Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the world's preeminent research universities, dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. William Barton Rogers, the institute's founding president, believed that education should be both broad and useful, enabling students to discover and apply knowledge for the benefit of society. His emphasis on "learning by doing" continues to be at the heart of MIT's educational mission.

The institute has more than 900 faculty and 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, organized into five schools: Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Management; and Science. In addition, a great deal of research and teaching takes place in interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers whose work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries.

MIT's commitment to innovation has led to a host of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. Achievements of the Institute's faculty and graduates have included the first chemical synthesis of penicillin and vitamin A, the development of inertial guidance systems, modern technologies for artificial limbs, and the magnetic core memory that made possible the development of digital computers. Current areas of research focus include neuroscience and the study of the brain and mind, information technology, nanotechnology, the environment and sustainable development, new media, and entrepreneurship. Most recently, MIT has been at the forefront of the new revolution in computational and systems biology, involving the fusion of biology, engineering, and computer science. Nurtured by MIT's inventive and interdisciplinary culture, fundamental discoveries in this new field will play a major role in revolutionizing biomedical research.