RSI

Since 1993, the MIT Mathematics Department has participated in the Research Science Institute (RSI), an MIT-hosted six-week summer program for rising high school seniors. RSI students are chosen for their superior achievement in math, science and engineering. The selection for RSI is done by the Center for Excellence in Education, a federally and privately funded nonprofit organization, based in Washington DC. All inquiries about applications to RSI should be directed to the CEE.

There are about 3,000 applicants to the program each year and of the 80 selected, around one third are from abroad and two thirds from the United States. About a dozen students are selected to work on research projects in mathematics. The MIT Mathematics Department Faculty Advisors for RSI match each student with a mathematics graduate student mentor with compatible interests. The graduate student mentor devises a research project, often in consultation with an MIT faculty advisor. The graduate student then meets with each of his/her mentees each weekday during the RSI program. RSI faculty coordinators this year are Prof. Roman Bezrukavnikov and lecturer Jonathan Bloom. Program assistant is Yufei An.

Applying to RSI

The application materials and the process can be found online at CEE RSI application page.

Past Projects

At the end of the program, students make presentations to each other and to a panel of scientists who are usually former RSI participants themselves. See abstracts and papers from recent mathematics projects.

Recent Awards

RSI students often use their projects to participate in the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) and the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology or the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). The mathematics group has been very well represented among the winners of these contests.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2002

1997