MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives (MISTI)

🇯🇵 Japan@MIT and MIT Global Languages celebrate a decade of improved access to Japanese language, culture, and career opportunity for MIT undergraduates!

🗾 Japan@MIT serves as a central hub for students interested in Japanese language learning and internships through MISTI Japan. The program also fosters community and campus engagement through opportunities such as the MIT Aikido Club, Japanese Lunch Table, and language conversation exchanges.

Learn more about Japan@MIT below:

Japan@MIT: A Decade of Bringing Japan to Campus | MIT Global Languages Since its launch in 2015, Japan@MIT has grown into a vibrant and anticipated campus event that brings together students, faculty, and partners to explore Japan-related opportunities at MIT. Organized through the collaboration between Global Languages and MISTI Japan, the event reflects a shared comm...

✨ "I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of learning about experiences and people other than your own. I believe that understanding societies outside your bubble is how you can become a global citizen."

🌏 Ellie Bultena '26, one of the recipients of the 2026 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders, has completed internships in Singapore and Taiwan and participated in Global Teaching Labs in Singapore and Beijing, as well as an Urbantech workshop in Hong Kong.

🇨🇳 🇭🇰 She was a MISTI Fung Scholar Ambassador twice, participating in the Fung Foundation's Student Leadership Conferences in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Learn more about her MISTI experiences here:

Ellie honored with the 2026 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders In just four years at MIT, Ellie Bultena has had an unparalleled experience spanning Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. While earning degrees in electrical engineering and linguistics and studying Mandarin, Ellie has gone on summer internships at National University of Singapore and a...

🏆 Congratulations to MISTI alums Chen Li SM '25 and Sophie Thompson '26 on receiving Fulbright awards!

🇮🇸 Chen Li SM '25 developed generative artificial intelligence tools for patient engagement and applied AI to help prevent gait freezing in Parkinson’s patients through our MISTI Denmark and Mexico programs. She received a Fulbright Iceland–NSF Arctic Research Award to explore how AI and systems thinking can be applied to support health and well-being in Arctic communities.

🇸🇪 Sophie Thompson '26 completed a summer internship through MISTI Israel. Her Fulbright award will support research at the Swedish School of Textiles in Boras, where she will test the performance of recycled carbon-fiber composites.

🌎 We are excited to see the global impact they will make through their Fulbright experiences!

Ten from MIT accept 2026 Fulbright awards Ten MIT affiliates — including undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni — have accepted Fulbright grants to conduct research in countries across the world. Five other students declined their awards to pursue other opportunities, and another student is still deciding. In total, 16 of MIT’s...

Some democracies are struggling to ensure safe drinking water While democracies are slightly ahead of non-democracies when it comes to providing at least some water to the public, they have been falling behind when it comes to ensuring that water is clean and safe, a new study shows.

🏆 Congratulations to Eduardo Rivera, assistant director of MISTI Data Systems and managing director of MIT-Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay, on receiving the Infinite Mile Award at Thursday’s ceremony!

✨ We’re grateful for his many contributions to MISTI!

"I have yet to meet a professor that cares more for their students.”

🇧🇷 MIT-Brazil Program Associated Faculty Daniel Hidalgo is honored as “Committed to Caring” for graduate student mentorship.

🏆 His mentorship is recognized for combining intellectual intensity with humility, approachability, and a willingness to show up for students.

Read his spotlight here:

“I have yet to meet a professor that cares more for their students” MIT Associate Professor Daniel Hidalgo, a political scientist who studies elections, democracy, and political behavior in Latin America, is honored as “Committed to Caring” for graduate student mentorship.

Olivia Honeycutt ’26 combined her studies in computation and cognition and linguistics to conduct research on two MISTI trips!

🇿🇦 In South Africa, she explored connections between language processing and brain function, contributing to research that supports efforts to improve literacy across the country.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 She also studied sociolinguistics in Edinburgh, Scotland!

“MIT’s approach to linguistics centers words and approaches its study like a math problem, while sociolinguistics includes important cultural context."

Improving understanding with language When she was a child, MIT senior Olivia Honeycutt would spend summers on her grandparents’ farm in rural Alabama outside Birmingham. The practical and cultural differences between farm and city life became more pronounced by comparison. “Life and the way we lived it slowed down on the farm,” s...

🇯🇵 Hiromu Nagahara, Mitsui Career Development Professor of History and associated faculty of the MIT-Japan Program, is among the six recipients of the James A. (’48) and Ruth Levitan Award for Excellence in Teaching for 2026!

Read here → https://shass.mit.edu/six-mit-shass-educators-receive-2026-levitan-teaching-awards/

🏆 Congratulations to our MISTI Excellence Award winners, who were honored at the Student Awards Convocation!

🌎 Harley Carroll ’26 and Ellie Bultena ’26 received the 2026 Suzanne Berger Award for Future Global Leaders. Z Chen, SM ’26 and Alaysia Stone ’26 received the 2026 MISTI Ambassador Award.

✨ We are so proud of our MISTI students and all they have accomplished!

AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Generated AI and Propaganda: Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Generated | Wednesday, April 29, 2026A public conversation with Peter Pomerantsev, British-Ukrainian au...