Writing Together Online offers structured time to help you spring into writing and stay focused this semester. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects. For more information and to register, go to this link or check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with colleagues and friends.Register for Spring 2025 Writing Challenge 1Choose those sessions that you want to attend during Challenge 1: February 10th through March 21stMondays 9:00–10:30amTuesdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amWednesdays 9:00–10:30amThursdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amFridays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amMIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a raffle of three $25 Amazon gift cards. The raffle will take place on Friday, March 21st. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.The funding support for this program comes from the Office of Graduate Education

Choose to Reuse!Join us at Choose to Reuse in Lobby 13Event Details: • Location: Lobby 13 • Drop-off Time: Starting at 8:00 AM • Pick-up Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PMHow It Works: • From 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, you can take up to five items per person. After 12:00 PM, there’s no limit, and you’re welcome to come back for more. • Items can be dropped off until 12:15 PM, so there will be new items available throughout the event. • You don’t need to donate in order to pick something up, and you don’t have to take back what you dropped off. • There is no charge, but an MIT ID is required to attend.What is Choose to Reuse? Since 2010, the Working Green Committee and the Department of Facilities have sponsored this monthly event during the academic year. The goal is to reduce our environmental impact and positively affect the community by sharing items instead of buying new ones.What Will You Find? It depends on the donations! We’ll have books, office supplies, housewares, clothes, and more. There may even be toys and stuffed animals. Stop by and see what’s available!Are There Any Restrictions on Donations? Yes. All items should be clean and in working condition. Items should be light enough to carry easily. Food items must be unopened and unexpired. Opened packages are not acceptable. Large items, such as furniture, can be posted on Rheaply, an online marketplace for exchanging items within the MIT community.What Happens to Leftover Items? • All clothing is donated to on-campus thrift or reuse events or goes into textile recycling. • Some housewares are donated to the Furniture Exchange. • Volunteers will sort through everything else to determine what is recyclable.Data Collection: Choose to Reuse volunteers count every person and item that comes to the event. Last year, we had over 1,500 attendees!Have more questions?Email: staffrecycles@mit.edu

The MIT Sloan Fintech Conference is one of the largest student-run conferences in the world. Taking place on February 20 and 21, 2025, it will bring together over 500 attendees including investors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, students and professors.

Writing Together Online offers structured time to help you spring into writing and stay focused this semester. We offer writing sessions every workday, Monday through Friday. Join our daily 90-minute writing sessions and become part of a community of scholars who connect online, set realistic goals, and write together in the spirit of accountability and camaraderie. The program is open to all MIT students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and affiliates who are working on papers, proposals, thesis/dissertation chapters, application materials, and other writing projects. For more information and to register, go to this link or check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with colleagues and friends.Register for Spring 2025 Writing Challenge 1Choose those sessions that you want to attend during Challenge 1: February 10th through March 21stMondays 9:00–10:30amTuesdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amWednesdays 9:00–10:30amThursdays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amFridays 8–9:30am and 9:30–11amMIT Students and postdocs who attend at least 5 sessions per challenge will be entered into a raffle of three $25 Amazon gift cards. The raffle will take place on Friday, March 21st. The more you participate, the more times you will be entered into the raffle of prizes.For more information and to register, check the WCC website. Please spread the word and join with peers and friends.The funding support for this program comes from the Office of Graduate Education

All kids from newborn age to 3.5 years old are welcome! You can bring siblings as well.It's a chance for kids to have fun while parents can chat, share parenting tips, and socialize.Please register if you plan to attend the group. Contact Maria at mwiegandl@udd.cl if you have any questions.This group is sponsored by the Executive Committees of Westgate and the Graduate Tower at Site 4, and MIT Spouses & Partners Connect, a dedicated network for the significant others of MIT students, postdocs, staff and faculty who have relocated to the Boston area.

Mark your calendars for the annual MIT MLK Jr. celebration luncheon.The MIT community gathers every February to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Institute began its annual celebration of Dr. King Jr. in 1975 with memorial activities and lectures by prominent speakers, including a keynote address by Coretta Scott King in 1994. Martin Luther King Day was designated an Institute holiday in 1976, a decade before its first official observance as a federal holiday.Hosted by MIT President Sally Kornbluth, these celebrations feature remarks from MIT leadership, from each of the recipients of that year’s MLK Leadership Awards, from a staff speaker nominated by the community, and from a keynote speaker who is a prominent leader, nationally or in the local community, in accordance with Dr. King’s dual emphasis on global and local issues.Our keynote speaker this year is Spencer Paysinger, aformer American football linebacker who became a co-producer and actor on the television series "All American," based on the story of his life.The deadline to RSVP is Monday 2/10 at 9am.We are committed to making this event fully accessible to everyone who wants to attend. Please let us know if there is anything you need to participate fully in this event by e-mailing mlkmarketing@mit.edu

In this workshop we will focus on how to prepare the key components of a resume for industry positions, with time for questions. We will also briefly review qualities of an effective cover letter. Join us to learn how to best communicate your experience and get into the "yes" pile after an initial review. This workshop will focus on U.S. searches, with some tips for other countries. This CAPD event is open to MIT PhDs, postdocs, and alumni.

Want to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the lobby with the big mirror, right inside the Collier Memorial entrance to Stata. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend checking this calendar just before you head out! [As of Feb 12, this calendar is defaulting to the year 1899. Click "today" to be brought to the current month.]Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.

Belonging and Motivation Go Hand-in-Hand: Evidence-Based Practice for Understanding and Regulating Student Belonging for Academic SuccessDr. Jill Allen, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives; Associate Professor of Psychology, Drake UniversityThis presentation integrates theoretical, methodological, and applied perspectives on the interplay between belonging and motivation in higher education. Drawing on the Motivational Experiences Model (Thoman et al., 2013) and novel approaches to capturing the fluctuating nature of belonging (“experience sampling methodologies”), this talk will describe possible interventions which elevate the motivational experience of students and subsequently increase their belonging and academic persistence (e.g., Allen et al., 2021). At a time when higher education’s value is questioned, this talk is tailored to educators seeking to help students foster a sense of inclusion and connection, both within and outside their classes, which sustains students’ passion for learning and research in higher education.All are welcome! Please register on ZoomAbout the SpeakerDr. Allen is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Since 2015, Dr. Allen has served Drake University in a variety of faculty roles, including the Director of the Slay Fund for Social Justice (since 2023) and Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences (since 2024).Her primary field of study is social psychology. Dr. Allen teaches courses in experimental social psychology, psychology of prejudice and diversity, psychology of gender, and research methods in psychology. Her research program examines the consequences of stereotyping and sexual objectification on motivation and behavior. Current research focuses on increasing gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity within STEM-fields (through belonging interventions) and reducing the negative effects of sexual objectification on women and girls.Dr. Allen earned her B.A. in psychology and community sociology from Wartburg College (a small, liberal arts institution in Iowa), her M.S. in Applied Psychology from Montana State University (a mid-sized land-grant institution in southwest Montana), and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Midwestern R1), with a certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies.

MIT Free English Class is for international students, sholars, spouses. Twenty seven years ago we created a community to welcome the nations to MIT and assist with language and friendship. Join our Tuesday/Thursday conversation classes around tables inside W11-190.

As part of MIT's Day of Climate, this professional development session provides training for Coastal Climate Science Activities and Experiments.Increased CO2 in the atmosphere is impacting coastal environments with adverse effects such as sea level rise, damage to marine life, and extreme weather. This project will present an overall framework that illustrates how increased CO2 is causing changes in water quality including acidification, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and others.Students will derive the connections by means of experiments and text investigations then place them in the overall framework, creating the big picture for themselves. This curriculum, building on the work from Sea Perch II, aims to foster climate science knowledge and scientific practices, empowering students to understand and act on climate-related issues.Register for this in-person session.

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Please note that this is an 11+ workshop.Explore the fascinating world of the human brain in this family workshop. Participants will step into the shoes of a neuroscientist and explore the tools and techniques doctors use to diagnose and study our body's most complex organs.$15 for ages 11-18, $20 for ages 19+

Speaker: Juan Muñoz-Echániz (Stony Brook University)Title: Boundary Dehn twists on symplectic 4-manifold with Seifert-fibered boundaryAbstract: In this talk I will discuss the following result: the boundary Dehn twist on a symplectic filling M of a Seifert-fibered rational homology 3-sphere (negatively-oriented, equipped with its canonical contact structure) has infinite order in the smooth mapping class group of $M$ (fixing the boundary) provided $b^+ (M) > 0$. This result has applications to the monodromy of surface singularities, such as: the monodromy diffeomorphism of a weighted-homogeneous isolated hypersurface singularity of complex dimension 2 has infinite order in the smooth mapping class group of its Milnor fiber, provided the singularity is not ADE. (In turn, the ADE singularities have finite order monodromy by Brieskorn’s Simultaneous Resolution Theorem.)The proof involves studying the Seiberg—Witten equation in 1-parametric families of 4-manifolds, by a combination of techniques from Floer homology, symplectic and contact geometry. I will also explain how to use our techniques to obstruct boundary Dehn twists from factorising as products of Seidel—Dehn twists on Lagrangian 2-spheres and/or their squares, in both the smooth and/or symplectic mapping class groups.This is based on joint work with Hokuto Konno, Jianfeng Lin and Anubhav Mukherjee.

Silvia Goncalves (McGill University)

Recreational swims provide a fun and engaging way for children and parents to practice new skills, stay active, and enjoy quality time together in the pool with the MIT community.No Z Center (MIT Recreation - Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center) membership is required to participate.A parent or caregiver must accompany children in the water. Per Z Center policy, each adult may supervise up to two children at a time.Children must be at least 6 months old to join. If younger, they must be able to hold their head up comfortably. Registration is here. Only for MIT Spouses and Partners Connect members.

Got a research-based writing project on the horizon but don’t know how to start? This hands-on, interactive workshop led by Writing and Communication Center lecturer Chris Featherman, PhD, can help. You’ll learn and practice a problem-based approach to discovering, exploring, and focusing a research topic so you can start writing.Complementing these practical and conceptual strategies will be tips for building a strong writing mindset and quieting the anxiety that often accompanies the start of a writing or communication project.

TBA | Fedor Sandomirskiy

Speaker: Alex Lubotzky (Weizmann Institute & the Hebrew University, Simons Distinguished Visiting Professor, MIT)Title: High Dimensional Expanders (HDX) and their applications in pure math and computer scienceAbstract:Expander graphs have been an intensive topic of research in math and CS during the last six decades. In the last two decades a high dimensional theory has emerged with (very different) applications in math & CS.In this series of 8 independent (but related) lectures we present some aspects of the theory of HDX and its applications, a number of open problems and suggestions for further research.A more detailed plan:1. Thursday 2/20/25, 4:30pm, 2-190 (Math Colloquium); refreshments served at 4pm  Introduction: three main problems(a) Gromov overlapping property(b) Locally testable codes(c) Are all groups sofic?2. Tuesday 2/25/25, 4:15-5:15pm, 32-G449 (Theory of Computing Colloquium), refreshments served at 4pmGood Locally testable codes3. Wednesday 2/26/25, 9:30-11am, 2-449Expander graphs: combinatorics, spectral gap, representation theory(Kazhdan property (T), property (\tau) and more) and property testing4. Wednesday 3/5/25, 9:30-11am, 2-449Geometric & topological expanders, Coboundary expanders, Random simplicial complexes and Property testing5. Wednesday 3/12/25, 9:30-11am, 2-449From Ramanujan graphs to Ramanujan complexes6. Wednesday 3/19/25, 9:30-11am, 2-449Stability and group approximation, Garland Theorem and the p-adic Deligne central extensionsWednesday 3/26/25 - Spring vacation7. Wednesday 4/2/26, 9:30-11am, 2-449Some more CS: Agreement tests, direct product test; PCP8. Wednesday 4/9/25, 9:30-11am, 2-449Are there non-sofic groups? The Aldous-Lyons conjecture and more

Speaker: Alex Lubotzky (Weizmann Institute & The Hebrew University, Simons Distinguished Visiting Professor, MIT)Title: High Dimensional ExpandersAbstract:Expander graphs have been an intensive topic of research in math and CS during the last six decades. In the last two decades a high dimensional theory has emerged with (very different) applications in math & CS. This colloquium talk is actually the first of 8 independent (but related) lectures about some aspects of the theory of HDX and its applications, as well as a number of open problems and suggestions for further research. This lecture will focus on three main problems (a) Gromov overlapping property, (b) Locally testable codes and (c) Are all groups sofic?*Pre-reception held in 2-290 at 4pm.

The List Visual Arts Center will host an artist discussion in celebration of the opening of Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning followed by an opening reception.This exhibition marks the first US solo presentation of Pedro Gómez-Egaña, a multimedia artist working in sculpture, performance, video, sound and drawing. Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning will feature a number of works and interventions articulated as one temporal, sonic and spatial composition.Following a brief artist presentation, Pedro Gómez-Egaña and curator Natalie Bell will engage in a public dialogue about the presentation at the List Center.

Public Lecture on the History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict Justice in and for Palestine:An Academic PerspectivePresented by : Ilan Pappe, Professor of History at the University of Exeter

The MIT wrestling club holds practices in the du Pont Wrestling Room on weeknights 5:30-7pm. All levels of experience welcome! Whether you're looking to learn how to grapple or just want to get in a good workout, wrestling practice is a good time to learn technique, get in some live goes, and have fun with a great group of people.Current schedule is: structured practice MTRF, open mats W, and technique sessions 9-10:30am on Saturday. For more information, contact wrestling-officers@mit.edu.

A part of the MIT Artfinity Arts Festival and the inaugural season of events in the Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building at MIT.Thursday, February 20th, 6pm Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building Thomas Tull Concert Hall 201 Amherst Street Cambridge, MA 02139Go behind-the-scenes with Kinetic in this interactive rehearsal demonstration, as part of the ensemble’s CAST Visiting Artist Residency.In this interactive Open Rehearsal Demonstration ahead of their Saturday evening concert, the 16-member conductorless string ensemble Kinetic will highlight their uniquely and intensely collaborative approach to music-making, and how their rehearsal process fosters a more direct connection between the musicians on stage, as well as between performers and listeners, creating an exciting concert experience that reimagines the power structures of classical music. String players who are in an MTA ensemble are invited to bring their instruments to play alongside Kinetic, as part of this Demonstration.More info: https://arts-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/people/kinetic-ensemble/This event is presented by CAST and MTA as part of Artfinity: A celebration of creativity and community at MIT.

Join us for the opening reception to celebrate the new exhibition at the List Center, Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great Learning.Exhibiting artist and exhibition curators will be in attendance. Light refreshments and beverages from Momma's Grocery + Wine will be served.Pedro Gómez-Egaña: The Great LearningWorking in sculpture, performance, video, and drawing, Gómez-Egaña draws on practices of composition and choreography to create dynamic constellations of objects and events in time. His wide-ranging installations are arenas of motion and observation that also mine historical intersections of technology and the occult, the affective qualities of objects and spaces, and shifting economies of attention in contemporary society.

Time: 6:00 PMLocation: Worcester, MA / WPI

Time: 6:00 PMLocation: Worcester, MA / WPI

MIT Tango Club invites you to the return of our Grand Milonga! Join us in the iconic Sala de Puerto Rico with DJ Rohin bringing the good vibes.The event features a beginner-friendly, separate ronda for tango enthusiasts not yet ready to navigate the main ronda.Food and non-alcoholic beverages provided. Cash bar for 21+ attendees (IDs checked).For more details, visit our website.

Last year we had Brazilian BBQ… but this year we are raising the steaks with a full-blown Tsiknopempti Party!Meat us at Lobdell for a true Greek-style carnival party, full of gyros, souvlaki and non-stop dancing.Note: Costumes highly encouraged, carnival spirit mandatory!HSA Tsiknopempti Party Details:Date: Thursday, February 20thTime: 8 PM - 11:45 PMLocation: MIT Lobdell Dining Hall (W20-208)Pricing: Tickets free | Drinks (ID required) $5 each. We accept cash, venmo and zelle.Come for the meats, stay for the beats!