What We Do

Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) Headquarters

VPR headquarters supports the research enterprise across the whole of MIT. Members of the VPR headquarters contribute to MIT’s day-to-day operations and the strategic vision for MIT research, through support for research policy; advocacy and sponsor engagement, research security, integrity, and compliance; core facilities; and communications. In some ways, VPR HQ also functions like a dean’s office, having oversight of human resources, finance, space, and research administration for labs and centers reporting to the VPR, as well as for units within the Office of the Vice President for Research. 

Resources and Services for All of MIT

Research Administration teams in the OVPR support the MIT research community from idea to impact.

• Research Administration Services (RAS)
• Research Development
• Office of Strategic Alliances, Transactions & Translation (OSATT)
• Research Systems & Support
• Technology Licensing Office (TLO)
• Corporate Relations
• Cost Analysis

The OVPR also supports research computing, postdoctoral scholars, and international scholars.

• Office of Research Computing and Data (ORCD)
• Postdoctoral Services
• International Scholars Office (ISchO)

Federally Regulated Committees

Certain committees reporting to the vice president for research ensure that research with human and animal subjects is conducted according to ethical and legal standards.

• Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
• Committee on Animal Care

VPR Labs, Centers, Programs, and Initiatives

Much of MIT’s interdisciplinary research is enabled by labs, centers, programs, and initiatives that are built for collaboration. For a comprehensive list of such efforts across MIT, see Labs, Centers, and Institutes. The units listed below report to the vice president for research.

Off-campus

• Haystack Observatory
• Lincoln Laboratory

On-campus

• Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab
• Center for Clinical and Translational Research
• Division of Comparative Medicine
• Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
• Internet Policy Research Initiative
• Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
• Materials Research Laboratory
• MIT Energy Initiative
• MIT.nano
• Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
• Plasma Science and Fusion Center
• Research Laboratory of Electronics