MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Department of Economics have announced an expansion of their jointly administered Master of Applied Science in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP) program. This expansion adds a new public policy track to complement the existing international development track, opening up new avenues for student learning and research. Designed to tackle poverty alleviation and other pressing policy challenges in the United States and other high-income countries, the curriculum of the new track spans a diverse set of issues, from domestic concerns like minimum wage and consumer welfare to global matters including trade, climate change, and immigration. Applications for the public policy track will open this fall, with the inaugural cohort set to arrive on MIT's campus in spring 2026. The DEDP program, led by MIT professors and Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, along with professors Sara Fisher Ellison and Benjamin Olken, was established with the mission of equipping diverse cohorts of talented professionals with the knowledge and skills to tackle poverty using evidence-based approaches. The new master's degree track will support this mission while also underscoring the program's commitment to addressing a broad array of critical challenges in the fight against poverty worldwide....

100 researchers and students from MIT and six other universities gathered on campus this April for the first weekend-long MIT Policy Hackathon. This interdisciplinary event teamed data science, engineering, and policy students to explore solutions to real societal challenges submitted by sponsor organizations. The hackathon, subtitled “Data to Decisions,” was organized and run by students from MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). Participants used datasets provided by nonprofit, education, and government institutions to pitch solutions to complex challenges in cybersecurity, health, energy and climate, transportation, and the future of work. A panel of judges evaluated the pitches and read final policy proposals. “It’s a different type of hackathon in that it is focused on public policy outcomes,” says Amy Umaretiya, a student organizer with IDSS’s Master’s program in Technology and Policy (TPP). “We have these concrete challenges put forth by organizations that have data analytics needs for social good that aren’t being met.”...