Events Calendar

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.

MIT Collects features objects and other media from the museum's vast collection, arranged in areas that tell stories, explore themes, and dive into subject areas.Modeling Everything:Models and model-making, both the objects and the action, are vital to every research area at MIT and to the life of the Institute itself. Explore a wide array of models for teaching, discovery, research, and documentation, from ships to crystal structures to architectural design.Radical Atoms: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.A Sequence of Actions:Developed and operated at MIT, the Differential Analyzer, Whirlwind Computer, and Apollo Guidance Computer were massive and complex projects that involved thousands of people. See historical components and artifacts from this critical era in programming during the mid-20th century and explore how these early programmers influenced today’s digital culture.Technology and the Dream:Through recordings of students, staff, researchers, and community members, listen to personal reflections and gain a sense of the Black experience at MIT. This dynamic audio installation is co-curated with the MIT Black History Project.Totally Useless Things:Toys, puzzles, and play are a significant part of the creative process. Playful activity can shape a research agenda or an entire discipline. Extracurricular play — like MIT's famous hacks — enhances creativity and community. And play itself is a rich field for scientific research. Jump in and learn how curiosity is the fuel that discovery runs on.Located in the Edward O. Thorp Gallery

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.

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.

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 final PYP event which is open to ALL postdocs: Spend time learning how to effectively communicate in tense or misaligned settings. Learn a specific de-escalation technique, discuss techniques you have found helpful to re-align goals, and practice communication skills using case studies in a closed environment with your postdoc peers.This event is only open to MIT Postdocs. Registration is required for this event. Please register here.

CSAIL Forum hosted by Daniela Rus Speaker: Tim Berners-Lee, CSAIL Professor Emeritus; Co-founder/CTO, Inrupt; author, This is For Everyone: the Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web Date/time: Tuesday 12:00-1:00 EDT, October 28, 2025 Venue: Live stream via Zoom: Registration requiredBio: Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 at CERN in Switzerland. Since then, through his work with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), The Open Data Institute, the World Wide Web Foundation, the development of the Solid Protocol and now as CTO and Co-Founder of Inrupt, he has been a tireless advocate for shared standards, open web access for all and the power of individuals on the web. A firm believer in the positive power of technology, he was named in Time magazine’s list of the most important people of the 20th century. He has been the recipient of several honorary degrees and awards, including the Seoul Peace Prize and the Turing Prize widely recognized as akin to the Nobel Prize for Computing. He was knighted in 2004 and later appointed to the Order of Merit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He is an Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at MIT and Oxford.

Electron microscopy and atomic-scale materials characterization are undergoing a revolution fueled by the new capabilities of electron ptychography, which is setting records for spatial resolution—down to 20 picometers. In this talk, Pinshane Y. Huang from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will discuss how her group is developing atomically precise methods to characterize materials using electron ptychography and the new science these capabilities enable. Their work spans applications from visualizing thermal vibrations atom-by-atom to recovering 3D atomic coordinates of 2D moiré materials from a single projection.

"Geographic Variation in Healthcare Utilization: The Role of Physicians" | Amy Finkelstein (MIT)

Speaker: Mazdak Abulnaga (MIT & Harvard Medical School)Title: Machine Learning for Neuroimage RegistrationAbstract:Aligning brain images from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a core challenge in neuroscience. The alignment problem, known as registration, allows us to compare anatomy across individuals, build population averages, and study how structure and function varies with disease or development. Registration is posed as a nonlinear optimization problem with two competing objectives: aligning brain structure while maintaining a smooth deformation field.Machine learning has emerged as a powerful alternative to classical optimization-based registration, achieving both faster and more accurate alignment. In this talk, I will first introduce the use of machine learning for neuroimage registration, then present two of our recent frameworks extending this paradigm.We first propose MultiMorph, a fast and efficient method for constructing anatomical atlases on the fly. Atlases capture the canonical structure of a collection of images and are essential for quantifying anatomical variability across populations. MultiMorph is a feedforward model that rapidly produces population-specific atlases in a single forward pass for any 3D brain dataset, without any fine-tuning or optimization. The model is based on a linear group-interaction layer that aggregates and shares features within the group of input images.Next, I will describe recent work tackling the problem of jointly registering the cortical surface of the brain and the interior volume. While conventional volumetric registration methods such as MultiMorph capture global brain alignment, they are limited in aligning cortical structure. The cortex is a highly folded, curved surface best represented as a triangular mesh. Euclidean alignment methods fail to capture this geometry. We propose a framework that jointly aligns the cortical and subcortical regions through a unified volume-and-surface-based representation. We do so by jointly learning a volumetric and spherical alignment, producing consistent mappings across cortical and subcortical regions.I will conclude by discussing open research directions of volumetric shape registration in fields beyond neuroimaging, including computer graphics, medical imaging, and computational biology.

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

The Provost’s and Chancellor’s offices invite undergraduates and research mentors to participate in the first ever Institute-wide UROP Mixer happening on Tue, Oct 28th. This expo-style event aims to connect undergraduates with mentors offering exciting UROP opportunities (across all MIT disciplines) for IAP, Spring, and Summer 2026.Prepare for a welcoming and engaging environment that encourages thoughtful conversations and sparks new research collaborations. Halloween-themed treats and swag will be on hand to keep the energy high and the conversations flowing!Undergraduates interested in connecting with researchers across a broad range of research areas may sign up for the Mixer here.MIT researchers actively recruiting for UROP students (or simply wanting to showcase their work) are strongly encouraged to participate. Mentor sign up for table space is here.Any questions regarding this event may be directed to the Katey Provost.

Speaker: Lior Alon (MIT)Title: Periodic Hypersurfaces, Lighthouse Measures, and Lee–Yang PolynomialsAbstract: There is a hierarchy of regularity for continuous ℤ𝑛 -periodic functions in ℝ𝑛 , 𝐶0 ⊃ 𝐶1 ⊃ ⋯ ⊃ 𝐶∞ ⊃ analytic ⊃ trigonomet- ric polynomial, and the decay of the Fourier coefficients pre- cisely reflects this regularity. In particular, the support supp(f̂) is finite if and only if 𝑓 is a trigonometric polynomial. Periodic hypersurfaces in ℝ𝑛 exhibit a similar regularity hierarchy, but there is no analogous Fourier description.In this talk, I will present a joint work with Mario Kummer in which we provide a sufficient Fourier-criterion for a 𝐶1+𝜖 peri- odic hypersurface Σ ⊂ ℝ𝑛 to be the zero set of a trigonomet- ric polynomial of the form 𝑝(𝑒2𝜋𝑖𝑥1, … , 𝑒2𝜋𝑖𝑥𝑛 ) with 𝑝 Lee–Yang polynomial.The criterion can be stated using a recent notion introduced by Yves Meyer: a periodic and positive Radon measure 𝑚 on ℝ𝑛 is a lighthouse measure if supp(𝑚) has zero Lebesgue measure and supp(m̂) is contained in a proper double cone.Our proof relies on the classification of one-dimensional Fourier quasicrystals. No field specific background is assumed. This work is based on collaborations with Alex Cohen, Pavel Kurasov,and Cynthia Vinzant.

"Rebuild or Relocate? Recovery after Natural Disasters" | Shifrah Aron-Dine (UC Berkeley) (joint with Macro)

Shifrah Aron-Dine (UC Berkeley) | joint w/ Environmental

RSVP for the Zoom webinar here.Speaker:Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She works on national security challenges facing the United States and Europe, focusing on Russia, authoritarianism and threats to democracy, and the state of the transatlantic alliance.Discussants:Carol Saivetz is a senior fellow in the MIT Security Studies Program at the Center for International Studies (CIS). She is the author and contributing co-editor of books and articles on Soviet and now Russian foreign policy issues.Elizabeth Wood is Ford International Professor of History at MIT. She is the author most recently of Roots of Russia’s War in Ukraine as well as articles on Vladimir Putin, the political cult of WWII, right-wing populism in Russia and Turkey, and U.S.-Russian Partnerships in Science. She is director of the MIT-Ukraine Program at CIS.This event is co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the MIT-Eurasia program, and the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP).