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Writing Together Online offers the structured writing time to help you stay focused and productive during the busy fall months. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects.Please register for any number of sessions:Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 9:00–10:30am (EST) Tuesday and Thursday, 8:00–9:30am and 9:30-11:00am (EST)For more information and to register, go to this link or check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with colleagues and friends. MIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a gift-card raffle.

On view October 1 -- December 11, 2025This exhibition draws on archival materials from the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC) to explore a century of cultural heritage preservation in Aleppo, Syria. It takes as its point of departure the work of Kamil al-Ghazzi (1853–1933), the pioneering Aleppine historian whose influential three-volume chronicle, Nahr al-Dhahab fī Tārīkh Ḥalab (The River of Gold in the History of Aleppo), was published between 1924 and 1926.Ink, Stone, and Silver Light presents three modes of documentation—manuscript, built form, and photography—through which Aleppo’s urban memory has been recorded and preserved. Featuring figures such as Michel Écochard and Yasser Tabbaa alongside al-Ghazzi, the exhibition traces overlapping efforts to capture the spirit of a city shaped by commerce, craft, and coexistence. At a time when Syria again confronts upheaval and displacement, these archival fragments offer models for preserving the past while envisioning futures rooted in dignity, knowledge, and place.

The irony of artificial intelligence is that it often reveals more about human intelligence than machines themselves.From AI in the home to robots in the workplace, the presence of AI all around us compels us to question its potential and recognize the risks. What has become clear is that the more we advance AI technology and consider machine ability versus human ability, the more we need to mind the gap.Researchers at MIT have been at the forefront of this evolving field. The work presented in this exhibition builds on the pioneering contributions of figures such as Claude Shannon and Seymour Papert, while highlighting contemporary research that spans computer science, mechanical engineering, neuroscience, and the social sciences.As research probes the connections between human and machine intelligence, it also underscores the profound differences. With AI now embedded in everyday life — from smart assistants in our homes to robots in the workplace — we are challenged to ask critical questions about its potential, its risks, and the boundaries between machine ability and human capability.Join us in shining light on the tremendous promise, unforeseen impacts, and everyday misconceptions of AI in this riveting, interactive exhibition.Learn more about the exhibition.

Imagine different worlds in Cosmograph: Speculative Fictions for the New Space Age, an exhibition that brings art and science together to examine possible futures where outer space is both a frontier for human exploration and a new territory for exploitation and development by private enterprise.We are living at the dawn of a New Space Age. What will the future hold? Will space elevators bring humanity's space junk to turn it into useful material here on Earth? Will asteroid mining be the next frontier in prospecting? Will the promise of geo-engineering turn into a nightmare of unintended consequences?Explore these possibilities and more in our new exhibition that blurs the lines between fact and fantasy, and art and science.

MIT is not a place so much as it is a unique collection of exceptional people.What is essential at MIT is asking questions others may not ask, trying the unexpected in pursuit of a greater solution, and embracing distinctive skills and combinations of talents. Whether encompassing global issues, ventures into space, or efforts to improve our daily lives, stories told in this exhibit showcase the process of discovery that sits at the heart of MIT.Delve into the experimental culture and collaborative spirit of the MIT community in this dynamic and interactive exploration of groundbreaking projects and ongoing innovation."MIT’s greatest invention may be itself—an unusual concentration of unusual talent, forever reinventing itself on a mission to make a better world." — President L. Rafael ReifLocated in the Brit J. (1961) and Alex (1949) d'Arbeloff GallerySupported by the Biogen Foundation

How can code be used as a creative tool by artists and designers?This question motivates the work of the Future Sketches group at the MIT Media Lab. Led by artist and educator Zach Lieberman, the group aims to help us “see” code by using it to make artistically controlled, computer-generated visuals.Explore some of the latest research from the group that uses typography and digital tools to create interactive, creative, and immersive work.Located in our Martin J. (1959) and Eleanor C. Gruber Gallery.

Experience the captivating work of Arthur Ganson, where his perceptions of the world are choreographed into the subtle movements and gestures of his artistic machines."These machines are daydreams condensed into physical form, computer programs manifesting in three-dimensional space." - Arthur GansonArthur Ganson's medium is a feeling or idea inspired by the world he perceives around him – from the delicate fluttering of paper to the sheer scale of the universe. Combining engineering genius with whimsical choreography, he creates machines to encode those ideas into the physical world. But he invites everyone to draw their own conclusions on the meaning behind the subtle gestures of the machines.Currently on display are a select group of Arthur Ganson's works from our MIT Museum Collection. We expect to exhibit his work in large numbers in the future.

How can you investigate something you cannot see?The challenge of understanding the unknown motivates scientists today, just as it has inspired curious people for centuries.Using material from the Allen Forbes Collection, this exhibit traces the scientific process of observing, measuring, and describing that turned whales from monsters into mammals.Using prints from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, Monsters of the Deep examines how European knowledge about the creatures of the sea was informed by new information from sailors, scholars, and beachcombers, and how that knowledge transformed what people understood about the natural world.Want a closer look at what we have on view? You can explore digitized versions of exhibition objects here.On view through January 2026.

Hiroshi Ishii and the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab have pioneered new ways for people to interact with computers, with the invention of the “tangible user interface.”It began with a vision of "Tangible Bits," where users can manipulate ordinary physical objects to access digital information. It evolved into a bolder vision of "Radical Atoms," where materials can change form and reconfigure themselves just as pixels can on a screen. This experimental exhibit of three iconic works — SandScape, inFORM, and TRANSFORM — is part of the MIT Museum's ongoing efforts to collect the physical machines as well as preserve the user experience of, in Ishii's words, making atoms dance.Learn more about the exhibits here, or watch the YouTube video of Hiroshi Ishii's talk at the MIT Museum below.This is an ongoing exhibition in our MIT Collects exhibition.

Janet Echelman's Remembering the Future widens our perspective in time, giving sculptural form to the history of the Earth's climate from the last ice age to the present moment, and then branching out to visualize multiple potential futures.Constructed from colored twines and ropes that are braided, knotted and hand-spliced to create a three-dimensional form, the immersive artwork greets you with its grand scale presiding over the MIT Museum lobby.This large-scale installation by 2022-2024 MIT Distinguished Visiting Artist Janet Echelman, was developed during her residency at the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). Architect, engineer and MIT Associate Professor Caitlin Mueller collaborated on the development of the piece.The title, Remembering the Future was inspired by the writings commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard: "The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you'll never have."As the culmination of three years of dedicated research and collaboration, this site-specific installation explores Earth's climate timeline, translating historical records and possible futures into sculptural form.Echelman's climate research for this project was guided by Professor Raffaele Ferrari and the MIT Lorenz Center, creators of En-ROADS simulator which uses current climate data and modeling to visualize the impact of environmental policies and actions on energy systems.Learn more about Janet Echelman and the MIT Museum x CAST Collaboration.Learn more about the exhibition at the MIT Museum.

Congratulations—you’ve got research data! This session will walk you through the dos and don’ts associated with research data and artifacts, all of those associated bits of information necessary to understand research data. These can include structured data, images, unstructured data, metadata, analysis scripts, analysis environment, and much more. We’ll cover the tools and resources available to you for making decisions about your research data (and associated bits) with regard to use agreements, security requirements, and copyright and licensing. We’ll also explore some case studies and do a practical applications exercise.

Hoping to secure funding for international research in the social sciences or humanities? This skill-development seminar is designed to help you craft persuasive funding applications. Open to PhD students and anyone interested in international research funding, this seminar unpacks what makes proposals stand out—from aligning your project with funders’ priorities to clearly communicating your research goals and expected impact. Experienced MIT faculty will share their practical strategies and discuss how to avoid common pitfalls. Strengthen your proposal-writing toolkit and connect with others pursuing global research! This session will be particularly useful for PhD students considering applying for the CIS PhD research grants, with proposals due in March 2026.Gabriella Carolini is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and International Development in DUSP at MIT, where she leads the City Infrastructure Equity Lab. Her research focuses on the governance and planning of infrastructure development across urban communities in the Americas and Africa. She has published a book on her research, and her articles appear in leading journals.Evan Lieberman is Professor of Political Science at MIT, where he holds the Total Chair on Contemporary African Politics. He is the director of MIT’s Center for International Studies, Global Diversity Lab, and MISTI. His research on South Africa, Brazil, and India has been published in three books and numerous journals.This seminar will be held in E53-482 (Millikan Room). Lunch will be available. Please RSVP here.Contact Kate Danahy at kdanahy@mit.edu with any questions.This event is part of the CIS Global Research & Policy Seminar Series. Join our mailing list here to learn about upcoming seminars in the series.

Date: Monday, October 20, 2025 Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Location: Seminar Room 3189Title: From Genes to Circuits: Spatial Learning and Decision Making In Fruit FliesAbstract: We study how genes and neural circuits control spatial learning and decision making in Drosophila. How animals navigate spatial learning tasks in environments lacking visual landmarks remains poorly understood. We use a high-throughput spatial learning task to investigate this question in Drosophila and found that Drosophila can simultaneously use self-generated olfactory cues and self-motion cues to learn a spatial goal under visually deprived conditions. We use Drosophila selection of egg laying site as a model to study how natural genetic variations shape the value-based decision making. While laboratory flies reject sucrose in favor of a plain substrate for laying eggs, a wild-caught African strain accepts sucrose. We identified the genes, neurons, and circuit that underlie the strain differences in behavior, illustrating how subtle gene regulatory polymorphisms reshape neural computations to drive adaptive variation in decision-making.Bio: Rebecca Yang is currently Associate Professor at Duke University in the Department of Neurobiology. She obtained her PhD from Stanford University studying mechanisms governing planar cell polarity in the Drosophila compound eye. She conducted her postdoctoral training in UCSF, where she used Drosophila egg-laying site selection as a system to study simple decision-making processes. In her own lab, she investigates how genes and circuits, including natural genetic variations, control learning and decision making combining various high-throughput behavioral assays with transcriptomic, optogenetic, and in vivo imaging approaches.

Speaker: Cheng Tang (Jazayeri Lab)Title: Position, Direction, and Time: Three-Way Factorization Underlies Vector Compositionality in the Dorsomedial Frontal CortexAbstract:The ability to flexibly combine elementary concepts into novel, complex ones—known as compositional generalization—is a hallmark of intelligence in both humans and non-human primates. Yet, the neural principles that enable such compositionality remain poorly understood. To probe this question, I trained two macaque monkeys on a 2D vector addition task that required adding spatial coordinates and dynamic flow-fields defined by direction and duration, in a vector arithmetic fashion. After learning a subset of combinations, the animals were tested on novel pairings to assess compositional generalization. Electrophysiological recordings from the dorsomedial frontal cortex (DMFC) revealed that successful generalization was consistently associated with factorized neural representations—independent encoding of coordinate and vector components. Conversely, error trials showed non-factorized, entangled representations. Moreover, within the flow-field representation, direction and time were factorized at the single-trial level. Together, these findings suggest that three-way factorization—of position, direction, and time—within the dorsomedial frontal cortex (DMFC) provides a neural basis for vector compositionality in the primate brain. More broadly, the capacity for compositional generalization may critically depend on which task variables are factorized within neural representations, highlighting the importance of representational structure in flexible cognitionSpeaker: Cyn Fang (Kanwisher Lab)Title: Is it food?Abstract: Three recent publications reported a component of the fMRI response in the human ventral visual pathway that responds selectively to images of food. However, all three studies were based on the same Natural Scenes Database (NSD), in which high-level categories like food are correlated in the image set with other properties of the image such as the color of objects or distance of the scene. To test whether the reported visual food selectivity might reflect these or other correlates of food images rather than (or in addition to) food per se, we constructed novel stimuli that manipulated these properties on both food and nonfood images. Our results indicate that the previously reported food component is not strictly food-selective, and that it is driven in part by contextual or material features unrelated to food.

Speaker: Kate Gilbert, Executive Director Boston Public Art TriennialRespondent: Garnette Cadogan, Tunney Lee Distinguished Lecturer in Urbanism, MITThis is part of the CDD / LCAU lunchtime lecture series. Lunch will be served

"Who bears climate change damages? Evidence from the gig economy"| Anna Papp (MIT) (joint with Development)

Anna Papp (MIT)

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Since returning to MIT on April 1, Vice President for Energy and Climate Evelyn Wang has been engaging with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners across our campus and beyond and listening to ideas for how MIT can best rise to the challenges of energy and climate.As a framework is coming into focus, Professor Wang would like to share her plans with the MIT campus community. She will also introduce a new seed grant program designed to spur and accelerate research projects.To ensure that as many members of our community as possible can take part, we are offering two in-person and one virtual sessions this semester.Please note that all of the sessions are identical, and so you only need to sign up for one.The sessions are as follows:Session 1: In-personMonday, October 20 3:00-4:30 pm Building 55 AtriumSession 2: VirtualWednesday, November 12 10:30 am-12:00 pm Link will be sent to registered attendeesSession 3: In-personTuesday, December 2 3:30-5:00 pm Building 55 AtriumRegistration is required.

Jumpstart your postdoc experience! Plan Your Postdoc (PYP) is a signature program for early stage postdoctoral scholars who have joined MIT for less than a year. Participants attend four 1 to 1.5 hour lectures/planning sessions, panels, and interactive workshops to kickstart their career developmentJoin us for the third PYP meeting: Remember those goals and resources you planned out last week? Learn about various MIT offices and support systems that specifically help postdocs.This event is only open to MIT Postdocs. Registration for this event is required. Please register here.

Title: Foundations for Safe Autonomy: Why Learning Needs ControlAbstract: With the rise of humanoids and the rapid deployment of learning across autonomy stacks, the central question is: how can we trust robots to operate safely around us? Despite impressive performance gains, learning at scale introduces fragility—making safety the key blocker to reliable deployment. This talk outlines the foundations for safe autonomy, coupling learning with the formal guarantees from control theory. The cornerstone of this approach is Control Barrier Functions (CBFs), which encode safety as forward set invariance. This leads to safety filters: real‑time wrappers that take desired commands—even from black‑box, learning‑enabled components—and minimally modify them (only when needed) to keep the system safe. These filters naturally sit within layered autonomy stacks, yielding a coherent architecture for trustworthy robots. Finally, I will close the loop with learning: utilizing Lyapunov‑ and barrier‑based reward shaping and shielding to enforce stability and safety during training, not just at deployment. This framework for safe autonomy is grounded in—and will be illustrated by—extensive experimental results across diverse robotic platforms: ground vehicles, drones, aircraft, legged and humanoid robots.Bio: Aaron D. Ames is the Bren Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Control and Dynamical Systems, and Aerospace at Caltech, and the Director and Booth‑Kresa Leadership Chair of the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST). His research centers on nonlinear control and its application to robotic systems—both formally and through experimental validation—with a special focus on legged and humanoid robots. He pioneered Control Barrier Functions (CBFs) and safety filters for the safety‑critical control of highly dynamic robots. An IEEE Fellow, his recognitions include the NSF CAREER Award (2010), the Donald P. Eckman Award (2015), the Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher Prize (2019), and more than twenty best‑paper awards, including ICRA Best Paper (2020, 2023). He earned B.S./B.A. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of St. Thomas (2001) and an M.A. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in EECS from the University of California, Berkeley (2006). He was a postdoc at Caltech and held faculty positions at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, before joining Caltech in 2017.

“Sorting or Supporting? The Effect of Gifted Education on Achievement and Access” | Geoff Kocks (MIT)

Speaker: Gefei Cai (Peking)Title: Disconnection and non-intersection probabilities of Brownian motion on an annulusAbstract:We derive an exact formula for the probability that a Brownian path on an annulus does not disconnect the two boundary components of the annulus. The leading asymptotic behavior of this probability is governed by the disconnection exponent obtained by Lawler-Schramm-Werner (2001) using the connection to Schramm-Loewner evolution (SLE). The derivation of our formula is based on this connection and the coupling with Liouville quantum gravity (LQG), from which we can exactly compute the conformal moduli of random annular domains defined by SLE curves. Using a similar approach, we also derive exact formulas for the non-intersection probabilities of independent Brownian paths on an annulus, as well as extend the result to the case of Brownian loop soup. Based on joint work with X. Fu, X. Sun, and Z. Xie, and upcoming work with Z. Xie.

Stop by for snacks and tea with the SHASS community, students, and instructors!HumaniTea is a program partnering with other units in SHASS to gather, share some food and thought, and enrich our shared MIT experience in the process. Once a month, SHASS community members, instructors, and students from diverse fields of studies, backgrounds, and interests can stop in and enjoy a cup of tea or snack.Building 14E-304* *Directions: Third floor of Building 14 from the Lewis Music Library stairs, through the CMS/W doors. Alternatively, take the elevator to the 3rd floor and navigate to the opposite end of the hallway, through third floor and CMS/W doors!

Speaker: Jared Weinstein (Boston University)Title: On the splitting conjecture of HopkinsHopkins’ splitting conjecture predicts the structure of a double localization 𝐿𝐾(𝑡) 𝐿𝐾(ℎ) 𝑆 of the sphere spectrum, where 𝐾(ℎ) is Morava 𝐾-theory at a prime 𝑝 and 0 < 𝑡 < ℎ. Perfectoid techniques give powerful evidence for the conjecture while avoiding explicit computation. We show (a) the conjecture is true for (ℎ, 𝑡) = (2, 1) and 𝑝 odd, recovering a difficult result of Shimomura and Yabe, and (b) for ℎ general and 𝑡 = ℎ − 1, the conjecture is true "up to perfection". This is joint work with Lucas Mann, Rin Ray, and Xinyu Zhou.

Marleen Marra (CEPR)

Doors at 5:30. Free and open to the public.Eric Wong utilizes multiple Bluetooth speakers to create a spatialized sonic environment that decentralizes the overarching PA system. The portability of these speakers allows both performers and audience members to engage with the sound in varied, dynamic ways. By dispersing the speakers across the space among the audience, they become interactive elements at the performance.The pitch materials are either in ratio with one another for different shades of harmonies, or are interfering with each other in closely deviated frequencies. The listener’s physical proximity to each speaker influences their perception of these harmonic relationships, revealing different textures of harmony or dissonance depending on their location within the space. Wong is a Berlin-based musician and sound artist whose work involves auditory perception and the exploration of human relationships with sonic environments. He often incorporates spatialized sound and reduced expressions in his work, focusing on fewer gestures instead of constructing linear or non-linear sonic narratives. He has performed at venues, series, and festivals including Volksbühne (Berlin), Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Cafe OTO (London), and many more. He has released music on labels Edition Wandelweiser, Creative Sources, Inexhaustible Editions, Full Body Massage Records, Lona Records, Sello Postal, Vintage Vinyl HK, Party Perfect!, Aloe Records, Ftarri, and Infant Tree. Born in Minneapolis, MN in 1981, he spent his childhood and teenage years in Hong Kong before moving back to study psychology at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and audio production and engineering at the Institute of Production and Recording. Afterwards he relocated to Hong Kong again where he was active in the indie rock and improvised music scene. He moved to Berlin in 2014. Sponsored by the Goethe Institut, the MIT Humanities Insight Collaborative, and Comparative Media Studies/Writing. Contact, RSVP: Ian Condry, condry@mit.edu

Join us for dinner with Dr. Aleksandra Mozdzanowska! Come meet Dr. Alex in person, and enjoy a meal while learning about her experiences in HR leadership.Dr. Alex is the Chief People Officer at Commonwealth Fusion Systems with over 10 years of experience leading strategic HR programs, growing and managing teams, and delivering business results. She has a versatile background spanning strategy and execution in Operations, Technology, HR, and Communications. Prior to Commonwealth Fusion Systems, she served as Vice President of Human Resources at Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, where she advanced through various HR leadership roles, including Director of Human Resource Operations and Director of Program Operations. Dr. Alex has also served as Director of Operations at the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund. She spent time working across different sectors in operations and technology roles.As an MIT alum, Dr. Alex draws from her extensive educational background at the Institute. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Systems from MIT in 2008, followed by a post-doctoral degree in AeroAstro in 2009. She also holds a Master of Science in AeroAstro Systems Engineering from 2004. Her undergraduate years at MIT included dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Literature. During her time at MIT, she was involved with MISTI Germany and the Public Service Center.Register in Handshake. Dinner will be served for the first 30 attendees. This CAPD event is open to MIT undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and alumni.

Join us on Monday evenings for Argentine tango classes with outstanding instructors. Whether you are completely new to tango, or already have some experience, you will find a friendly environment in which to learn new things and improve your technique. You don't have to bring a partner, since the classes involve rotations with all participants.Full Series: Sep 15, 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov 3, 10, 17, 24, Dec 1, 8, 15.For all info and registration, visit following link.

Please register above so we can order enough cider and hot chocolate! Drop by anytime and stay as long as you want.Rain or shine! Projections and sound will be inside the Chapel in inclement weather.Presented by the MIT Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life (ORSEL), What is Your Light? transforms the MIT Chapel into a living canvas of light, sound, and reflection. Voices from across the MIT community merge into a one-hour audio track, accompanied by live musicians and interactive projections. Visitors are invited to strike a tam-tam, illuminating lanterns of light and sending ripples of sound across the Kresge Oval, or light their own lantern to float upon the Chapel’s waters. Together, we celebrate the values, stories, and visions that guide our community.Inside the MIT Chapel, we invite you to reflect on the question: “What is your light?”:Record your thoughts for the realtalk@mit archivesWrite your reflections on a lanternFloat your lantern in the moat, adding your response to others from the MIT communityCreated by MF Dynamics in partership with ORSEL and realtalk@MIT.Free and open to the public. Funded in part by the Council for the Arts at MIT. This project has been approved by the Office of the Vice Provost and the Open Space Working Group.This event is part of ORSEL's Refresh Days, a series honoring new year's celebrations and festivals of light from the world's major religions-from Diwali (October 20) to Nowruz, Lunar New Year, and more.Photo by Ellie Montmayor from Fall 2024 Refresh Days event, Light the Moat.