MIT researchers develop an efficient way to train more reliable AI agents
The technique developed by researchers including IDSS faculty Cathy Wu and SES student Sirui Li could make AI systems better at complex tasks that involve variability.
PhD Program in Social & Engineering Systems
The Doctoral Program in Social and Engineering Systems (SES) is a unique graduate research program focused on addressing concrete and societally significant problems by combining the analytical tools and methods of statistics and information sciences with engineering and the social sciences.
Research Areas
SES students study problems that correspond to significant societal challenges. In addition to IDSS’s ongoing work (e.g., on combatting systemic racism), new focuses are always emerging.
- Climate change research has been major domain within IDSS since its inception (ongoing work with Christopher Knittel, Noelle Selin, Jessika Trancik). A new collaboration with Mechanical Engineering, Ocean Engineering, and IDSS focuses on lowering emissions in fleet shipping as the industry moves to meet ambitious emissions goals. Projects in ship design, alternative fuels, weather prediction, and port congestion are anticipated.
- faculty: Saurabh Amin, Navid Azizan, Negin Golrezaei, Themis Sapsis, Gioele Zardini
- IDSS focuses on life sciences data across campus through relationships with organizations like Broad and IMES. Projects involving the application of statistics and data science to new sources of data are anticipated, particularly insights using health data.
- Projects around collective decision making are anticipated. In IDSS, researchers focus on ways to harness collective decision making away from polarization and towards innovation and social cohesion, while capturing the complexity and dynamic nature of large-scale sociotechnical systems. Areas of interest include collective decision making in online communities and social networks; crowdsourcing and collaborative problem-solving; online deliberation and consensus-building; as well as the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on collective decision making.
The Character of the Program
- It is driven by problems of societal interest. The focus of the program is the study of problems that correspond to significant societal challenges. This includes analytical research that can be used to inform policy making. An example of work that falls under this program would be studying systemic risk in the banking system and its impact on the overall financial system. In contrast, profit-maximizing portfolio management does not.
- It involves quantitative methods. Societal problems or policy questions can be addressed from many different angles. However, this program focuses on problems that can be addressed through tools of computing and information sciences, including mathematical modeling and analysis, data science and statistics, and other quantitative methods.
- It relies on real-world data. Research is expected to analyze data from the application domain of interest, and thus training in statistics is part of the program.
- It engages societal aspects of the problem. The research is expected to examine the societal aspects of a problem (e.g., regulations, institutions, human behavior, or economic aspects), using theories and tools from the social sciences.
Learn More
- Admissions: Info about the admissions process as well as answers to frequently asked questions. (Apply now!)
- Program & Resources: A more detailed look at the program and links to some handy resources for current and prospective students, as well as advisors.
- Funding: IDSS works to make sure all SES students are fully funded. Learn how, including first-year fellowships like the Michael Hammer Fellowship and teaching assistant opportunities with the MicroMasters in Statistics and Data Science.
- +Statistics: Learn how to add the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics to an SES program for an even bigger emphasis on statistics.
- Graduates: A spotlight on the emerging cohort of SES graduates, including links to their work.
- News: SES news stories include examples of current student research and impact.
News
Empowering systemic racism research at MIT and beyond
IDSS researchers in the MIT Initiative on Combatting Systemic Racism are building an open data repository to advance research on racial inequity in domains like policing, housing, and health care.
MIT Energy and Climate Club mobilizes future leaders to address global climate issues
SES student and co-president Thomas Lee assists the club treasurer, supports the club's leadership team for next spring’s Energy Conference, and guides the industry Sponsorships team.
