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Hacking climate change

MIT is all about making the world a better place. This special report on the Climate Grand Challenges initiative looks at how the Institute’s problem solvers are stepping up to help save the planet from the devastating effects of global warming.

August 24, 2022
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Special Report

  • MIT Climate Grand Challenges Initiative

    Profiles of the five flagship projects

In the summer of 2020, President L. Rafael Reif assigned an ambitious p-set. In launching MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges (CGC) initiative, he asked the faculty to figure out how best to mobilize MIT’s capabilities to address some of the most difficult unsolved problems in adaptationcarbon removalclimate scienceclimate policyhuman impacts, and emissions reduction.

Nearly 400 researchers across 90% of MIT’s departments answered the call, submitting 94 proposals. The Institute gave 27 finalist teams a total of $2.7 million to develop their plans. In April it named five flagship CGC projects that will receive more funding to accelerate them—and fundraising is ongoing for both flagship and finalist projects. Here’s a look at the flagship projects and the teams that will bring them to life.

The five CGC flagship projects:

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