The McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT is one of the world’s leading centers for neuroscience research. The Institute is home to more than 30 faculty members who are leaders in their field, as well as over 100 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. The McGovern Institute was founded in 2000 with a generous gift from Patrick J. McGovern, founder and chairman emeritus of Boston-based IT company IDG. The mission of the McGovern Institute is to improve the understanding of the brain and mind by bringing together scientists from different disciplines to collaborate on groundbreaking research.
The McGovern Institute takes an interdisciplinary approach to neuroscience research, with faculty members working in areas such as cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, neurobiology, neuroengineering, and psychiatry. One of the unique features of the institute is its focus on translationalresearch – that is, research that can be translated into real-world applications that improve human health. For example, researchers at the McGovern Institute are working on developing new treatments for conditions such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
The McGovern Institute is also home to several state-of-the-art facilities that allow researchers to study the brain in unprecedented detail. These facilities include a 7T MRI scanner – one of only a handful in existence – which allows for high-resolution imaging of the brain; a microendoscopic imaging system that can image individual neurons; and an electrophysiology suite for recording electrical activity from individual neurons.
In addition to its cutting-edge research facilities, the McGovern Institute also provides educational resources for students interested in pursuing careers in neuroscience. The institute offers undergraduate courses taught by faculty members, as well as hands-on research opportunities through its Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). UROP participants have gone on to win prestigious awards such as Rhodes Scholarships and Marshall Scholarships.