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The Mission

The long-term mission of the McGovern Institute is to understand the human brain in health and disease. Led by a team of world-renowned, multi-disciplinary neuroscientists, the Institute conducts integrated research in three broad themes -- perception, cognition, and action -- using systems and computational neuroscience, brain imaging and cognitive neuroscience, and molecular biology and genetics.

The McGoverns

The McGovern Institute was established in February 2000 by a generous gift from Patrick J. McGovern and Lore Harp McGovern. The gift, expected to total $350 million over twenty years, was the largest ever received by MIT.

Community

Each of the McGovern Institute’s faculty members leads a research team, and the Institute as a whole comprises a community of more than 250 researchers and support staff. All McGovern Investigators and Associate Investigators hold faculty appointments in one or more departments at MIT, including Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Biology, Biological Engineering, Health Sciences and Technology, Media Lab, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

• 17 Full Investigators
• 4 Associate Investigators
• Over 250 researchers and support staff

Relationship to MIT

The McGovern Institute is part of MIT; McGovern Investigators have MIT faculty appointments, and research within our laboratories is conducted in accordance with MIT’s normal policies and procedures.

Awards and Honors

Nobel Laureates
H. Robert Horvitz

Recipients, National Medal of Science
Ann Graybiel

Members, National Academy of Sciences
Emilio Bizzi
Robert Desimone
Ann Graybiel
H. Robert Horvitz
Nancy Kanwisher
Feng Zhang

Investigators, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Ed Boyden
H. Robert Horvitz
Feng Zhang

Institute Professors, MIT
Emilio Bizzi
Ann Graybiel

Members, National Academy of Medicine
Emilio Bizzi
Ann Graybiel
H. Robert Horvitz

Fellows, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Emilio Bizzi (Past President)
Edward Boyden
Martha Constantine-Paton
Robert Desimone
John Gabrieli
Ann Graybiel
H. Robert Horvitz
Nancy Kanwisher
Tomaso Poggio
Feng Zhang

Core Facilities

In addition to our individual research groups, the McGovern Institute also hosts several core facilities, including the Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center, the 2-Photon Microscopy Core and the OpenMind high-performance computer cluster.

Building

• The Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex is one of the largest academic neuroscience complexes in the world. Completed in 2005, the complex is home to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and the Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center. The McGovern Institute occupies about 85,000 net square feet of the building. The complex has a LEED silver certification and is considered one of the greenest buildings on campus.
• Our building is located on the north side of MIT’s campus and is ideally situated in Kendall Square, among a thriving community of biotech and high-tech industries.