A new approach to modeling complex biological systems

Over the past two decades, new technologies have helped scientists generate a vast amount of biological data. Large-scale experiments in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytometry can produce enormous quantities of data from a given cellular or multicellular system.

However, making sense of this information is not always easy. This is especially true when trying to analyze complex systems such as the cascade of interactions that occur when the immune system encounters a foreign pathogen.

MIT biological engineers have now developed a new computational method for extracting useful information from these datasets. Using their new technique, they showed that they could unravel a series of interactions that determine how the immune system responds to tuberculosis vaccination and subsequent infection.

This strategy could be useful to vaccine developers and to researchers who study any kind of complex biological system, says Douglas Lauffenburger, the Ford Professor of Engineering in the departments of Biological Engineering, Biology, and Chemical Engineering.

“We’ve landed on a computational modeling framework that allows prediction of effects of perturbations in a highly complex system, including multiple scales and many different types of components,” says Lauffenburger, the senior author of the new study.

Shu Wang, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and Amy Myers, a research manager in the lab of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Professor JoAnne Flynn, are the lead authors of a new paper on the work, which appears today in the journal Cell Systems.

Modeling complex systems

When studying complex biological systems such as the immune system, scientists can extract many different types of data. Sequencing cell genomes tells them which gene variants a cell carries, while analyzing messenger RNA transcripts tells them which genes are being expressed in a given cell. Using proteomics, researchers can measure the proteins found in a cell or biological system, and cytometry allows them to quantify a myriad of cell types present.

Using computational approaches such as machine learning, scientists can use this data to train models to predict a specific output based on a given set of inputs — for example, whether a vaccine will generate a robust immune response. However, that type of modeling doesn’t reveal anything about the steps that happen in between the input and the output.

“That AI approach can be really useful for clinical medical purposes, but it’s not very useful for understanding biology, because usually you’re interested in everything that’s happening between the inputs and outputs,” Lauffenburger says. “What are the mechanisms that actually generate outputs from inputs?”

To create models that can identify the inner workings of complex biological systems, the researchers turned to a type of model known as a probabilistic graphical network. These models represent each measured variable as a node, generating maps of how each node is connected to the others.

Probabilistic graphical networks are often used for applications such as speech recognition and computer vision, but they have not been widely used in biology.

Lauffenburger’s lab has previously used this type of model to analyze intracellular signaling pathways, which required analyzing just one kind of data. To adapt this approach to analyze many datasets at once, the researchers applied a mathematical technique that can filter out any correlations between variables that are not directly affecting each other. This technique, known as graphical lasso, is an adaptation of the method often used in machine learning models to strip away results that are likely due to noise.

“With correlation-based network models generally, one of the problems that can arise is that everything seems to be influenced by everything else, so you have to figure out how to strip down to the most essential interactions,” Lauffenburger says. “Using probabilistic graphical network frameworks, one can really boil down to the things that are most likely to be direct and throw out the things that are most likely to be indirect.”

Mechanism of vaccination

To test their modeling approach, the researchers used data from studies of a tuberculosis vaccine. This vaccine, known as BCG, is an attenuated form of Mycobacterium bovis. It is used in many countries where TB is common but isn’t always effective, and its protection can weaken over time.

In hopes of developing more effective TB protection, researchers have been testing whether delivering the BCG vaccine intravenously or by inhalation might provoke a better immune response than injecting it. Those studies, performed in animals, found that the vaccine did work much better when given intravenously. In the MIT study, Lauffenburger and his colleagues attempted to discover the mechanism behind this success.

The data that the researchers examined in this study included measurements of about 200 variables, including levels of cytokines, antibodies, and different types of immune cells, from about 30 animals.

The measurements were taken before vaccination, after vaccination, and after TB infection. By analyzing the data using their new modeling approach, the MIT team was able to determine the steps needed to generate a strong immune response. They showed that the vaccine stimulates a subset of T cells, which produce a cytokine that activates a set of B cells that generate antibodies targeting the bacterium.

“Almost like a roadmap or a subway map, you could find what were really the most important paths. Even though a lot of other things in the immune system were changing one way or another, they were really off the critical path and didn’t matter so much,” Lauffenburger says.

The researchers then used the model to make predictions for how a specific disruption, such as suppressing a subset of immune cells, would affect the system. The model predicted that if B cells were nearly eliminated, there would be little impact on the vaccine response, and experiments showed that prediction was correct.

This modeling approach could be used by vaccine developers to predict the effect their vaccines may have, and to make tweaks that would improve them before testing them in humans. Lauffenburger’s lab is now using the model to study the mechanism of a malaria vaccine that has been given to children in Kenya, Ghana, and Malawi over the past few years.

His lab is also using this type of modeling to study the tumor microenvironment, which contains many types of immune cells and cancerous cells, in hopes of predicting how tumors might respond to different kinds of treatment.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Western drivers remain sceptical of in-vehicle AI

A global study has unveiled a stark contrast in attitudes towards embracing in-vehicle AI between Eastern and Western markets, with European drivers particularly reluctant. The research – conducted by MHP – surveyed 4,700 car drivers across China, the US, Germany, the UK, Italy, Sweden, and Poland,…

Despite its impressive output, generative AI doesn’t have a coherent understanding of the world

Large language models can do impressive things, like write poetry or generate viable computer programs, even though these models are trained to predict words that come next in a piece of text.

Such surprising capabilities can make it seem like the models are implicitly learning some general truths about the world.

But that isn’t necessarily the case, according to a new study. The researchers found that a popular type of generative AI model can provide turn-by-turn driving directions in New York City with near-perfect accuracy — without having formed an accurate internal map of the city.

Despite the model’s uncanny ability to navigate effectively, when the researchers closed some streets and added detours, its performance plummeted.

When they dug deeper, the researchers found that the New York maps the model implicitly generated had many nonexistent streets curving between the grid and connecting far away intersections.

This could have serious implications for generative AI models deployed in the real world, since a model that seems to be performing well in one context might break down if the task or environment slightly changes.

“One hope is that, because LLMs can accomplish all these amazing things in language, maybe we could use these same tools in other parts of science, as well. But the question of whether LLMs are learning coherent world models is very important if we want to use these techniques to make new discoveries,” says senior author Ashesh Rambachan, assistant professor of economics and a principal investigator in the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS).

Rambachan is joined on a paper about the work by lead author Keyon Vafa, a postdoc at Harvard University; Justin Y. Chen, an electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) graduate student at MIT; Jon Kleinberg, Tisch University Professor of Computer Science and Information Science at Cornell University; and Sendhil Mullainathan, an MIT professor in the departments of EECS and of Economics, and a member of LIDS. The research will be presented at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems.

New metrics

The researchers focused on a type of generative AI model known as a transformer, which forms the backbone of LLMs like GPT-4. Transformers are trained on a massive amount of language-based data to predict the next token in a sequence, such as the next word in a sentence.

But if scientists want to determine whether an LLM has formed an accurate model of the world, measuring the accuracy of its predictions doesn’t go far enough, the researchers say.

For example, they found that a transformer can predict valid moves in a game of Connect 4 nearly every time without understanding any of the rules.

So, the team developed two new metrics that can test a transformer’s world model. The researchers focused their evaluations on a class of problems called deterministic finite automations, or DFAs. 

A DFA is a problem with a sequence of states, like intersections one must traverse to reach a destination, and a concrete way of describing the rules one must follow along the way.

They chose two problems to formulate as DFAs: navigating on streets in New York City and playing the board game Othello.

“We needed test beds where we know what the world model is. Now, we can rigorously think about what it means to recover that world model,” Vafa explains.

The first metric they developed, called sequence distinction, says a model has formed a coherent world model it if sees two different states, like two different Othello boards, and recognizes how they are different. Sequences, that is, ordered lists of data points, are what transformers use to generate outputs.

The second metric, called sequence compression, says a transformer with a coherent world model should know that two identical states, like two identical Othello boards, have the same sequence of possible next steps.

They used these metrics to test two common classes of transformers, one which is trained on data generated from randomly produced sequences and the other on data generated by following strategies.

Incoherent world models

Surprisingly, the researchers found that transformers which made choices randomly formed more accurate world models, perhaps because they saw a wider variety of potential next steps during training. 

“In Othello, if you see two random computers playing rather than championship players, in theory you’d see the full set of possible moves, even the bad moves championship players wouldn’t make,” Vafa explains.

Even though the transformers generated accurate directions and valid Othello moves in nearly every instance, the two metrics revealed that only one generated a coherent world model for Othello moves, and none performed well at forming coherent world models in the wayfinding example.

The researchers demonstrated the implications of this by adding detours to the map of New York City, which caused all the navigation models to fail.

“I was surprised by how quickly the performance deteriorated as soon as we added a detour. If we close just 1 percent of the possible streets, accuracy immediately plummets from nearly 100 percent to just 67 percent,” Vafa says.

When they recovered the city maps the models generated, they looked like an imagined New York City with hundreds of streets crisscrossing overlaid on top of the grid. The maps often contained random flyovers above other streets or multiple streets with impossible orientations.

These results show that transformers can perform surprisingly well at certain tasks without understanding the rules. If scientists want to build LLMs that can capture accurate world models, they need to take a different approach, the researchers say.

“Often, we see these models do impressive things and think they must have understood something about the world. I hope we can convince people that this is a question to think very carefully about, and we don’t have to rely on our own intuitions to answer it,” says Rambachan.

In the future, the researchers want to tackle a more diverse set of problems, such as those where some rules are only partially known. They also want to apply their evaluation metrics to real-world, scientific problems.

This work is funded, in part, by the Harvard Data Science Initiative, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, a Simons Collaboration grant, and a grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

Anthropic’s New Claude Models Bridge the Gap Between AI Power and Practicality

Anthropic has recently unveiled major updates to its Claude AI model family. The announcement introduced an enhanced version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet and debuted a new Claude 3.5 Haiku model, marking substantial progress in both performance capabilities and cost efficiency. The release represents a strategic advancement…

A new focus on understanding the human element

A new MIT initiative aims to elevate human-centered research and teaching, and bring together scholars in the humanities, arts, and social sciences with their colleagues across the Institute.

The MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC) launched earlier this fall. A formal kickoff event for MITHIC was held on campus Monday, Oct. 28, before a full audience in MIT’s Huntington Hall (Room 10-250). The event featured a conversation with Min Jin Lee, acclaimed author of “Pachinko,” moderated by Linda Pizzuti Henry SM ’05, co-owner and CEO of Boston Globe Media.

Initiative leaders say MITHIC will foster creativity, inquiry, and understanding, amplifying the Institute’s impact on global challenges like climate change, AI, pandemics, poverty, democracy, and more.

President Sally Kornbluth says MITHIC is the first of a new model known as the MIT Collaboratives, designed among other things to foster and support new collaborations on compelling global problems. The next MIT Collaborative will focus on life sciences and health.

“The MIT Collaboratives will make it easier for our faculty to ‘go big’ — to pursue the most innovative ideas in their disciplines and build connections to other fields,” says Kornbluth.

“We created MITHIC with a particular focus on the human-centered fields, to help advance research with the potential for global impact. MITHIC also has another, more local aim: to support faculty in developing fresh approaches to teaching and research that will engage and inspire a new generation of students,” Kornbluth adds.

A transformative opportunity

MITHIC is co-chaired by Anantha Chandrakasan, chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of the School of Engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Agustin Rayo, Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS).

“MITHIC is an incredibly exciting and meaningful initiative to me as it represents MIT at its core — bringing broad perspectives and human insights to solve some of the world’s most important problems,” says Chandrakasan. “It offers the opportunity to shape the future of research and education at MIT through advancing core scholarship in the individual humanities, arts, and social sciences disciplines, but also through cross-cutting problem formulation and problem-solving. I have no doubt MITHIC will inspire our community to think differently and work together in ways that will have a lasting impact on society.”

Rayo says true innovation must go beyond technology to encompass the full complexity of the human experience.

“At MIT, we aim to make the world a better place. But you can’t make the world a better place unless you understand its full economic, political, social, ethical — human — dimensions,” Rayo says. “MITHIC can help ensure that MIT educates broad-minded students, who are ready for the multidimensional challenges of the future.”

Rayo sees MITHIC as a transformative opportunity for MIT.

“MIT needs an integrated approach, which combines STEM with the human-centered disciplines. MITHIC can help catalyze that integration,” he says.

Mark Gorenberg ’76, chair of the MIT Corporation, says MITHIC represents a commitment to collaboration, a spirit of curiosity, and the belief that uniting the humanities and sciences results in solutions that are not only innovative, but meaningful and lasting.

“MIT has long been a place where boundless ideas and entrepreneurial energy come together to meet the world’s toughest challenges,” Gorenberg says. “With MITHIC, we’re adding a powerful new layer to that mission — one that captures the richness of human experience and imagination.”

Support for MITHIC comes from all five MIT schools, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, and the Office of the Provost, along with philanthropic support.

Charlene Kabcenell ’79, a life member of the MIT Corporation, and Derry Kabcenell ’75 chose to support MITHIC financially.

“MIT produces world-class scientists and technologists, but expertise in the skills of these areas is not enough. We are excited that the collaborations catalyzed by this initiative will help our graduates to stay mindful of the impact of their work on people and society,” they say.

Ray Stata ’57, MIT Corporation life member emeritus, is also a benefactor of MITHIC.

“In industry, it is not just technical innovation and breakthroughs that win, but also culture, in the ways people collaborate and work together. These are skills and behaviors that can be learned through a deeper understanding of humanities and social sciences. This has always been an important part of MIT’s education and I am happy to see the renewed attention being given to this aspect of the learning experience,” he says.

“A potential game changer”

Keeril Makan, associate dean for strategic initiatives in SHASS and the Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor, is the faculty lead for MITHIC.

“MITHIC is about incentivizing collaboration, not research in specific areas,” says Makan. “It’s a ground-up approach, where we support faculty based upon the research that is of interest to them, which they identify.”

MITHIC consists of three new funding opportunities for faculty, the largest of which is the SHASS+ Connectivity Fund. For all three funds, proposals can be for projects ready to begin, as well as planning grants in preparation for future proposals.

The SHASS+ Connectivity Fund will support research that bridges between SHASS fields and other fields at MIT. Proposals require a project lead in SHASS and another project lead whose primary appointment is outside of SHASS.

The SHASS+ Connectivity Fund is co-chaired by David Kaiser, the Germehausen Professor of the History of Science and professor of physics, and Maria Yang, deputy dean of engineering and Kendall Rohsenow Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

“MIT has set an ambitious agenda for itself focused on addressing extremely complex and challenging problems facing society today, such as climate change, and there is a critical role for technological solutions to address these problems,” Yang says. “However, the origin of these problems are in part  due to humans, so humanistic considerations need to be part of the solution. Such problems cannot be conquered by technology alone.”

Yang says the goal of the SHASS+ Connectivity Fund is to enhance MIT’s research by building interdisciplinary teams, embedding a human-centered focus.

“My hope is that these collaborations will build bridges between SHASS and the rest of MIT, and will lead to integrated research that is more powerful and meaningful together,” says Yang.

Proposals for the first round of projects are due Nov. 22, but MITHIC is already bringing MIT faculty together to share ideas in hopes of sparking ideas for potential collaboration.

An information session and networking reception was held in September. MITHIC has also been hosting a series of “Meeting of the Minds” events. Makan says these have been opportunities for faculty and teaching staff to make connections around a specific topic or area of interest with colleagues they haven’t previously worked with.

Recent Meeting of the Minds sessions have been held on topics like cybersecurity, social history of math, food security, and rebuilding Ukraine.

“Faculty are already educating each other about their disciplines,” says Makan. “What happens in SHASS has been opaque to faculty in the other schools, just as the research in the other schools has been opaque to the faculty in SHASS. We’ve seen progress with initiatives like the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC), when it comes to computing. MITHIC will broaden that scope.”

The leadership of MITHIC is cross-disciplinary, with a steering committee of faculty representing all five schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

Iain Cheeseman, the Herman and Margaret Sokol Professor of Biology, is a member of the MITHIC steering committee. He says that while he continues to be amazed and inspired by the diverse research and work from across MIT, there’s potential to go even further by working together and connecting across diverse perspectives, ideas, and approaches.

“The bold goal and mission of MITHIC, to connect the humanities at MIT to work being conducted across the other schools at MIT, feels like a potential game-changer,” he says. “I am really excited to see the unexpected new work and directions that come out of this initiative, including hopefully connections that persist and transform the work across MIT.”

Enhancing the arts and humanities

In addition to the SHASS+ Connectivity Fund, MITHIC has two funds aimed specifically at enhancing research and teaching within SHASS.

The Humanities Cultivation Fund will support projects from the humanities and arts in SHASS. It is co-chaired by Arthur Bahr, professor of literature, and Anne McCants, the Ann F. Friedlaender Professor of History and SHASS research chair.

“Humanistic scholarship and artistic creation have long been among MIT’s hidden gems. The Humanities Cultivation Fund offers an exciting new opportunity to not only allow such work to continue to flourish, but also to give it greater visibility across the MIT community and into the wider world of scholarship. The fund aspires to cultivate — that is, to seed and nurture — new ideas and modes of inquiry into the full spectrum of human culture and expression,” says McCants.

The SHASS Education Innovation Fund will support new educational approaches in SHASS fields. The fund is co-chaired by Eric Klopfer, professor of comparative media studies/writing, and Emily Richmond Pollock, associate professor of music and SHASS undergraduate education chair.

Pollock says the fund is a welcome chance to support colleagues who have a strong sense of where teaching in SHASS could go next.

“We are looking for efforts that address contemporary challenges of teaching and learning, with approaches that can be tested in a specific context and later applied across the school. The crucial role of SHASS in educating MIT students in all fields means that what we devise here in our curriculum can have huge benefits for the Institute as a whole.”

Makan says infusing MIT’s human-centered disciplines with support is an essential part of MITHIC.

“The stronger these units are, the more the human-centered disciplines permeate the student experience, ultimately helping to build a stronger, more inclusive MIT,” says Makan.

Artem Rodichev CEO & Founder of Ex-human – Interview Series

Artem Rodichev is the Founder and CEO of Ex-human, a company focused on building empathetic AI characters for engaging conversations. Before founding Ex-human, Artem was the Head of AI at Replika from 2017 to 2021, where he led the development one of the most popular English-speaking…

How AI is Shaping the Future of Democratic Dialogue

In today’s politically polarized world, finding common ground on complex social and political issues is becoming increasingly challenging. As societies grow more diverse, disagreements on crucial matters like climate change, immigration, and economic policy have only extended. Bringing people together to find consensus on complex issues…

Lemelson-MIT awards 2024-25 InvenTeam grants to eight high school teams

The Lemelson-MIT Program has announced the 2024-25 InvenTeams — eight teams of high school students, teachers, and mentors from across the country. Each team will each receive $7,500 in grant funding and year-long support to build a technological invention to solve a problem of their own choosing. The students’ inventions are inspired by real-world problems they identified in their local communities.

The InvenTeams were selected by a respected panel consisting of university professors, inventors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and college students. Some panel members were former InvenTeam members now working in industry. The InvenTeams are focusing on problems facing their local communities, with a goal that their inventions will have a positive impact on beneficiaries and, ultimately, improve the lives of others beyond their communities.

This year’s teams are:

  • Battle Creek Area Mathematics and Science Center (Battle Creek, Michigan)
  • Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
  • Colegio Rosa-Bell (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico)
  • Edison High School (Edison, New Jersey)
  • Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science (Worcester, Massachusetts)
  • Nitro High School (Nitro, West Virginia)
  • Southcrest Christian School (Lubbock, Texas)
  • Ygnacio Valley High School (Concord, California)

InvenTeams are comprised of students, teachers and community mentors who pursue year-long invention projects involving creative thinking, problem-solving, and hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The InvenTeams’ prototype inventions will be showcased at a technical review within their home communities in February 2025, and then again as a final prototype at EurekaFest — an invention celebration taking place June 9-11, 2025, at MIT.

“The InvenTeams are focusing on solving problems that impact their local communities,” says Leigh Estabrooks, Lemelson-MIT’s invention education officer. “Teams are focusing their technological solutions — their inventions — on health and well-being, environmental issues, and safety concerns. These high school students are not just problem-solvers of tomorrow, they are problem solvers today helping to make our world healthier, greener, and safer.”

This year the Lemelson-MIT Program and the InvenTeams grants initiative celebrate a series of firsts in the annual high school invention grant program. For the first time, a team from their home city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, will participate, representing the Cambridge community’s innovative spirit on a national stage. Additionally, the program welcomes the first team from Puerto Rico, highlighting the expanding reach of the InvenTeams grants initiative. The pioneering teams exemplify the diversity and creativity that fuel invention.

The InvenTeams grants initiative, now in its 21st year, has enabled 18 teams of high school students to be awarded U.S. patents for their projects. Intellectual property education is combined with invention education offerings as part of the Lemelson-MIT Program’s deliberate efforts to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations. The ongoing efforts empower students from all backgrounds, equipping them with invaluable problem-solving skills that will serve them well throughout their academic journeys, professional pursuits, and personal lives. The program has worked with over 4,000 students across 304 different InvenTeams nationwide and has included:

  • partnering with intellectual property (IP) law firms to provide pro bono legal support;
  • collaborating with industry-leading companies that provide technical guidance and mentoring;
  • providing professional development for teachers on invention education and IP;
  • assisting teams with identifying resources within their communities’ innovation ecosystems to support ongoing invention efforts; and
  • publishing case studies and research to inform the work of invention educators and policy makers to build support for engaging students in efforts to invent solutions to real-world problems, thus fueling the innovation economy in the U.S.

The Lemelson-MIT Program is a national leader in efforts to prepare the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, focusing on the expansion of opportunities for people to learn ways inventors find and solve problems that matter to improve lives. A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion aims to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations.

Jerome H. Lemelson, one of U.S. history’s most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program in 1994. It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and administered by the MIT School of Engineering. For more information, contact Leigh Estabrooks. 

Q&A: A STEAM framework that prepares learners for evolving careers and technologies

As educators are challenged to balance student learning and well-being with planning authentic and relevant course materials, MIT pK-12 at Open Learning developed a framework that can help. The student-centered STEAM learning architecture, initially co-created for Itz’at STEAM Academy in Belize, now serves as a model for schools worldwide.

Three core pillars guide MIT pK-12’s vision for teaching and learning: social-emotional and cultural learning, transdisciplinary academics, and community engagement. Claudia Urrea, principal investigator for this project and senior associate director of MIT pK-12, says this innovative framework supports learners’ growth as engaged and self-directed students. Joining these efforts on the pK-12 team are Joe Diaz, program coordinator, and Emily Glass, senior learning innovation designer.

Now that Itz’at has completed its first academic year, the MIT pK-12 team reflects on how the STEAM learning architecture works in practice and how it could be adapted to other schools.

Q: Why would a new school need a STEAM learning architecture? How is this framework used?

Glass: In the case of Itz’at STEAM Academy, the school aims to prepare its students for careers and jobs of the future, recognizing that learners will be navigating an evolving global economy with significant technological changes. Since the local and global landscape will continue to evolve over time, in order to stay innovative, the STEAM learning architecture serves as a reference document for the school to reflect, iterate, and improve its program. Learners will need to think critically, solve large problems, embrace creativity, and utilize digital technologies and tools to their benefit.

Q: How do you begin developing a school from scratch?

Urrea: To build a school that reflected local values and aspired towards global goals, our team knew we needed a deep understanding of the strengths and needs of Belize’s larger education ecosystem and culture. We collaborated with Belize’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology, as well as the newly hired Itz’at staff.

Next, we conducted an extensive review of research, drawing from MIT pK-12’s own work and outside academic studies on competency-based education, constructionism, and other foundational pedagogies. We gathered best practices of innovative schools through interviews and global site visits.

MIT’s collective team experience included the creation of schools for the NuVuX network, constructionist pedagogical research and practice, and the development of STEAM-focused educational materials for both formal and informal learning environments.

Q: Why was co-creation important for this process?

Urrea: MIT pK-12 could not imagine doing this project without strong co-creation. Everyone involved has their own expertise and understanding of what works best for learners and educators, and collaborating ensures that all stakeholders have a voice in the school’s pedagogy. We co-designed an innovative framework that’s relevant to Belize.

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all pedagogy that will be successful in every context. This framework allows educators to adapt their approaches. The school and the ministry can sustain Itz’at’s experimental nature with continual reflection, iteration, and improvement.

Q: What was the reasoning behind the framework’s core pillars?

Glass: MIT pK-12 found that many successful schools had strong social-emotional support, specific approaches to academics, and reciprocal relationships with their surrounding communities.

We tailored each core pillar to Itz’at. To better support learners’ social-emotional well-being, Belizean cultural identity is an essential part of the learning needed to anchor this project locally. A transdisciplinary approach most clearly aligns with the school’s focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, encouraging learners to ask big questions facing the world today. And to engage learners in real-world learning experiences, the school coordinates internships with the local community.

Q: Which areas of learning science research were most significant to the STEAM architecture? How does this pedagogy differ from Itz’at educators’ previous experiences?

Urrea: Learning at the Itz’at STEAM Academy focuses on authentic learning experiences and concrete evidence of concept mastery. Educators say that this is different from other schools in Belize, where conventional grading is based on rote memorization in isolated academic subjects.

Together as a team, Itz’at educators shifted their teaching to follow the foundational principles from the STEAM learning architecture, both bringing in their own experiences and implementing new practices.

Glass: Itz’at’s competency-based approach promotes a more holistic educational experience. Instead of traditional subjects like science, history, math, and language arts, Itz’at classes cover sustainable environments, global humanities, qualitative reasoning, arts and fabrication, healthy living, and real-world learning. Combining disciplines in multiple ways allows learners to draw stronger connections between different subjects.

Diaz: When the curriculum is relevant to learners’ lives, learners can also more easily connect what happens inside and outside of the classroom. Itz’at educators embraced bringing in experts from the local community to enrich learning experiences.

Q: How does the curriculum support learners with career preparation?

Diaz: To ensure learners can transition smoothly from school to the workforce, Itz’at offers exposure to potential careers early in their journey. Internships with local businesses, community organizations, and government agencies provide learners with real-world experience in professional environments.

Students begin preparing for internships in their second year and attend seminars in their third year. By their fourth and final year, they are expected to begin internships and capstone projects that demonstrate academic rigor, innovative thinking, and mastery of concepts, topics, and skills of their choosing.

Q: What do you hope the impact of the STEAM architecture will be?

Glass: Our hope is that the STEAM learning architecture will serve as a resource for educators, school administrators, policymakers, and researchers beyond Belize. This framework can help educational practitioners respond to critical challenges, including preparation for life and careers, thinking beyond short-term outcomes, learners’ mental health and well-being, and more.

Bridging Talents and Opportunities Forum connects high school and college students with STEAM leaders and resources

Bridging Talents and Opportunities (BTO) held its second annual forum at the Stratton Student Center at MIT Oct. 11-12. The two-day event gathered over 500 participants, including high school students and their families, undergraduate students, professors, and leaders across STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) fields.

The forum sought to empower talented students from across the United States and Latin America to dream big and pursue higher education, demonstrating that access to prestigious institutions like MIT is possible regardless of socioeconomic barriers. The event featured inspirational talks from world-renowned scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, social leaders, and major figures in entertainment — from Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum to musician and producer Emilio Estefan, and more.

“Our initiative is committed to building meaningful connections among talented young individuals, their families, foundations, and leaders in science, art, mathematics, and technology,” says Ronald Garcia Ruiz, the Thomas A. Frank Career Development Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT and an organizer of the forum. “Recognizing that talent is universal but opportunities are often confined to select sectors of society, we are dedicated to bridging this gap. BTO provides a platform for sharing inspiring stories and offering support to promising young talents, empowering them to seize the diverse opportunities that await them.”

During their talks and panel discussions, speakers shared their insight into topics such as access to STEAM education, overcoming challenges and socioeconomic barriers, and strategies for fostering inclusion in STEAM fields. Students also had the opportunity to network with industry leaders and professionals, building connections to foster future collaborations.

Attendees also participated in hands-on scientific demonstrations, interaction with robots, and tours of MIT labs, providing a view of cutting-edge scientific research. The event also included musical performances from Latin American students from Berklee College of Music.

“I was thrilled to see the enthusiasm of young people and their parents and to be inspired by the great life stories of accomplished scientists and individuals from other fields making a positive impact in the real world,” says Edwin Pedrozo Peñafiel, assistant professor of physics at the University of Florida and an organizer. “This is why I strongly believe that representation matters.”

Welcoming a Nobel laureate

The first day of the forum opened with the welcoming words from Nergis Mavalvala, dean of the School of Science, and Boleslaw Wyslouch, director of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science and the MIT Bates Research and Engineering Center, and concluded with a keynote address by human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum, 1992 Nobel Peace laureate and founder of the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation. Reflecting upon Indigenous perspectives on science, she emphasized the importance of maintaining a humanistic perspective in scientific discovery. “My struggle has been one of constructing a humanistic perspective … that science, technology … are products of the strength of human beings,” Menchú remarked. She also shared her extraordinary story, encouraging students to persevere no matter the obstacles.

Diana Grass, a PhD Student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program and organizer, shares, “As a woman in science and a first-generation student, I’ve experienced firsthand the impact of breaking barriers and the importance of representation. At Bridging Talents and Opportunities (BTO), we are shaping a future where opportunities are available to all. Seeing students from disadvantaged backgrounds, along with their parents, engage with some of today’s most influential scientists and leaders — who shared their own stories of resilience — was both inspiring and transformative. It ignited crucial conversations about how interdisciplinary collaboration in STEAM, grounded in humanity, is essential for tackling the critical challenges of our era.”

Power of the Arts

The second day concluded with a panel on “The Power of the Arts,” featuring actor, singer, and songwriter Carlos Ponce, as well as musician and producer Emilio Estefan. They were joined by journalist and author Luz María Doria, who moderated the discussion. Throughout the panel, the speakers recounted their inspiring journeys toward success in the entertainment industry. “This forum reaffirmed our commitment to bridging talent with opportunity,” says Ponce. “The energy and engagement from students, families, and speakers were incredible, fostering a space of learning, empowerment, and possibility.”

During the forum, a two-hour workshop was held that brought together scientists, nonprofit foundations, and business leaders to discuss concrete proposals for creating opportunities for young talents. In this workshop, they had the opportunity to share their ideas with one another. Key ideas and final takeaways from the workshop included developing strategic programs to match talented young students with mentors from diverse backgrounds who can serve as role models, better utilization of existing programs supporting underserved populations, dissemination of information about such programs, ideas to improve financial support for students pursuing education, and fostering extended collaborations between the three groups involved in the workshop.

Maria Angélica Cuellar, CEO of Incontact Group and a BTO organizer, says, “The event was absolutely spectacular and exceeded our expectations. We not only brought together leaders making a global impact in STEAM and business, but also secured financial commitments to support young talents. Through media coverage and streaming, our message reached every corner of the world, especially Latin America and the U.S. I’m deeply grateful for the commitment of each speaker and for the path now open to turn this dream of connecting stakeholders into tangible results and actions. An exciting challenge lies ahead, driving us to work even harder to create opportunities for these talented young people.”

“Bridging Talents and Opportunities was a unique event that brought together students, parents, professors, and leaders in different fields in a relatable and inspiring environment,” says Sebastián Ruiz Lopera, a PhD candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and an organizer. “Every speaker, panelist, and participant shared a story of resilience and passion that will motivate the next generation of young talents from disadvantaged backgrounds to become the new leaders and stakeholders.”

The 2024 BTO forum was made possible with the support of the Latinx Graduate Student Association at MIT, Laboratory of Nuclear Science, MIT MLK Scholars Program, Institute Community and Equity Office, the School of Science, the U.S. Department of Energy, University of Florida, CHN, JGMA Architects, Berklee College of Music, and the Harvard Colombian Student Society.