko, and Liudmyla Huliaieva; and Professor Elizabeth Wood (standing in the rear), faculty lead of the pilot GMAF program offered through the MIT-Ukraine Program.

Visting scholars from Ukraine kick off Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program

Lisa Capone | MIT Center for International Studies

March 19, 2024

Ukrainian researchers and faculty will spend a semester at MIT during the two-year pilot program.

MIT provost Cynthia Barnhart (at podium) welcomes the first cohort of Global MIT At-Risk Fellows. Attendees and speakers at the event included (left to right) Suzanne Berger, an MIT Institute Professor; Pascale Laborier, a political scientist who co-developed the related PAUSE exhibit; fellows Kateryna Lopatiuk, Dmytro Chumachenko, and Liudmyla Huliaieva; and Professor Elizabeth Wood (standing in the rear), faculty lead of the pilot GMAF program offered through the MIT-Ukraine Program.

Visiting scholars from Ukraine kick off Global MIT At-Risk Fellows Program

Lisa Capone | MIT Center for International Studies

March 19, 2024

Ukrainian researchers and faculty will spend a semester at MIT during the two-year pilot program.

Professors Joel Voldman (left) and Adam Martin will lead the effort to review and enhance MIT's undergraduate academic program.

3 Questions: Progress on updating MIT’s undergraduate curriculum

Office of the Vice Chancellor

March 19, 2024

Professors Adam Martin and Joel Volman explain the genesis, scope, and objectives of the recently launched Task Force on the MIT Undergraduate Academic Program.

The 2024 MacVicar Faculty Fellows are (clockwise from top left): Emily Richmond Pollock, Karl Berggren, Andrea Campbell, and Vinod Vaikuntanathan.

2024 MacVicar Faculty Fellows named

Meghan Burke | Registrar’s Office

March 15, 2024

Professors Berggren, Campbell, Pollock, and Vaikuntanathan are honored for exceptional undergraduate teaching.

The study indicates that workers who would experience a 10 percent wage increase by switching firms only expect a 1 percent wage increase instead, leading them to earn less than they otherwise might.

Study finds workers misjudge wage markets

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

March 14, 2024

Employees underestimate salary levels in their own industry, leading them to spend less time exploring the job market.

Director of Sustainability Julie Newman, Senior Campus Planner Vasso Mathes, Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship Joe Higgins, Senior Sustainability Project Manager Steve Lanou, and PhD student Chenhan Shao share the many ways MIT is working to decarbonize its campus.

At Sustainability Connect 2024, a look at how MIT is decarbonizing its campus

Nicole Morell | MIT Office of Sustainability

March 4, 2024

The event featured updates from faculty and staff from across MIT, as well as a panel on communicating climate in the media.

“Death, Dominance, and State-Building,” a new book by MIT Professor Roger Petersen, takes a close look at military operations and political dynamics of the Iraq War.

A careful rethinking of the Iraq War

Peter Dizikes | MIT News

March 1, 2024

Roger Petersen’s new book details military operations and political dynamics in Iraq, shedding new light on the challenges of state-building.

Grant recipients for 2024 include Kimberly Juanita Brown, Michel DeGraff, Amanda Greene, Silas Munro, and Anna Von Mertens.

The MIT Press announces Grant Program for Diverse Voices recipients for 2024

Jessica Pellien | MIT Press

February 28, 2024

From a scholarly monograph on Haitian language to a feminist history of social media photography, grant recipients bring new perspectives to the world through the MIT Press.

Simon Johnson delivers remarks at the MIT Shaping the Future of Work Launch Event.

3 Questions: Shaping the future of work in an age of AI

Blueprint Labs

February 28, 2024

Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, and Simon Johnson, faculty co-directors of the new MIT Shaping the Future of Work Initiative, describe why the work matters and what they hope to achieve.

Instructor Soledad Chango leads students through a traditional indigenous dance during a Quechua at MIT session.

Investigating and preserving Quechua

Benjamin Daniel | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

February 28, 2024

MIT students studied the Indigenous language during a new Independent Activities Period course to gain exposure and understand the language’s cultural and practical value.

Sadhana Lolla is majoring in computer science and minoring in mathematics and literature.

Sadhana Lolla named 2024 Gates Cambridge Scholar

Julia Mongo | Office of Distinguished Fellowships

February 27, 2024

The MIT senior will pursue graduate studies in technology policy at Cambridge University.