IDSS Student Council

The IDSS student council exists to promote the needs of graduate students in IDSS, including organizing academic and social events and helping manage resources such as the IDSS REFS program. You can email us at idss-student-council [at] mit.edu or reach out to us individually with suggestions.

Current Members

Resources for Easing Friction and Stress (REFS)

REFS is a group of IDSS graduate students providing confidential peer-to-peer support. Our goal is to help you manage conflict and stress in an easy to access and confidential setting with others who may have similar experiences and who understand your program. We can help with issues ranging from advising to stress around classes and qualifying to navigating relationships with peers.

We are trained in conflict resolution by Conflict Management @ MIT and are familiar with the resources available to you. If you would like to discuss a specific issue and potential ways to address it, or just want to chat, you can reach out to us individually by email (or slack) or contact us all at idss-refs [at] mit.edu.

Current REFS:

Erin Walk

Amir Tohidi


MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
617-253-1764