Education, teaching, academics

MIT has been named to the top spot in Times Higher Education’s inaugural Interdisciplinary Science Rankings, reports Rosa Ellis. Provost Cynthia Barnhart notes that the original design of MIT’s campus was “one large, interconnected building, and the intention was to provide our faculty and our students – all of them – opportunities to bump into one another, to share knowledge and collaborate. Then over the years, other structures, like labs and centers, institutes and, most recently, a college, have been created to enable and facilitate interactions across disciplines.”

MIT has been named the top university on the Times Higher Education 2025 Interdisciplinary Science Rankings, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. The ranking “benchmarked universities by measuring their performance in three areas: inputs (funding); process (measures of success, facilities, administrative support and promotion); and outputs (publications, research quality and reputation),” writes Nietzel. 

Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights the newest cohort of Rhodes Scholars, which includes Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo from MIT. Nietzel notes that Oluigbo has “published numerous peer-reviewed articles and conducts research on applying artificial intelligence to complex medical problems and systemic healthcare challenges.” 

Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo have been named 2025 Rhodes Scholars, report Brian P. D. Hannon and John Hanna for the Associated Press. Undergraduate student David Oluigbo, one of the four honorees, has “volunteered at a brain research institute and the National Institutes of Health, researching artificial intelligence in health care while also serving as an emergency medical technician,” write Hannon and Hanna.

MIT has been named the No. 1 university on the 2025 Global University Employability Rankings, reports Times of Higher Education. “MIT students, faculty members and alumni play key roles in entrepreneurial innovations, including developing advanced computer networks, securing venture capital transactions and advancing biotechnology,” writes Times Higher Education. 

Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Joshua Angrist, Prof. Parag Pathak and Amanda Schmidt of Blueprint Labs examine the effectiveness of Boston’s school assignment system and transportation policy. “Boston schools have improved greatly since 1974: Dropout rates for all students have declined, and gaps by race, while still present, have narrowed,” they write. “School assignment plans originating in 1974 may therefore be less useful today. It’s time to consider changing transportation policy in light of these changes in the city’s education landscape.” 

Postdoctoral associate Stewart Isaacs SM ’19 PhD ’24 speaks with Physics Today reporter Toni Feder about his passion for the sport of jump roping, research into solar-powered egg incubators for use in West Africa, and his work at MIT focused on addressing climate change and social inequities through the development of clean energy systems. “In jump rope, you have the basic building blocks of tricks. You need to combine them in ways that look interesting and are creative and fun to do. In engineering, you have the basic building blocks of physics. When you need to solve a problem, you need to come up with a creative solution to get there,” says Isaacs of the intersection between jump roping and scientific research. “And jump rope is hard. To be really good at it takes a lot of effort. The habits of working hard and problem-solving are also very useful in engineering.”

MIT has been ranked the No. 2 university in the world, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025. “In total, 2,092 universities across 115 countries or regions are represented in the ranking, and 30 of these countries have at least one university in the top 200,” explains Times Higher Ed.

MIT has been named the No. 2 university in the world, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, reports Rosa Ellis. “The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is now the US’ highest-ranked university, in second place globally, its best-ever performance,” explains Ellis.

MIT has been named the number 2 university in the nation on U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of the country’s top universities and colleges, reports Ross Cristantiello for Boston.com 

MIT has been named to the second spot in U.S News & World Report’s “Best National University Rankings,” reports Frank O’Laughlin for Boston 25 News.

MIT was named the number 2 university in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the best colleges and universities in the country, reports Travis Andersen for The Boston Globe.

Writing for Nature, Prof. Ritu Raman explores how she drew upon her childhood experiences attending different schools across three continents to inform her teaching practices. “Although my pedagogy is still very much a work in progress, my current philosophy involves three main factors: pipettes (knowing when to put on some gloves and teach hands-on); practice (learning when to step aside and enable independent exploration); and patience (centering optimism in my view of students and science),” writes Raman. “With pipettes, practice and patience, I hope to embrace and enjoy the nonlinear nature of teaching and learning.”

The Wall Street Journal has named MIT one of the overall best colleges in the United States, as well as one of the best colleges at improving the financial futures of its graduates, reports Jeremy Fox for The Boston Globe. 

Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner spotlights Prof. Mitchel Resnick, Prof. Neil Gershenfeld, and the late Prof. Emeritus Woodie Flowers and their work developing programs that “get kids excited about, and more proficient in, STEM.” Kirsner underscores: “Each of the initiatives brings some of the hands-on problem solving, messiness, and collaborative prototyping elements of MIT’s culture into the wider world. And they’ve all had a big impact on the way kids learn about technology.”