This week, HPI welcomed 13 researchers from MIT Morningside Academy for Design in the United States to its Griebnitzsee campus for a workshop. This workshop takes place every six months, alternating between the two institutions, and is part of the research collaboration between HPI and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The mixed teams of researchers from both institutes have the opportunity to present the status of their research and exchange ideas with their team members in person.
The collaboration, entitled "Designing for Sustainability," addresses global challenges and design and innovation solutions in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Among other things, the researchers' projects focus on AI applications for the healthcare sector, sustainability in 3D printing, AI-supported architectural applications, and AI solutions for accessible education.
In addition to discussing their projects, participants also had the opportunity to listen to exciting guest lectures by invited speakers. Johannes Eichstaedt, assistant professor at Stanford University, provided insight into his research on mental health and how language models can be applied in this field. In his research, he examined Facebook posts by people diagnosed with depression, focusing on posts from the six months immediately prior to their initial diagnosis. He compared these with posts from people without such a diagnosis and was able to derive words and word groups whose use in posts indicated depression. The language model learned to correctly predict when a choice of words indicated a future diagnosis. Such a language model could be used as a kind of early warning system or initial screening tool to detect depression.
In addition to another guest lecture by Dr. Anna Christmann, Managing Director of the innovation agency SAI Europe, on the topic "Is Green AI Possible? Europe's Role in the Global AI Race," a visit to Maker Universe and a joint evening event rounded off the program.
Save the date: As part of the cooperation, summer exchange programs at MIT will be offered for the second time. Master's students at HPI have the opportunity to spend 8-12 weeks at MIT in Cambridge and work on an exciting project on site. The HPI covers travel, visa, and study costs and pays participants a monthly stipend. The application period for summer 2026 begins in November. Learn more
