MIT program pairs poverty research training with proposal support

Twenty early-career researchers are taking part in ARTEMIS, an MIT program intended to help them design randomized evaluations addressing poverty in the United States, according to its organizers. The cohort ranges from doctoral students to faculty members before tenure.

In an October 30 account by Katherine Rodriguez Marquez of J-PAL North America, published by MIT News, the program describes instruction that began in June with a weeklong institute at MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts. Mentorship and proposal support are described as continuing through December 2026.

The follow-up includes webinars with grants staff on proposals and office hours with technical staff on study design. Organizers also describe a planned design workshop for feedback and introductions to researchers with shared interests. The account acknowledges grants from Arnold Ventures, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Mira Vale’s analysis: The sequence connects instruction with opportunities to refine a research proposal and discuss its design. That support is distinct from a funded or completed study: the account does not establish that participants obtained awards or completed evaluations. Assessing what the program achieved would require evidence about participants’ subsequent work and outcomes, as well as a way to judge how much of any change was associated with the program. The reported cohort size is an organizer figure, not an independently audited count.