Research

Impact Areas

Lead

Una-May O'Reilly

Community of Research

Cognitive AI Community of Research

This CoR aims to develop AI technology that synthesizes symbolic reasoning, probabilistic reasoning for dealing with uncertainty in the world, and statistical methods for extracting and exploiting regularities in the world, into an integrated picture of intelligence that is informed by computational insights and by cognitive science.

Howard Shrobe

Leads

Howard Shrobe

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Cybersecurity

Lead

Howard Shrobe

Research Group

Computation and Biology

Our lab focuses on designing algorithms to gain biological insights from advances in automated data collection and the subsequent large data sets drawn from them.

Bonnie Berger

Leads

Bonnie Berger

Research Areas

Computational Biology

Impact Areas

Lead

Bonnie Berger

Research Group

Computational Connectomics Group

Our group’s goal is to create, based on such microscopic connectivity and functional data, new mathematical models explaining how neural tissue computes.

Nir Shavit

Leads

Nir Shavit

Research Areas

Computational Biology

Impact Areas

Lead

Nir Shavit

Community of Research

Computing & Society Community of Research

This community is interested in understanding and affecting the interaction between computing systems and society through engineering, computer science and public policy research, education, and public engagement.

Daniel Weitzner

Leads

Daniel Weitzner

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Lead

Daniel Weitzner

Research Group

Decentralized Information Group

We are investigating decentralized technologies that affect social change.

Lalana Kagal

Tim Berners-Lee

Leads

Lalana Kagal

Tim Berners-Lee

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Lead

Lalana Kagal

Tim Berners-Lee

Lalana Kagal

Tim Berners-Lee

Research Group

Geometric Data Processing Group

Our group studies geometric problems in computer graphics, computer vision, machine learning, optimization, and other disciplines.

Justin Solomon

Leads

Justin Solomon

Research Areas

Graphics & Vision

Impact Areas

Lead

Justin Solomon

Research Group

Haystack Group

We are an interdisciplinary group of researchers blending approaches from human-computer interaction, social computing, databases, information management, and databases.

Lea Verou

David Karger

Leads

David Karger

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Internet of Things

Lead

David Karger

Lea Verou

David Karger

Research Center

Internet Policy Research Initiative

Our mission is to work with policy makers and cybersecurity technologists to increase the trustworthiness and effectiveness of interconnected digital systems.

Leads

Daniel Weitzner

Hal Abelson

David Clark

Lalana Kagal

Karen Sollins

Gerald Sussman

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Lead

Daniel Weitzner

Hal Abelson

David Clark

Lalana Kagal

Karen Sollins

Gerald Sussman

Research Group

Lecturers

Lecturers in CSAIL

Leads

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Cybersecurity

Research Group

Multimodal Understanding Group

Our objective is to build techniques, software, and hardware that enable natural interaction with
computation.

Randall Davis

Leads

Randall Davis

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Lead

Randall Davis

Research Group

Software Design Group

Our goal is to find better ways to make software, and ways to make software better.

Daniel Jackson

Leads

Daniel Jackson

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Cybersecurity

Lead

Daniel Jackson

Community of Research

Systems Community of Research

The Systems CoR is focused on building and investigating large-scale software systems that power modern computers, phones, data centers, and networks, including operating systems, the Internet, wireless networks, databases, and other software infrastructure.

+21

Sam Madden

Leads

Sam Madden

Research Areas

Computer Architecture

Impact Areas

Lead

Sam Madden

+21

Sam Madden

Community of Research

Vertical AI Community of Research

This CoR takes a unified approach to cover the full range of research areas required for success in artificial intelligence, including hardware, foundations, software systems, and applications.

Martin Rinard

Leads

Martin Rinard

Research Areas

Graphics & Vision

Learning and Intelligent Systems

Impact Areas

Lead

Martin Rinard

17 Project Results

Project

Active Learning of Models for Planning

Machine Learning

We aim to develop a systematic framework for robots to build models of the world and to use these to make effective and safe choices of actions to take in complex scenarios.

Leslie Kaelbling

Tomas Lozano-Perez

Leads

Leslie Kaelbling

Tomas Lozano-Perez

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Human-Computer Interaction Community of Research

Leslie Kaelbling

Tomas Lozano-Perez

Project

Alloy

Software Design Group

Alloy is a language for describing structures and a tool for exploring them. It has been used in a wide range of applications from finding holes in security mechanisms to designing telephone switching networks. Hundreds of projects have used Alloy for design analysis, for verification, for simulation, and as a backend for many other kinds of analysis and synthesis tools, and Alloy is currently being taught in courses worldwide.

Daniel Jackson

Leads

Daniel Jackson

Research Areas

Learning and Intelligent Systems

Impact Areas

Daniel Jackson

Project

Bayesian Optimization for Global Optimization of Expensive Black-box Functions

Machine Learning

We study the fundamentals of Bayesian optimization and develop efficient Bayesian optimization methods for global optimization of expensive black-box functions originated from a range of different applications.

Leads

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Project

Better Models for Ride-Sharing

Traffic is not just a nuisance for drivers: It’s also a public health hazard and bad news for the economy.

Leads

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Energy

Project

Determining Wikipedia's Influence on Science

Supertech Research Group

Wikipedia is one of the most widely accessed encyclopedia sites in the world, including by scientists. Our project aims to investigate just how far Wikipedia’s influence goes in shaping science.

Neil Thompson

Charles E. Leiserson

Leads

Neil Thompson

Charles E. Leiserson

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Learning and Intelligent Systems

Neil Thompson

Charles E. Leiserson

Project

Deterministic Algorithms for Robotic Task and Motion Planning

Our goal is to investigate deterministic algorithms for robotic task and motion planning.

Leads

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Manufacturing

Project

Distributed Robot Garden

The robot garden provides an aesthetically pleasing educational platform that can visualize computer science concepts and encourage young students to pursue programming and robotics.

Leads

Joseph DelPreto

Lindsay Sanneman

Daniela Rus

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Project

Drones that Drive

Multi-robot path planning for robot swarms that can both fly and drive

Leads

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Energy

Geometric Data Processing Group

Project

Geometry and topology for scientific computing and shape analysis

Computer Graphics Group

Developing state-of-the-art tools that process 3D surfaces and volumes

Justin Solomon

Leads

Justin Solomon

Research Areas

Graphics & Vision

Impact Areas

Data-Driven Inference Group

Justin Solomon

Project

Hidden Influencers, Risk and Causes of Infection

We aim to study the causes and transmission modes of infectious diseases among members of a community in the presence of hidden, asymptomatic spreaders of the pathogen.

Maggie Makar

John Guttag

Leads

Maggie Makar

John Guttag

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Data-Driven Inference Group

Maggie Makar

John Guttag

Project

Predicting Adverse Events Across Changing Electronic Health Record Systems

Applied Machine Learning Community of Research

Transitioning machine learning models across electronic health record (EHR) versions can be improved by mapping different EHR encodings to a common vocabulary.

John Guttag

Peter Szolovits

Leads

John Guttag

Peter Szolovits

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Decentralized Information Group

John Guttag

Peter Szolovits

Project

PrivacyML - A Privacy Preserving Framework for Machine Learning

Computing & Society Community of Research

We are developing a general framework that enforces privacy transparently enabling different kinds of machine learning to be developed that are automatically privacy preserving.

Lalana Kagal

Vaikkunth Mugunthan

Leads

Lalana Kagal

Vaikkunth Mugunthan

Research Areas

Computational Connectomics Group

Impact Areas

Lalana Kagal

Vaikkunth Mugunthan

Project

Reconstructing Neural Circuits from Mammalian Brain

We develop algorithms, systems and software architectures for automating reconstruction of accurate representations of neural tissue structures, such as nanometer-scale neurons' morphology and synaptic connections in the mammalian cortex.

Yaron Meirovitch

Nir Shavit

Leads

Yaron Meirovitch

Nir Shavit

Research Areas

Computational Biology

Impact Areas

Yaron Meirovitch

Nir Shavit

Project

Robot Compiler

The Robot Compiler allows non-engineering users to rapidly fabricate customized robots, facilitating the proliferation of robots in everyday life. It thereby marks an important step towards the realization of personal robots that have captured imaginations for decades.

Leads

Joseph DelPreto

Andrew Spielberg

Daniela Rus

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Internet of Things

Project

Safety Standards for Autonomous Vehicles

In this project, we aim to develop a framework that can ensure and certify the safety of an autonomous vehicle. By leveraging research from the area of formal verification, this framework aims to assess the safety, i.e., free of collisions, of a broad class of autonomous car controllers/planners for a given traffic model.

Leads

Lucas Liebenwein

Wilko Schwarting

Daniela Rus

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Model-Based Embedded and Robotics Systems Group

Project

Uhura: Personal Assistant that Manages Risk

Computation Structures Group

Uhura is an autonomous system that collaborates with humans in planning and executing complex tasks, especially under over-subscribed and risky situations.

Leads

Yuening Zhang

Brian Williams

Howard Shrobe

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Manufacturing

Project

Video Data Querying

Data Systems Group

We are developing machine-learning technology to help users efficiently run data queries over large archives of raw video.

Sam Madden

Favyen Bastani

Leads

Sam Madden

Favyen Bastani

Research Areas

Impact Areas

Natural Language Processing Group

Sam Madden

Favyen Bastani

20 People Results

Leandro Agudelo

Research Scientist

Systems Genomics, CompBio, Topological Integrative Biology, Biology

E lagudelo@csail.mit.edu

Systems Genomics, CompBio, Topological Integrative Biology, Biology

PI
Core/Dual

Regina Barzilay

Professor

Natural language processing, machine learning

E regina@csail.mit.edu

T 258-5706

Lead

Aspect-Augmented Adversarial Networks for Domain Adaptation

Member

Vertical AI Community of Research

Applied Machine Learning Community of Research

Natural language processing, machine learning

R. David Edelman

Director, Project on Technology, Economy & National Security

Machine learning, cybersecurity, governance

E rde@mit.edu

T 258-6389

Machine learning, cybersecurity, governance

Barış Ekim

Graduate Student

E ekim@csail.mit.edu

Gregory Falco

Research Affiliate

Dr. Falco is a hacker and expert in IoT and IIoT cybersecurity.

E gfalco@mit.edu

Dr. Falco is a hacker and expert in IoT and IIoT cybersecurity.

PI
Core/Dual

David Karger

Professor

Helping people manage information

E karger@csail.mit.edu

T 258-6167

Lead

Haystack Group

Mavo: Creating Interactive Data-Driven Web Applications by Authoring HTML

Algorithms Group

Wikum: Bridging Discussion Systems and Wikis with Collective Summarization

Squadbox: Combating Online Harassment using Friendsourced Moderation

Eyebrowse: Social and Public Web Browsing

Talkademic: Motivating Online Academic Discourse

Member

Human-Computer Interaction Community of Research

Systems Community of Research

Helping people manage information

PI
Core/Dual

Dina Katabi

Professor

Wireless, networks, machine learning

E dina@csail.mit.edu

T 324-6027

Lead

Networks at MIT

EQ-Radio: Emotion Recognition using Wireless Signals

Member

Vertical AI Community of Research

Wireless, networks, machine learning

PI
Core/Dual

Charles E. Leiserson

Professor

Algorithms, parallel computing, performance engineering

E cel@csail.mit.edu

T 253-5833

Lead

Supertech Research Group

Algorithms Group

Performance Engineering of Cache Profilers

CilkPride

A Simplified and Extensible Cilk Runtime for Research

Determining Wikipedia's Influence on Science

Tapir

Member

Systems Community of Research

Algorithms, parallel computing, performance engineering

Lucas Liebenwein

Graduate Student

Student and Researcher | Robotics, AI | Advanced Autonomy

E lucasl@mit.edu

RM 32-376C

Lead

Safety Standards for Autonomous Vehicles

Member

Coresets for Machine Learning Algorithms

Student and Researcher | Robotics, AI | Advanced Autonomy

PI
Core/Dual

Albert R. Meyer

Professor Emeritus

Programming languages, theory, complexity, online education

E meyer@csail.mit.edu

T 253-6024

Programming languages, theory, complexity, online education

PI
Core/Dual

Una-May O'Reilly

Principal Research Scientist

Applied AI and ML in cybersecurity, healthcare, education

E unamay@csail.mit.edu

T 253-6437

Lead

Anyscale Learning for All ALFA

Applied Machine Learning Community of Research

Adversarial Cyber Security

GIGABEATS: Data science for medical sensor data

MOOC Learner Project: Data science for e-learning

Member

Applied AI and ML in cybersecurity, healthcare, education

PI
Core/Dual

Daniela Rus

Director

CSAIL director, robotics, AI, data science, privacy

E rus@csail.mit.edu

T 258-7567

RM 32/ 32-368/ 374

Lead

Social Network Extraction from GPS Datasets with Coresets

Safety Standards for Autonomous Vehicles

Soft Contact Modeling

Practical Secure Computation

Robust Learning for Autonomous Vehicles

Brain-Controlled Robots

Planning in Congestion for Autonomous Vehicles

Socially-Compliant Behavior for Autonomous Driving

Coresets for Machine Learning Algorithms

M-Blocks Modular Robotics

Robot Compiler

Distributed Robot Garden

Route and Motion Planning for Mobility-on-Demand with Rules of the Road

Member

Social Network Extraction from GPS Datasets with Coresets

Task-Driven Co-Optimization Of Articulated Robots

Wearable Blind Navigation

Drones that Drive

Better Models for Ride-Sharing

SoFi - The Soft Robotic Fish

Controlling drones and other robots with gestures

Using Muscle Signals to Lift Objects with Robots

Embodied Intelligence Community of Research

Helping robots learn using demonstrations

CSAIL director, robotics, AI, data science, privacy

Wilko Schwarting

Graduate Student

E wilkos@mit.edu

Lead

Safety Standards for Autonomous Vehicles

Planning in Congestion for Autonomous Vehicles

Socially-Compliant Behavior for Autonomous Driving

Member

Localizing External Contact Using Proprioceptive Sensors

Samuel Sledzieski

Graduate Student

E samsl@csail.mit.edu

PI
Core/Dual

Russ Tedrake

Professor

Robotics, machine learning, motion planning and control

E russt@csail.mit.edu

T 253-1778

RM 32-380B

Lead

Robot Locomotion Group

Tactile and Physical Perception

Soft Contact Modeling

Tactile and Physical Perception

Member

Task-Driven Co-Optimization Of Articulated Robots

Center for Deployable Machine Learning (CDML)

Embodied Intelligence Community of Research

Robotics, machine learning, motion planning and control

Joshua Tenenbaum

Professor

Computational cognitive science, machine learning

E jbt@csail.mit.edu

T 452-2010

RM 46-4015

Lead

Computational Cognitive Science Group

Member

Center for Brains, Minds and Machines

Single-Image 3D Interpreter Network

3D Generative Adversarial Networks

Embodied Intelligence Community of Research

Visual Computing Community of Research

Computational cognitive science, machine learning

Yu Wang

Graduate Student

E wangyu9@mit.edu

RM 32-D475A

Member

Geometric Data Processing Group

Geometry and topology for scientific computing and shape analysis

PI
Core/Dual

Daniel Weitzner

Principal Research Scientist

Web policy, cybersecurity, web architecture

E djweitzner@csail.mit.edu

T 253-8036

Lead

Internet Policy Research Initiative

Keys Under Doormats

Computing & Society Community of Research

Member

Data Systems Group

Web policy, cybersecurity, web architecture

PI
Core/Dual

Brian Williams

Professor

Robotics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, machine learning

E williams@csail.mit.edu

T 253-2739

Lead

Model-Based Embedded and Robotics Systems Group

RADMAX

Geordi: A Driver's Assistant for Risk-bounded Maneuvering

Robots Adapting to Human Intent

Risk-aware Network Resource Allocation

Uhura: Personal Assistant that Manages Risk

Artificial Social Intelligence for Successful Teams (ASIST)

Member

Robotics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, machine learning

PI
Core/Dual

Ryan Williams

Associate Professor

Theory, algorithms, complexity.

E rrw@mit.edu

Lead

Complexity Theory Group

Algorithms Group

Member