Graduate, postdoctoral

Inside Higher Ed reporter Carl Straumshein writes that MIT is launching a pilot program that will provide an alternative path for students to pursue a master’s degree fro the Supply Chain Management program. 

A new MIT pilot program offers learners an opportunity to earn a new kind of credential for online learning, as well as a new path to an MIT master’s degree in Supply Chain Management, reports Laura Krantz for The Boston Globe. “The most important thing is to democratize access to MIT,” says President L. Rafael Reif.

Eric Convey writes for the Boston Business Journal about MIT’s new pilot for the Supply Chain Management master’s program. "This approach basically inverts the traditional admissions process," said MIT President L. Rafael Reif.

BetaBoston reporter Dan Adams speaks with Yoel Fink, director of RLE, about the Translational Fellows Program, an initiative that provides postdocs an opportunity to commercialize technologies they developed at MIT. Fink explains that the goal of the program is to empower postdocs, “not just to find a job in an industry, but to create an industry.”

Boston.com reporter Dialynn Dwyer writes about how graduate student Steven Keating “fought his cancer with curiosity.” Dwyer explains that Keating “gathered his health data in order to understand the science behind what his body was going through” and even filmed his brain surgery. 

Marvin Pave of The Boston Globe speaks with MIT junior and softball catcher Tori Jensen about her development as a student and an athlete. “I’ve become mentally tougher, knowing my teammates always have my back,” says Jensen, who holds MIT’s single-season records for both doubles and RBIs.

Curt Woodward writes for BetaBoston about how MIT graduate student Ben Letham developed a formula for measuring the misery and difficulty of a particular winter. Woodward explains that Letham’s formula, which gave more weight to snowfall concentrated in short periods of time, showed that “this winter’s snow was more relentless, and more miserable to live through, than any other.”

Graduate student Lina Colucci speaks with Elisabeth Pain of Science about combining her passion for dance with her work as an engineer. Colucci explains that she is using her knowledge of “biomechanics to change the materials and structural design” of ballet shoes. 

MIT students launched a balloon the size of a small house as part of the Global Space Balloon Challenge last weekend, reports Amanda Hoover for Boston Magazine. The group’s balloon was dedicated to Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston, "flying high to raise support and awareness for the institution and its patients.”

MIT graduate student Maia Majumder speaks with Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston about her digital habits. Subbaraman writes that Majumder, “uses Twitter as a professional tool to discuss her research and to interact with colleagues around the world.”

BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes about how graduate student Steven Keating's thirst for knowledge may have saved his life. After experiencing phantom odors, Keating urged his doctors to perform a brain scan, which revealed a tumor. Since then, Keating has “open-sourced” his illness, and become a “champion of a movement to provide patients with more information about their health.”

In a New York Times article, Steve Lohr spotlights how graduate student Steven Keating’s active participation in his medical care led to early detection of a brain tumor. In describing patient access to medical records, Keating explains his belief that “data can heal.”

Wall Street Journal reporter Rani Molla writes about which colleges have the highest paid graduates. “After 10+ years in their career, grads from Harvey Mudd ($133,800), USNA ($130,000) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($128,800) topped the list for highest median pay,” Molla writes. 

MIT graduate student Jennifer Schloss presents a seven-step survival guide for staying motivated in graduate school in this Inside Higher Ed piece.