can we visit mit

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Whether you’re a prospective student or a tourist visiting the Boston area, we invite you to explore our dynamic campus and experience firsthand how MIT is making a better world .

MIT is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. The main entrance is 77 Massachusetts Avenue.

For maps and questions, stop by the Information Center in Room 7-121, inside the main entrance on the right. Office hours are 9–5, Monday–Friday, excluding legal and Institute holidays .

On This Page

Campus tours and information sessions, getting here and getting around, while you’re here.

MIT's main entrance, 77 Massachusetts Avenue. 

MIT Undergraduate Admissions runs information sessions and tours for prospective students Monday through Friday. Campus tours are open to the general public and are led by current students. You can also stroll the campus on your own using our self-guided walking tour.

Prospective undergraduate students

Prospective graduate students usually arrange visits through the department they’re applying to, though MIT Sloan and select departments within the School of Engineering offer tours

General public

Group tours

Self-guided walking tour [link when ready]

When navigating to campus, use the address for MIT’s main entrance, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge . We recommend that you take public transportation or a taxi/rideshare service to campus.

Via public transportation

Boston’s public transportation system is the MBTA , known as “the T.”

Subway : Take the Red Line subway to the Kendall/MIT station or to the Central Square station. Kendall/MIT is the closest stop to the campus; the walk from Central Square takes about 10 minutes.

Bus : The #1 bus stops at MIT on Massachusetts Avenue and provides transportation between Harvard Square and Dudley Square (in Boston). The CT1 bus is similar to the #1 bus but has a shorter route and limited stops; it runs along Mass. Ave. from Central Square to Boston Medical Center.

Shuttle : The EZ Ride shuttle runs to and from Boston’s North Station, with stops at Kendall Square and around MIT’s campus (Note: EZRide is not operated by the MBTA; fare is $2 cash per trip).

From Logan Airport

Taxi or rideshare : Taxi fare from the airport is about $35–$40, and a rideshare service can range from about $20–$35. During non-rush hour, the ride will take about 15 minutes; during rush hour, it may take 30 minutes or more.

Subway : From any terminal at Logan Airport, take the Silver Line bus to South Station. At South Station, change to the Red Line subway to Kendall/MIT (inbound toward Alewife). The ride should take about 30 minutes.

Parking in Cambridge and Boston can be expensive and hard to find. Whenever possible, park your car at your hotel and use public transportation [link to public transportation above] or a taxi/rideshare service. If you must drive to the campus, on- and off-street parking is available for a fee, but most public parking is not very close to the center of campus. More parking information is available from Parkopedia .

• Visiting prospective students may park in designated areas on a first-come, first-served basis.

Other resources

• Accessibility map
• Self-guided walking tour map

There is plenty to see and do, both on campus and in the greater Boston area.

On the MIT campus

Stop by  Killian Court and the Great Dome , one of the most iconic spots on campus.

Take in the galleries and exhibits at the MIT Museum , where art, science, and technology intersect.

Explore public art on campus , including works by Picasso, Calder, and other major artists.

Visit the List Visual Arts Center , MIT’s contemporary arts museum.

Admire students’ creative work at the Wiesner Student Art Gallery .

Browse MIT’s special collections, including historical documents, rare books, and maps, at the Maihaugen Gallery of the MIT Libraries .

Learn about nautical engineering at the Hart Nautical Gallery , which houses one of the most important collections of nautical materials in the country.

Witness the work being done at the cutting edge of cancer research at the Koch Institute Public Galleries .

Delight in a display of hacks on the Charles M. Vest Student Street in the Stata Center .

Shop at the MIT Coop for MIT-branded apparel and other souvenirs.

Around Cambridge and Boston

Trace the footsteps of Boston’s founders on the Freedom Trail .

Quack your way through a duck tour .

Visit Fenway Park , home of the Boston Red Sox.

Learn about the life and presidency of John F. Kennedy at his namesake library.

Appreciate the classics at the Museum of Fine Arts , or get some hands-on learning at the Museum of Science .

Climb to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument for a panoramic view of Boston.

• Where to eat
• Where to stay

Welcome! 

To register for a visit, please select a visit day from the calendar and fill out the form with your info. And that’s it! We’ll be in touch soon with additional info to help you plan your day and remind you when it’s time for your visit. Please note that all campus visitors are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated, including a booster shot for eligible individuals, unless they have a religious or medical exemption. All visitors must follow MIT’s Covid policies . We can’t wait to meet you!  Session schedule:  Sessions take place Monday through Friday. If the calendar does not yet have the date you plan to visit, please check back a month from your desired date. 

No walk-in availability: All visitors must be pre-registered to attend Admissions programming. Walk in visitors will be provided with a self-guided walking tour map. 

visiting MIT

Getting here & getting around.

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FAQ: Visitors

Given ongoing covid-19 developments, is mit still open to visitors.

As of summer 2022, visitors are welcome in outdoor spaces on campus and may enter non-residential campus buildings while escorted. See the visitors policy for full details.

Find virtual tours, online information sessions, and other details at the MIT Admissions website .

Where can I park?

Parking in Cambridge can be challenging: it’s both expensive and hard to find. See more about getting here and getting around

Is there a campus map online? 

Yes: you can view the interactive campus map . Please also review the visitors’ pages for additional information about planning a trip to MIT.

What is the nearest airport?

Logan International Airport serves the Boston area.

What is the nearest train (AMTRAK) station?

South Station, Boston , is the closest train station. South Station is served by the MBTA Red Line, which connects to MIT at the MIT/Kendall stop.

What is the nearest subway stop?

The Kendall Square/MIT stop on the MBTA Red Line is the closest subway. The MIT campus is also served by several bus routes; visit the MBTA website for times and schedules.

Interactive MIT campus map

VIDEO: “I am First Generation”

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VIDEO: From Green Beret to MIT More at the MIT Alumni Association

MIT Visitors

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Updates from campus :  Read messages from MIT's leaders regarding recent events on campus, sharing relevant policies, and correcting misinformation.

Spotlight: Apr 30, 2024

MIT spinout 247Solar is building solar power systems that use overnight thermal energy storage to provide round-the-clock power and industrial-grade heat. “You have to have a solution that operates 24 hours a day,” Bruce Anderson ’69, SM ’73 says.

Apr 30, 2024

Via @mitsoftball on Instagram: “Saturday was for the seniors! We loved honoring our seniors and their families who have given so much to this sport and program!!”

Our habit of using numbers to make political arguments has a history, and William Deringer is a leading historian of it. He has carved out a distinctive niche through his scholarship showing how quantitative reasoning has become part of public life.

Researchers have shown that heat isn’t alone in causing water to evaporate: Light, striking the surface where air and water meet, can break water molecules away and float them into the air, causing evaporation in the absence of any source of heat.

Founded by Rhiannon Menn MBA ’14 in 2020, meal-delivery nonprofit Lasagna Love now has 50,000 volunteers providing lasagnas to families in need. “For me, food is love, and it’s how I communicate care and support,” she says.

Geologists have uncovered ancient rocks in Greenland bearing the oldest remnants of Earth’s magnetic field — potentially extending its age by 200 million years. “That’s important because that’s the time when we think life was emerging,” Benjamin Weiss says.

Via @mitsigmakappa on Instagram: “In honor of Earth Day we met up with members of the Northeastern Chapter to help keep our community clean and take care of our planet.”

Welcome to MTL - Visitor's Guide

We look forward to your visit.

Please find all the information you need to get to and around campus, including hotels, places to eat, campus maps and more!

Where to stay.

Preferred hotels.

MIT has several preferred hotels in the campus area, three of which are in Kendall Square. Kendall Square is about a 5-7 minute walk to MTL.

Boston Marriott Cambridge * 2 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: 617-494-6600  Toll-free: 800-228-9290

The Kendall Hotel * 350 Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: 617-577-1300

Residence Inn Boston Cambridge * 6 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: 617-494-1885 Toll-free: 800-331-3131

Please find other MIT preferred hotels here .

Parking and Public Transportation.

Parking can be tough at MIT! We recommend public transportation or a taxi/rideshare service (such as Uber or Lyft).

From Logan Airport

Taxi or rideshare : Taxi fare from the airport is about $35–$40, and a rideshare service can range from about $20–$35. During non-rush hour, the ride will take about 15 minutes; during rush hour, it may take 30 minutes or more.

Subway : From any terminal at Logan Airport, take the Silver Line bus to South Station. At South Station, change to the Red Line subway to Kendall/MIT (inbound toward Alewife). The ride should take about 30 minutes.

MIT Campus Map - MTL headquarters are located in Building 39

Other resources.

Where to eat. Campus map. MIT Welcome Center

Frequently asked questions

We have answered many of the most common questions in the sections below..

Because of the decentralized nature of graduate admissions, most of these questions are answered in general terms and may not apply to all departments.

For specific department requirements, please visit the  degree programs  pages. If you have additional questions, please email [email protected] .

General Questions

Can i enroll in a part-time degree.

In most cases, no. Students must enroll full time to complete the required course of study. Programs geared toward working professionals, such as the Executive MBA program, may have greater flexibility.

Can I earn a degree online?

No. While MIT does offer some online learning opportunities, such as the MicroMasters credential programs offered by MITx, degree-granting programs must be completed on campus.

Can I visit MIT? Do you offer graduate tours?

MIT Graduate Admissions does not offer a dedicated tour or information sessions. Graduate applicants interested in visiting should contact the department or program of interest directly to see if arrangements can be made for a campus visit.

If you are interested in visiting MIT, the  Institute Events  office has created useful information to help you plan your visit. The MIT Welcome Center also offers campus tours, which you may sign up for online.

Do you offer financial aid, scholarships, or other sources of funding?

Yes. Please visit our Costs & Funding  section for further details.

Do you offer conditional admissions?

No. Only applicants who have met all the necessary requirements are admitted. However, all offers of admissions do come with certain conditions, such as immigration requirements, satisfactory undergraduate degree completion, or the provision of official documents, such as transcripts, for verification.

Can I apply to more than one department?

Yes. Applicants may apply to more than one department as long as they meet all of the application requirements, pay the required application fees, and submit separate applications by the required deadlines for each program.

Can I apply if I am an undocumented student?

Yes. Applicants to MIT graduate programs who have undocumented status are eligible to apply as international students, based on the same policy explained under the Undocumented Student section of the main Admissions Office website.

Can I transfer to an MIT graduate program?

No. Applicants must apply through the regular admissions process.

If I have a PhD from another institution, can I apply for a second PhD at MIT?

In most cases, no. Instead, applicants are encouraged to seek other postdoctoral opportunities.

Can applicants apply with three-year bachelor degrees received from India, Australia, or other countries?

In most cases, yes. Departments may have additional requirements beyond a bachelor degree, however.

Application Process

More information on the process of applying may be found at the Applications section of this website. Please keep in mind that each graduate program has its own unique set of requirements and deadlines; applicants can find more details on the application process for each program at the Degree Programs directory.

How much is the application fee?

The standard application fee is $75 per program. The MIT Sloan School of Management may have fees that range between $95 and $250 per program.

Do you offer an application fee waiver?

Yes. We offer application fee waivers to applicants who meet our requirements. For further information, please visit the Application Fee Waiver page.

Do you offer an application refund if I am not eligible for admission, withdraw my application, or receive a late fee waiver?

No. We do not offer refunds for any reason, except if a technical error occurs during the transaction process. A fee waiver will not be retroactively applied to an application that has been paid for and submitted. If you believe you were charged more than once, please contact our office.

Do you charge a deposit to hold my offer of admission?

Deposit guidelines differ by program. The MIT Sloan School of Management charges a deposit to secure your spot, but the amount may vary. Most other departments do not charge a deposit.

Where can I view the status of my application?

Applicants should log into their online application to view the most up to date information available. Some programs may provide status update via email during the review process. Applicants should not email to request an application status update.

When will I receive my admissions decision?

Admissions timelines differ across departments.  Many programs notify applicants between January and March, though notification timeframes from the MIT Sloan School of Management may vary.

Can I submit my letters of recommendation via Interfolio?

The online application used by the majority of graduate programs, GradApply, does not support direct integration with Interfolio; please follow the instructions provided within the application. Application features for the MIT Sloan School of Management or Mechanical Engineering department may vary.

Will my recommenders be notified to submit my letter of recommendation?

Applicants are responsible for notifying recommenders by utilizing the notification emails and links provided in the GradApply application. Application features for the MIT Sloan School of Management or Mechanical Engineering department may vary.

Will my recommender be able to submit my recommendation after the application deadline has passed?

Yes. Recommender links will remain active even after the GradApply application deadline. Application features for the MIT Sloan School of Management may vary.

Can I use the same login that I used in a previous year?

No. If the application window says “GradApply” in the top left corner, then you must create a new user name and login each year. Materials from your previous application will not be transferred.

Standardized Tests

More information regarding the Institute’s exam requirements for graduate admission may be found on the Standardized Tests webpage.

Does MIT accept the Duolingo English Test?

MIT Graduate Admissions does not accept Duolingo English Test scores to meet the language proficiency requirement. Applicants must submit official scores from the IELTS Academic exam, TOEFL iBT exam, or the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency exams from Cambridge English. (Please note that the Cambridge English Qualification exams are only accepted by select departments, not all.)

Is there a preference for IELTS or TOEFL scores?

Most departments prefer IELTS exam scores. Please contact the program to which you wish to apply to confirm their requirements for English language proficiency exams.

Is there a deadline for me to submit official test scores?

It varies. Some departments may begin the review process using unofficial self-reported scores, while other departments may wait until all materials have been received. Please contact the program to which you wish to apply to confirm their application requirements.

Is the GRE required? Can I receive a waiver for the GRE?

Some departments no longer require official GRE scores for admission. However, if the GRE is required by the department, applicants cannot receive a waiver. Please confirm the GRE policy with the department or program that interests you.

Can I receive a waiver for the English language proficiency exam requirement?

It varies. Some departments may offer a language proficiency waiver if you meet certain requirements. Please visit the  Degree Programs page for further details on standardized test policies for each of our graduate programs.

If I apply to multiple programs, do I need to submit standardized test scores to each department separately?

No. Test scores are matched to your application electronically based on your name; department codes do not impact this matching process.

If you submit multiple applications, each program to which you applied will have access to your official test scores, with the exception of applications to the MIT Sloan School of Management. Test scores must be submitted to MIT Sloan separately.

Additional Questions

Can i apply for research internships.

No; research invitations are reserved for visiting students only. Please visit our section on Visiting Students to learn about potential opportunities.

Will special consideration be given to the academic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic?

In response to the challenges of teaching, learning, and assessing academic performance during the global Covid-19 pandemic, MIT has adopted the following principle:

MIT's admissions committees and offices for graduate and professional schools will take the significant disruptions of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 into account when reviewing students' transcripts and other admissions materials as part of their regular practice of performing individualized, holistic reviews of each applicant. In particular, as we review applications now and in the future, we will respect decisions regarding the adoption of Pass/No Record (or Credit/No Credit or Pass/Fail) and other grading options during the period of Covid-19 disruptions, whether those decisions were made by institutions or by individual students. We also expect that the individual experiences of applicants will richly inform applications and, as such, they will be considered with the entirety of a student's record.

Ultimately, even in these challenging times, our goal remains to form graduate student cohorts that are collectively excellent and composed of outstanding individuals who will challenge and support one another.

Questions or concerns about this statement should be directed to the academic department or program to which you have applied.

Where can I learn more about the MIT Graduate Student Union?

On April 4-5, 2022, MIT’s RAs, TAs, and Instructor Gs voted to be represented by the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) for the purposes of negotiating wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. MIT leadership is committed to negotiating in good faith and to supporting all students, regardless of whether they are in the union. You can read more at the Graduate Student Unionization website .

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If you require further information, please visit the Privacy Policy page.

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• physics@mit Journal: Fall 2023 Edition
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• Search for: Search

We welcome hearing from you if you are planning a visit to the Cambridge/Boston area and would like to visit the MIT Physics Department.

• Prospective undergrads can meet with our Undergraduate Program Coordinator, who will describe the program and undergraduate activities, and answer questions. We can also arrange for you to meet with a current student. Visit arrangements should be made in advance in order to ensure someone is available to meet with you. To request an appointment, contact [email protected] .
• Prospective graduate students have the opportunity to visit campus and speak with faculty and staff during our yearly Graduate Open House every Spring. Information about these events will be emailed directly to prospective students. If you have any questions, contact [email protected] .
• We do not arrange visits with faculty members , but you may contact research  labs and/or individual  faculty directly to ask about possibly meeting during your visit.

Information on visiting campus

Update as of December 2022 : While MIT is opening more of its buildings to the public, striving to return to an open campus some point in the future, many parts of campus are still restricted (except with MIT ID or Tim Ticket for event). Please visit these links to read up on updated pandemic visitor policies and current public entrances map (as of November 29, 2022).

• Visit MIT – General info on tours and visiting campus, along with maps, directions, and parking .
• MIT Welcome Center – at  292 Main Street in Kendall Square , conveniently located next to the Kendall/MIT MBTA subway station. The adjacent green space is also a great place to have lunch or take a break. Open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., excluding  MIT holidays  and Institute closures. 
• MIT Admissions Office – at the MIT Welcome Center, 292 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, open from 9 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday.
• Campus Tours and Info Sessions – Information on campus tour sign-ups or chart your own self-guided walking tour.
• What is it really like to be an MIT student? – Student perspectives and podcast.
• Ask a student! – Have questions about what it’s like to be an MIT student? Send an email to  [email protected]  and you’ll be matched with a current student who can answer your questions!

Tuesday: 12–6 pm Wednesday: 12–7 pm Thursday: 12–7 pm Friday: 12–6 pm Saturday: 12–6 pm Sunday: 12–6 pm

Tours and Group Visits

Dr. Cathleen Chaffee, PhD, Chief Curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY and group of visitors at the List Center galleries in Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective.

Learn more about contemporary art through thoughtful conversation and engaging first-hand exploration of art objects.

During our exhibition and public art tours, visitors are invited to look closely at original works of art and engage in discussions with a focus on artists’ practices, materials, exhibition themes, as well as social and cultural contexts for understanding.

For all tours, visit requests must be made at least 2 weeks in advance. We can accommodate groups between 5-20 people at a time. Late arrivals may receive a shortened visit and groups that are more than 15 minutes late may not receive a tour. Please contact listprograms [at] mit.edu (listprograms[at]mit[dot]edu) to book a group tour.

Exhibition Tours

Join a member of our staff or a tour guide for a 30-minute guided tour of our current exhibitions. Schedule a tour of the List Center’s current exhibitions for any high school, college, adult group, or organization.

Public Art Tours

Join a member of our staff or a tour guide for a 45-minute guided tour of MIT’s Public Art Collection. With MIT’s steady expansion efforts and our  Percent-for-Art  program, new works are continually being added across campus. Join one of our scheduled public art tours or book your own group visit for any high school, college, adult group, or organization. 

Self-Guided Tours

Explore the List Visual Arts Center’s current and past exhibitions using our  Digital Guide , available on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. Access high-resolution photography, videos, tours, and more, all from wherever you are.

Enjoy a customized, self-guided tour of public art and architecture across the Institute through our  Public Art Map . If you are on campus, use our  Mobile Public Art Map  that includes suggested routes, information about artworks on view, and transcribed audio and video content. Listen to commentary by artists, architects, scholars, and curators – including Alicja Kwade, Anish Kapoor, Cai Guo-Qiang, Beverly Pepper, Juame Plensa, Louise Nevelson, Matthew Ritchie, and Olafur Eliasson – focusing on over sixty works of art and architecture throughout the campus.

Tour Guides

The Tour Guide Program provides knowledge of MIT’s Public Art Collection, contemporary art practices, visual literacy and analysis, critical thinking, and public engagement with art, architecture, and environs. Join a public art tour or book your own group visit led by one of our Tour Guides. Support for the Tour Guide Program has been provided by the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can my group park.

Public parking in Kendall Square is limited, but metered spaces are close by and garage parking is available at  90 Broadway Street . Parking is also available on campus after business hours and on weekends; visit  MIT Parking and Transportation  to find out more. 

What if my group is running late?

Please reach out to listprograms [at] mit.edu (listprograms[at]mit[dot]edu)  with your approximate arrival time. Late arrivals may receive a shortened tour. Groups that arrive more than 15 minutes late may not receive a tour.

What should my group expect in case of inclement weather?

Plan for the tour to proceed during light showers. In case of inclement weather, the tour booker will be emailed to cancel or reschedule.

What accommodations are available upon request?

The List Center can alter a public art tour according to your group’s needs such as a slower pace, frequent breaks, and the use of ramps and elevators. For more information about the accommodations we provide, read through our  accessibility page .

Our galleries, programs, and special events are free and open to all. We are committed to providing resources and accommodations to make exhibitions and special events more accessible. If you have access-related questions or feedback about your visit to the List Center, please  listaccessibility [at] mit.edu (contact us) . 

If I am bringing my class to the List Center for a self-guided visit of the exhibitions, do I need to book with someone?

Yes, please reach out to  listprograms [at] mit.edu (listprograms[at]mit[dot]edu) , with your class, an approximate number of students, and the university you are associated with, so we know to expect your class. During the visit, please be mindful of blocking entrances.  

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An AI dataset carves new paths to tornado detection

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The return of spring in the Northern Hemisphere touches off tornado season. A tornado's twisting funnel of dust and debris seems an unmistakable sight. But that sight can be obscured to radar, the tool of meteorologists. It's hard to know exactly when a tornado has formed, or even why.

A new dataset could hold answers. It contains radar returns from thousands of tornadoes that have hit the United States in the past 10 years. Storms that spawned tornadoes are flanked by other severe storms, some with nearly identical conditions, that never did. MIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers who curated the dataset, called TorNet , have now released it open source. They hope to enable breakthroughs in detecting one of nature's most mysterious and violent phenomena.

“A lot of progress is driven by easily available, benchmark datasets. We hope TorNet will lay a foundation for machine learning algorithms to both detect and predict tornadoes,” says Mark Veillette, the project's co-principal investigator with James Kurdzo. Both researchers work in the Air Traffic Control Systems Group. 

Along with the dataset, the team is releasing models trained on it. The models show promise for machine learning's ability to spot a twister. Building on this work could open new frontiers for forecasters, helping them provide more accurate warnings that might save lives. 

Swirling uncertainty

About 1,200 tornadoes occur in the United States every year, causing millions to billions of dollars in economic damage and claiming 71 lives on average. Last year, one unusually long-lasting tornado killed 17 people and injured at least 165 others along a 59-mile path in Mississippi.  

Yet tornadoes are notoriously difficult to forecast because scientists don't have a clear picture of why they form. “We can see two storms that look identical, and one will produce a tornado and one won't. We don't fully understand it,” Kurdzo says.

A tornado’s basic ingredients are thunderstorms with instability caused by rapidly rising warm air and wind shear that causes rotation. Weather radar is the primary tool used to monitor these conditions. But tornadoes lay too low to be detected, even when moderately close to the radar. As the radar beam with a given tilt angle travels further from the antenna, it gets higher above the ground, mostly seeing reflections from rain and hail carried in the “mesocyclone,” the storm's broad, rotating updraft. A mesocyclone doesn't always produce a tornado.

With this limited view, forecasters must decide whether or not to issue a tornado warning. They often err on the side of caution. As a result, the rate of false alarms for tornado warnings is more than 70 percent. “That can lead to boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome,” Kurdzo says.  

In recent years, researchers have turned to machine learning to better detect and predict tornadoes. However, raw datasets and models have not always been accessible to the broader community, stifling progress. TorNet is filling this gap.

The dataset contains more than 200,000 radar images, 13,587 of which depict tornadoes. The rest of the images are non-tornadic, taken from storms in one of two categories: randomly selected severe storms or false-alarm storms (those that led a forecaster to issue a warning but that didn’t produce a tornado).

Each sample of a storm or tornado comprises two sets of six radar images. The two sets correspond to different radar sweep angles. The six images portray different radar data products, such as reflectivity (showing precipitation intensity) or radial velocity (indicating if winds are moving toward or away from the radar).

A challenge in curating the dataset was first finding tornadoes. Within the corpus of weather radar data, tornadoes are extremely rare events. The team then had to balance those tornado samples with difficult non-tornado samples. If the dataset were too easy, say by comparing tornadoes to snowstorms, an algorithm trained on the data would likely over-classify storms as tornadic.

“What's beautiful about a true benchmark dataset is that we're all working with the same data, with the same level of difficulty, and can compare results,” Veillette says. “It also makes meteorology more accessible to data scientists, and vice versa. It becomes easier for these two parties to work on a common problem.”

Both researchers represent the progress that can come from cross-collaboration. Veillette is a mathematician and algorithm developer who has long been fascinated by tornadoes. Kurdzo is a meteorologist by training and a signal processing expert. In grad school, he chased tornadoes with custom-built mobile radars, collecting data to analyze in new ways.

“This dataset also means that a grad student doesn't have to spend a year or two building a dataset. They can jump right into their research,” Kurdzo says.

This project was funded by Lincoln Laboratory's Climate Change Initiative , which aims to leverage the laboratory's diverse technical strengths to help address climate problems threatening human health and global security.

Chasing answers with deep learning

Using the dataset, the researchers developed baseline artificial intelligence (AI) models. They were particularly eager to apply deep learning, a form of machine learning that excels at processing visual data. On its own, deep learning can extract features (key observations that an algorithm uses to make a decision) from images across a dataset. Other machine learning approaches require humans to first manually label features. 

“We wanted to see if deep learning could rediscover what people normally look for in tornadoes and even identify new things that typically aren't searched for by forecasters,” Veillette says.

The results are promising. Their deep learning model performed similar to or better than all tornado-detecting algorithms known in literature. The trained algorithm correctly classified 50 percent of weaker EF-1 tornadoes and over 85 percent of tornadoes rated EF-2 or higher, which make up the most devastating and costly occurrences of these storms.

They also evaluated two other types of machine-learning models, and one traditional model to compare against. The source code and parameters of all these models are freely available. The models and dataset are also described in a paper submitted to a journal of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Veillette presented this work at the AMS Annual Meeting in January.

“The biggest reason for putting our models out there is for the community to improve upon them and do other great things,” Kurdzo says. “The best solution could be a deep learning model, or someone might find that a non-deep learning model is actually better.”

TorNet could be useful in the weather community for others uses too, such as for conducting large-scale case studies on storms. It could also be augmented with other data sources, like satellite imagery or lightning maps. Fusing multiple types of data could improve the accuracy of machine learning models.

Taking steps toward operations

On top of detecting tornadoes, Kurdzo hopes that models might help unravel the science of why they form.

“As scientists, we see all these precursors to tornadoes — an increase in low-level rotation, a hook echo in reflectivity data, specific differential phase (KDP) foot and differential reflectivity (ZDR) arcs. But how do they all go together? And are there physical manifestations we don't know about?” he asks.

Teasing out those answers might be possible with explainable AI. Explainable AI refers to methods that allow a model to provide its reasoning, in a format understandable to humans, of why it came to a certain decision. In this case, these explanations might reveal physical processes that happen before tornadoes. This knowledge could help train forecasters, and models, to recognize the signs sooner. 

“None of this technology is ever meant to replace a forecaster. But perhaps someday it could guide forecasters' eyes in complex situations, and give a visual warning to an area predicted to have tornadic activity,” Kurdzo says.

Such assistance could be especially useful as radar technology improves and future networks potentially grow denser. Data refresh rates in a next-generation radar network are expected to increase from every five minutes to approximately one minute, perhaps faster than forecasters can interpret the new information. Because deep learning can process huge amounts of data quickly, it could be well-suited for monitoring radar returns in real time, alongside humans. Tornadoes can form and disappear in minutes.

But the path to an operational algorithm is a long road, especially in safety-critical situations, Veillette says. “I think the forecaster community is still, understandably, skeptical of machine learning. One way to establish trust and transparency is to have public benchmark datasets like this one. It's a first step.”

The next steps, the team hopes, will be taken by researchers across the world who are inspired by the dataset and energized to build their own algorithms. Those algorithms will in turn go into test beds, where they'll eventually be shown to forecasters, to start a process of transitioning into operations.

In the end, the path could circle back to trust.

“We may never get more than a 10- to 15-minute tornado warning using these tools. But if we could lower the false-alarm rate, we could start to make headway with public perception,” Kurdzo says. “People are going to use those warnings to take the action they need to save their lives.”

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Scenes of Protests at College Campuses

The crackdown at Columbia this month led to more campus demonstrations and hundreds of arrests so far.

In Photos and Video

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including university students, rallied at an encampment in support of Gaza at Alumni Park on the University of Southern California’s campus on Wednesday. Credit... Mark Abramson for The New York Times

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By The New York Times

Text by Troy Closson

• Published April 22, 2024 Updated April 29, 2024

Protests and arrests spread across some of America’s most influential universities this month, as administrators struggled to defuse tensions on campuses over pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Since Columbia University started cracking down on pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a lawn on its New York City campus, encampments and protests against the war in Gaza have sprung up at various other prominent universities, including Yale, M.I.T., the University of Southern California and Emory University. Police interventions on several campuses have led to more than 800 arrests.

The flurry of protests has presented a steep challenge for university leaders, as some Jewish students say they have faced harassment and antisemitic comments.

Here are scenes from the protests.

Sunday, April 28

Protesters clash with University of Pittsburgh police officers while graduates get their photo taken with family members.

A protester at the University of Pittsburgh lays flowers beneath Palestinian flags bearing the names of those killed in Gaza.

The Gaza solidarity rally took place on Sunday during graduation commencement.

Students remain at an encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Sunday.

Saturday, April 27

The “Tommy Trojan” statue is watched over by a campus worker after it was defaced by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the U.S.C. campus in Los Angeles late Saturday.

Members of the U.S.C. graduating class of 2024 walk past the protest encampment after having graduation portraits taken nearby on Saturday.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators rally at the tent encampment in support of Gaza on the U.C.L.A. campus on Saturday.

[crowd chanting] Free, free Palestine. Cops go home. Cops go home. Cops go home.

Protesters chanted as the police cleared an encampment at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday.

Friday, April 26

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag near East Hall during a protest at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. on Friday.

A man watches from a building as University of Chicago students and faculty lead a march and rally through campus on Friday.

A U.C.L.A. student watches a protest encampment from inside a classroom in Royce Hall before their midterm mathematics exam.

Members of the Islamic faith at the U.C.L.A. encampment pause for evening prayers.

Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some students from Jewish Voice for Peace at U.C.L.A., begin Friday evening Sabbath services at sundown inside the encampment.

Protesters march through campus at Emory University in Atlanta on Friday.

Pro-Palestinian protesters write phone numbers for legal representation on their arms in case they are arrested while demonstrating at Northeastern University in Boston.

[crowd chanting] Disclose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest.

Protesters at Arizona State University gathered on campus Friday in Tempe, Ariz.

Thursday, April 25

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied at a newly formed “solidarity” encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus.

Students and community members prayed in front of a tent encampment on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

A counterprotester in support of Israel spoke to the media about his thoughts outside the encampment at University of California, Los Angeles.

Officers at the City College of New York were pushed back by a crowd after trying to remove a person from the area during a protest.

Pro-Palestinian and anti-police graffiti was removed from where the encampment on Emerson College’s campus was before it was dismantled by the police in Boston.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators linked arms as police officers surrounded an encampment at Northeastern University in Boston on Thursday.

Students continued their protest at Sproul Plaza on the University of California, Berkeley, campus.

Students at the University of Texas at Austin gathered on campus after a pro-Palestine demonstration. Dozens of students, faculty members and others were arrested on Wednesday after clashes with state law enforcement officials.

At Northwestern University, protesters formed a line to prevent law enforcement officials from entering their encampment on Deering Meadow.

Protesters at the City College of New York in New York City.

An encampment at George Washington University in Washington.

“Let them go!” “Let them go!” Crowd: “Let them go. Let them go. Let them go. Let them go. Let them go.”

Law enforcement officials detained several protesters at Emory University a few hours after an encampment was set up on the university grounds.

Wednesday, April 24

Protesters at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles surrounded a campus police car on Wednesday, demanding that a detained protester be released.

Campus police checked for student IDs at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

University of California, Berkeley, students set up tents on the Savio steps at Sproul Plaza.

Protesters and police officers gathered during a pro-Palestinian protest at Alumni Park at the University of Southern California.

Tuesday, April 23

Officers from the New York Police Department monitoring a protest on Broadway outside Columbia University shortly after its president, Nemat Shafik, sent an email about negotiations between demonstrators and university officials.

Several tents were moved from the Gaza-solidarity encampment at Columbia late Tuesday evening.

Wooden boards were put up on the campus of New York University after arrests took place there Monday night.

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sharing matzo during a Seder hosted by a campus group, MIT Jews for Ceasefire.

Protesters at Washington Square Park in New York City demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Students set up tents at Sproul Plaza on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.

Students at an encampment at Emerson College in Boston protesting the war in Gaza.

Students and community members protested outside Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Monday, April 22

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators near the N.Y.U. campus after arrests by the police.

Police officers taking protesters into custody at N.Y.U.

People arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at N.Y.U. on Monday were taken away on an N.Y.P.D. bus.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators awaiting the arrival of the police on the N.Y.U. campus on Monday.

An encampment of demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza on Kresge Lawn at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Mass.

The M.I.T. protest encampment remained up on Monday night.

Students inside the Stern School of Business building at N.Y.U. watched the demonstrations from above.

Some pro-Palestinian demonstrators engaged in prayers at N.Y.U. as others looked on.

The tent encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the plaza outside the business school’s entrance.

Protesters marched outside University Center, one of the main buildings at the New School’s Greenwich Village campus.

A group of demonstrators gathered at a pro-Israel rally outside the main gates of Columbia.

The encampment at Columbia was put back up by protesters after being removed the previous week.

In a show of support for students who had been arrested and suspended, faculty members at Columbia took part in a walkout on Monday.

Hundreds of people stood to listen to faculty members speaking as part of the walkout.

Student demonstrators gathered at the Diag, a central location on the University of Michigan campus.

At the University of Michigan, a student protester applied a henna tattoo depicting a pattern that symbolizes Palestine onto the wrist of another demonstrator.

Demonstrators prayed together at the encampment organized by protesters at M.I.T., in Cambridge, Mass.

Supporters of Israel at Columbia on Monday morning.

Crowd: “We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest. Disclose, divest.” Crowd: “Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine. Free, free, free Palestine.”

Pro-Palestinian students at Yale University gathered on campus chanting, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Students on the Yale campus took part in protests, even after arrests had been made earlier on Monday.

“Free, free Palestine.” “Back up — everybody’s got to back up.”

Outside Columbia’s gates, New York City police officers detained a pro-Palestinian demonstrator.

Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, calling for Columbia’s president to “resign in disgrace.”

Pro-Palestinian stickers near the entrance of Butler Library at Columbia.

[crowd clapping and cheering] How about you have the courage to open the gate? And let’s see what happens.

Protesters gathered around Columbia’s College Walk, the main pedestrian thoroughfare on the campus, as a speaker addressed them from the Sundial, a campus landmark.

A pro-Israel demonstrator outside Columbia University’s campus gates.

Protesters at N.Y.U. demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Students erected encampments at several Boston-area universities, including M.I.T., to show solidarity with Palestinians and with protesters at Columbia.

Students at M.I.T. formed an improvised drum circle during the protests.

Protesters gathered around Columbia’s College Walk as a speaker addressed them from the Sundial.

Officers, some with batches of plastic restraints attached to their uniforms, lined up at a news conference held by the N.Y.P.D. outside the Columbia campus on Monday.

A group of pro-Palestinian students guarding their protest site on Columbia’s central campus lawn.

The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” dominates Columbia’s South Fields, facing Low Library, the space where commencement exercises are scheduled next month.

Shai Davidai, a Jewish Columbia professor, speaking outside the campus gates on Monday after saying his university identification card had been deactivated. A petition, which has garnered more than 10,000 signatures, has sought his termination, accusing him of harassment of pro-Palestinian students.

Students at Yale occupied an intersection near Woodbridge Hall.

Sunday, April 21

Protesters rallied outside Columbia’s gates. Some protesters, unaffiliated with the university, made antisemitic comments toward Jewish students.

Tents that had previously been removed were again set up on the campus lawn by demonstrators.

Thursday, April 18

More than 100 Pro-Palestinian activists were arrested last week when Columbia’s president said she had taken the “extraordinary step” to call in the police “because these are extraordinary circumstances.”

Cornel West addressed student protesters.

The student demonstrators were not deterred by rainstorms on Thursday. They remained in tents before the encampment was eventually removed.

The administration called the N.Y.P.D. onto the campus. Over 100 students were arrested on Thursday.

Troy Closson reports on K-12 schools in New York City for The Times. More about Troy Closson

Our Coverage of the U.S. Campus Protests

News and Analysis

The nation’s most entrenched protest is at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where pro-Palestinian protesters have occupied  the administration building and forced a campus closure until May 10.

Some colleges that initiated police crackdowns  on pro-Palestinian protests have since taken a different tack . Others have defended the move.

Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has plunged into Democrats’ political storm  over the war in Gaza, further polarizing an already tense debate, after she suggested  that some Jewish students are “pro-genocide.”

Denied a Second Chance: After Covid ruined high school graduation for the class of 2020, the response to campus protests might upend their college commencements .

Deepening Democratic Rifts: Scenes of chaos unfolding on campuses across the country  are stoking internal divisions within the Democratic Party and carry political risk as a major election year unfolds.

What Makes a Protest Antisemitic?: Pro-Palestinian student activists say their movement  is anti-Zionist but not antisemitic. It is not a distinction  that everyone accepts.

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