Policy

J-PAL North America Executive Director Quentin Palfrey

Experts gather at MIT to urge more innovation in health care delivery

Two-day conference explores opportunities for research, innovation, and evidence-informed policymaking to address a range of national health care challenges.

December 7, 2016

MIT senior Rasheed Auguste’s parents emigrated from Haiti to Boston as teenagers and completed master’s degrees in the U.S. “When I was born, the standard was, ‘we have master’s degrees; a PhD is the next step for this next generation.’ That was always the bar,” says Auguste. “It just so happens I got lucky. I actually do want this PhD that was prescribed from birth.”

Nuclear engineering student advocates for change on campus and Capitol Hill

Senior Rasheed Auguste is fueled by passions for science, policy, and creating a more inclusive MIT.

December 7, 2016

MIT Climate CoLab's Laur Hesse Fisher (third from right) speaks at a Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance COP 22 side event on Nov. 15.

How online tools and open innovation can support implementation of Paris Agreement goals

MIT Climate CoLab presents an innovative approach at the UN international climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco.

November 29, 2016

Left to right: Robert Stoner, deputy director of the MIT Energy Initiative and director of the Tata Center for Technology and Design; Maria Zuber, MIT vice president for research; Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab; and John Fernandez, professor of architecture and director of MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative.

Forging ahead on climate action

At UN Climate Change Conference, MIT researchers share insights on implementing climate commitments.

November 22, 2016

University students walk through dense air pollution at Anyang Normal University in Henan Province, China.

Enabling China to shift from coal to natural gas

How an enhanced cap-and-trade system can help the world’s top carbon emitter cut emissions and improve air quality.

November 18, 2016

Seeking to inform India’s climate policy choices

Tata Center graduate fellow Arun Singh shares energy-economic modeling research at UN Climate Change Conference.

November 16, 2016

“State and local governments can serve as laboratories of innovation and test out new approaches to tackling challenging social problems,” says Mary Ann Bates, deputy director of J-PAL North America.

State and local governments invited to apply for funding, support on pressing policy challenges

Selected governments will partner with MIT's J-PAL North America to test which programs work, which work best, and why.

November 15, 2016

A new study by researchers at MIT and elsewhere has found that, rather than adopting a standard for automotive gas-mileage ratings, the EU could achieve the same results at far lower cost to the economy by simply extending their existing emissions-trading system to encompass transportation rather than just electricity generation and energy intensive industry.

What’s the best way for Europe to curb greenhouse emissions from cars?

Emissions trading would be more effective than mileage standards, new study shows.

November 8, 2016

William Bonvillian, Director of the MIT Washington Office.

3Q: William Bonvillian on connecting Cambridge and Capitol Hill

Through its Washington Office, MIT continues its long history of engagement on national science and technology policy.

November 3, 2016

With support from the International Policy Lab, the Trancik Lab compiled a report on the link between emissions cuts and energy technology cost reductions ahead of the 2015 UN climate conference. It was presented at the White House and helped to inform discussions in Paris on strengthening commitments to reduce emissions every five years. Pictured: (left to right) Patrick Brown, Magdalena Klemun, ...

International Policy Lab issues second annual call for proposals to faculty and researchers

The IPL provides funding and policy outreach support to help MIT researchers connect with the policy world.

October 19, 2016

President Barack Obama speaks with the Office of Science and Technology Policy Social and Behavioral Sciences team in the Oval Office.

White House releases report on applying behavioral science to government policy

October 13, 2016

CNBC's Eamon Javers (left) with Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan (center) and former NSA counsel Rajesh De.

Cambridge Cyber Summit convenes industry, academia, and government

Hosted by CSAIL, event featured discussions on cybersecurity with tech leaders and officials from the NSA and FBI.

October 12, 2016

Rendering of United States filled up as thousands of people

Analyzing the 2016 election: Insights from 12 MIT scholars

Experts from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences weigh in on topics from polling to rhetoric to individual campaign issues.

October 12, 2016

President L. Rafael Reif speaks at the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS) showcase. In his remarks, Reif noted that IDSS is “a unit that can magnify individual talents through collaborations, a unit that aspires to generate groundbreaking ways to understand society’s most difficult problems and lead us to badly-needed solutions.”

How data can help change the world

At IDSS celebration, speakers explore how data can be brought to bear on global challenges.

September 26, 2016

“We have great people who I can talk to about anything, from nitty-gritty physics details to the loftier goals of getting this implemented in the political future,” says grad student Jayson Vavrek of the Laboratory of Nuclear Security and Policy.

Turning particle detectors into weapons detectors

Nuclear science and engineering PhD student Jayson Vavrek applies particle physics to solve problems with nuclear weapons disarmament.