A Better World Through Fundamental Science: A Message from Dean Michael Sipser

What is Life? How does the Universe work? Can we explain the Mind? In the School of Science at MIT, we seek to answer these age-old questions. Every day, MIT scientists are pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge to make sense of our complex world and solve the pressing problems of society.

The challenges are enormous. We must probe the tiniest structures inside our cells, look at the most distant galaxies from the beginning of time, and explore the quadrillions of connections among neurons in the brain. Teams of faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff conduct experiments, analyze mountains of data, form hypotheses, and test conclusions.

The problems are critical. Cancer. Alzheimer’s disease. Autism. Infectious diseases. Climate change. Understanding materials. Discovering new laws of nature. Finding better ways to teach our children. We are working on all of them. At MIT, we think big.

Our School of Science departments are the best in world. Our faculty is extraordinary and our students are incredibly talented. We are training the next generation of researchers even as we make new discoveries. Staying great is hard. We need your help.

Modern-day science grows ever more expensive. Costly instrumentation and modernized facilities are essential. Our top-notch people are always getting attractive offers from industry and elsewhere. The best ways to help us are through funds for faculty research, fellowships to support our graduate students, and funds for building state-of-the-art research tools.

MIT’s mission is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world. All of us in the MIT School of Science work passionately to advance this mission. Through the MIT Campaign for a Better World, we ask you to join with us and participate in this noble undertaking.

Michael Sipser
Dean, School of Science
Donner Professor of Mathematics

Published in September 2016.