Scolnick Award: The Scolnick Prize is awarded annually by the McGovern Institute to recognize outstanding advances in the field of neuroscience. The prize is named in honor of Edward M. Scolnick, who stepped down as president of Merck Research Laboratories in December 2002 after holding Merck’s top research post for 17 years. Scolnick is now at the Broad Institute, where he established the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research. He also served as a member of the McGovern Institute’s scientific advisory board. The prize, which is endowed through a gift from Merck to the McGovern Institute, consists of a $200,000 award, plus an inscribed gift.Date: Friday, May 9 Time: 4:00pm Location: 46-3002, Singleton Auditorium (Third floor of MIT Building 46) This is an in-person event, followed by a reception.2025 Speaker: Leslie B. Vosshall, PhDTalk Title: Mosquitoes: neurobiology of the world’s most dangerous animalAbstract: One of the most fascinating observations in sensory neuroscience is that the brain can adapt to the loss of one sense by increasing the sensitivity of another sense. Well-described examples in humans include increases in auditory and tactile perception in blind individuals and increases in visual and tactile perception in deaf individuals. The underlying mechanisms, where they have been studied, typically involve functional reorganization of primary sensory cortex with new innervation of the compensatory sense into brain areas formerly occupied by the lost sense. We have discovered an unexpected mechanism of long-range sensory compensation in the mosquito. Loss of an olfactory pathway causes a dramatic increase in a thermosensory pathway. What makes this fascinating is that the compensation occurs across sensory organs located on completely different body parts. These results show that mosquitoes have robust mechanisms to maintain maximum sensitivity to humans if they lose a key sensory modality.Bio: Leslie B Vosshall PhD is the Robin Chemers Neustein Professor and head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior at The Rockefeller University, as well as Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Vosshall is a molecular neurobiologist who studies how behaviors emerge from the integration of sensory input with internal physiological states, with a specific focus on host-seeking and blood-feeding by mosquitoes that spread dangerous viruses. Vosshall is a vocal proponent of pre-prints and open science, as well as a strong supporter of inclusion in STEM. Her ongoing initiatives at HHMI aim to enhance the culture and climate in HHMI laboratories by fostering inclusive mentoring.

Presented by the Emerson/Harris Program for Private Study Solo Recital SeriesProgramTBDLivestream: https://mta.mit.edu/viewlisten/live-killian-hallAbout the PerformersAbout the Emerson/Harris Program for Private StudySupport for private musical study is available for students through the Emerson/Harris Program (E/HP), which offers merit-based financial awards for outstanding achievement on instruments or voice in classical, jazz, or world music. Each academic year, the program awards Scholarships and Fellowships to nearly seventy students who commit to a full year’s study and participate in the musical life of MIT.Auditions for the program are held at the beginning of each academic year. Private teacher selections, made in consultation with the E/HP jury heads, may include instructors from MIT staff and throughout Greater Boston. The Emerson/Harris Program is funded by the late Mr. Cherry L. Emerson, Jr. (SM, 1941), in response to an appeal from AssociateProvost Ellen T. Harris (Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus of Music). The Emerson/Harris Masterclass Series is supported, in part, by the Robert L. Malster (1956) Fund.

Join the MIT Outing Club for the 19th Annual REEL ROCK Film Tour, premiering the best new climbing films. Free popcorn will be provided, while supplies last! 🍿🌃Feel free to bring a blanket or chair along.Reel Rock 19 showcases three world-premiere climbing films spanning disciplines, characters, and continents: a heartfelt story of second chances in love and climbing on Squamish’s legendary Cobra Crack; an outrageous 18-day big wall epic on Patagonia’s towering Torre Central; and the pursuit of a lifelong dream—a 5.15 first ascent—made possible by an unlikely partnership.

Join your fellow grad students for food and good company!Come make new friends, or hang with your old friends, over food, shabbat rituals, and lively conversations!

The MIT Wind Ensemble concludes its 24-25 season with an exciting program of works by composers from eleven countries. The concert includes the Boston premiere of “El Arte Del Bolero” Suite, arranged by Shimon Gambourg, featuring music from the Latin American Songbook, Gustav Holst’s masterpiece Hammersmith, Courtly Airs and Dancesby the late Ron Nelson, Bach’s famed Toccata and Fugue in D minor, arranged by Donald Hunsberger, MIT alumnus Scott Stransky’s Suite from an Imaginary Movie (dedicated to the memory of Debra and Keith Stransky), and chamber works by Gabrieli, Glazounow, Yagisawa, and others.Learn more about the MIT Wind Ensemble here.*Pre-registrations are for paid General Admission tickets only. MIT Students, Faculty, and Staff may attend for free by showing their MIT ID at the door, pending availability of space.Seating PolicyYour registration through Eventbrite guarantees you a seat until 15 minutes before the event start time. 15 minutes before the concert start time, we will release open seats to the standby list. If you were not able to register through Eventbrite, you may join the physical standby line in the Kresge Auditorium Lobby up to one hour before the concert start time.Don't miss a downbeat! Click here to subscribe to the Events Newsletter.

Time: 3:30 PMLocation: Providence, RI