Yakov Andreas and Brett McGuire have been awarded the Edgerton Prize for 2026.

MIT associate professors are recognized for their exceptional achievements in teaching, research, and service.

Associate Professor Jakob Andreas from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Professor Brett MaGuire from the Department of Chemistry are the winners of the 2026 Edgerton Prize named after Harold E. Edgerton. Established in 1982, the award serves as a recognition of Professor Emeritus Harold Edgerton's contributions to supporting young educators and is given for outstanding achievements in teaching and service.

Brett MaGuire has been recognized for his groundbreaking work that changes the understanding of carbon in space. As noted by Matteo Schuolders, head of the chemistry department, his lab combines spectroscopy, radio astronomy, and signal analysis methods, allowing for the detection of molecular signatures even from extremely weak data noise. MaGuire's discoveries regarding polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the cold interstellar medium

Jakob Andreas, who joined MIT in July 2019, has also received high praise for his work in natural language processing. He develops innovative approaches that combine computational and linguistic methods, enabling the creation of human-learning systems. His research touches on the comparative analysis of human and machine capabilities and includes social and ethical aspects.

The recognition received by Andreas highlights the importance of interdisciplinary research and the integration of ethical standards into technological development. The opinion of Antonio Torralba, professor and head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making in EECS, confirms this: "Jakob's work on compositional modeling connects natural language processing with modeling systems based on symmetries and other al

Thus, the success of Andreas and MaGuire inspires students and young scientists, emphasizing the interconnection of scientific achievements, educational processes, and ethical aspects in the modern scientific world.