MIT in the media: 2025 in review
MIT community members made headlines with key research advances and their efforts to tackle pressing challenges.
MIT community in 2025: A year in review
Top stories highlighted the Institute’s leading positions in world and national rankings; new collaboratives tackling manufacturing, generative AI, and quantum; how one professor influenced hundreds of thousands of students around the world; and more.
“Wait, we have the tech skills to build that”
From robotics to apps like “NerdXing,” senior Julianna Schneider is building technologies to solve problems in her community.
Student Spotlight: Diego Temkin
The senior, who is involved in Dormitory Council, Hydrant, the Student Information Processing Board, and SuperUROP, is double majoring in computer science and engineering and in urban planning.
Teen builds an award-winning virtual reality prototype thanks to free MIT courses
Nineteen-year-old Freesia Gaul built a VR prototype thanks to MIT OpenCourseWare classes that provided “a solid foundation of knowledge and problem-solving abilities.”
Working to eliminate barriers to adopting nuclear energy
Nuclear waste continues to be a bottleneck in the widespread use of nuclear energy, so doctoral student Dauren Sarsenbayev is developing models to address the problem.
Fraternities and sororities at MIT raise funds for local charities
“Our students’ ... dedication reflects not only their generosity, but also the spirit of engaging the MIT community in giving back through philanthropy.”
Lisa Su ’90, SM ’91, PhD ’94 to deliver MIT’s 2026 Commencement address
An electrical engineer by training, Su is the chair and CEO of the semiconductor company AMD.
PKG Center and the MIT Club of Princeton collaborate on food insecurity hackathon
The PKG Center is commemorating 25 years of the IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge with regional student-alumni hackathons for social impact.
A day in the life of MIT PhD student Alex Busch
With an interest in trade unions and employer associations shaping the labor market, Busch is exploring how employee voices and economic democracy affect the future of work.
MIT’s Science Policy Initiative holds 15th annual Executive Visit Days
Students and postdocs traveled to Washington to learn about federal science and technology policymaking.
MADMEC winners develop spray-on coating to protect power lines from ice
Placing first in the MADMEC innovation contest, the MITten team aims to curb costly power outages during winter storms.
Cultivating confidence and craft across disciplines
Professors Rohit Karnik and Nathan Wilmers are honored as “Committed to Caring.”
Inaugural UROP mixer draws hundreds of students eager to gain research experience
The Institute will commit up to $1 million in new funding to increase supply of UROPs.
MIT Sea Grant students explore the intersection of technology and offshore aquaculture in Norway
AquaCulture Shock program, in collaboration with MIT-Scandinavia MISTI, offers international internships for AI and autonomy in aquaculture