MIT-China Program (MISTI)

There is a Chinese studies ecosystem at MIT that integrates student coursework on China and the Chinese language with hands-on applications in industry, research, and educational technology across China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

MIT-China initiatives such as the MIT Greater China Fund for Innovation, the MIT-China Educational Technology Initiative (CETI), and the MIT-China Forum are aligned to feed into this ecosystem by further encouraging students, faculty and the Boston-area business and academic communities to participate in a wide range of MIT-China activities.

Founded in 1994, the MIT-China Program has become a leading center for applied Chinese studies, giving young scientists, technologists, and social scientists the chance to work in a Chinese setting and participate in the rapidly expanding world of Chinese business and technology. We welcome your participation in this exciting endeavor.

The MIT-China Program facilitates dynamic connections between the MIT community and its counterparts in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Drawing upon an extraordinary network of corporations, universities, and research institutes, the MIT-China Program aims to be as vital and multifaceted as the Chinese speaking cultures with which it collaborates.

Through the MIT-China Program, MIT students have:
(*) introduced MIT-OpenCourseWare and remote access iLabs educational technologies at Chinese universities.
(*) created property maps of Shanghai, indicating the rate of housing and office development at Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia, Shanghai
(*) researched the effects of Baclofen on stroke recovery at Zhongshan Hospital, Department of Neurology, Shanghai
(*) sourced materials and parts going into and out of China's ports at Caterpillar Xuzhou Limited, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province
(*) built a bilingual Mandarin-English spoken-query information-retrieval system for Microsoft Research, Beijing
(*) conducted experiments to further understand the use of gene therapy to treat lung cancer at Sun Yat-sen University Medical Center, Guangzhou

MIT-China prepares students for careers as global professionals by combining an MIT education with Chinese language and cultural training, applied technical experiences through internships, and follow-up involvement in on-campus seminars. Since its inception, the MIT-China Program has trained more than 450 students to work with host institutions in Greater China.

Since MIT-China’s inception in 1995, MIT-China Program participants have completed individual internships with companies and institutes while others have participated in team teaching projects through MIT-China Educational Technology Initiative (CETI). In the case of individual internships, MIT-China placed interns with companies and institutes. In the case of CETI, teams of MIT students worked with numerous high schools and universities across China. Projects include innovation partnerships with MIT OpenCourseWare and MIT iLabs at universities in China. MIT-China is also the lead management program for the new MISTI partnership with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. As a result of the close relationship with Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), 75 EECS students were placed MISTI-wide in 2008-2009. The new lecture series, the MIT-China Forum, successfully hosted four events on campus as part of a broader MIT effort of exploring new ways of establishing ties with Greater China. During 2008-2009, 45 interns were sent to China.

CHINA SEED FUND: The MIT Greater China Fund for Innovation supports new collaborations between faculty and research scientists at MIT and their counterparts in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Through an annual call for proposals, the fund primarily supports travel costs for exchange between a team at MIT and colleagues in universities and public research in Greater China. Colleague(s) in Greater China must be identified in the proposal. The average award is $30,000 but larger, high impact projects will be favored.