Writing Together Online offers structured time to help you spring into writing and stay focused this semester. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. 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. 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. 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.Register for Spring 2025 Writing Challenge 1Choose those sessions that you want to attend during Challenge 1: February 10th through March 21stMondays 9:00–10:30amTuesdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amWednesdays 9:00–10:30amThursdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amFridays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amMIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a raffle of three $25 Amazon gift cards. The raffle will take place on Friday, March 21st. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.The funding support for this program comes from the Office of Graduate Education

All sessions will take place on Zoom until March 7.On February 28, we’ll have a discussion "Black History Month."On March 7, we’ll be discussing "AI."Meet other MS&PC members from all over the world, get resources and information about life at MIT/Cambridge/Boston, exchange ideas, and engage in cultural conversations in a friendly and casual environment, while working on English fluency.Please email ecgatmit@gmail.com for more information.

Speaker: Ashia Wilson (MIT)​Title: Two Approaches Towards Adaptive Optimization​Abstract: This talk will address to recent projects I am excited about. The first describes efficient methodologies for hyper-parameter estimation in optimization algorithms. I will describe two approaches for how to adaptively estimate these parameters that often lead to significant improvement in convergence. The second describes a new method, called Metropolis-Adjusted Preconditioned Langevin Algorithm for sampling from a convex body. Taking an optimization perspective, I focus on the mixing time guarantees of these algorithms — an essential theoretical property for MCMC methods — under natural conditions over the target distribution and the geometry of the domain.

Time: 10:30 AMLocation: Boston, MA / The TRACK at New Balance

Time: 10:30 AMLocation: Boston, MA / The TRACK at New Balance

You are invited to a two-session luncheon book club. The book we will be discussing is Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future by Scott Doorley and Carissa Carter. The dates for the book discussion are Friday, January 31 and Friday, February 28, from noon to 1:30pmEST. Sessions will be held via Zoom (Join Zoom Meeting: https://mit.zoom.us/j/3801792429?omn=91421489129).The book "investigates the intangibles, the mysterious forces that contribute to the off-kilter feelings of today, and follows up with actionables to help you alter your perspective and find opportunities in these turbulent times. Mixed throughout are histories of the future, short pieces of speculative fiction that illustrate how things go haywire and what might be in store if we don’t set them straight."Each session will be interactive; we will discuss two chapters from the “Intangibles” section of the book and two chapters from the “Actionables” section:January 31 from 12pm to 1:30pmEST will focus on chapters 1, 2, 5, and 6: Connections, Flow, Be Awkward, and Shapeshift.February 28 from 12pm to 1:30pmEST will focus on chapters 3, 4, 7, and 8: Feelings, Make-Believe, Disorient Yourself, and Aim for Imperfection.In November, MAD hosted a book launch of Assembling Tomorrow. The presentation was captivating and sparked my interest in the book. Why revisit a book we have already featured? To take the opportunity to dig a little deeper and benefit from the perspectives of others. Assembling Tomorrow is a fascinating read that is both a cautionary tale and an action plan for improved designs. We hope you can join us!