The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Founded by Nobel laureates, J-PAL uses randomized evaluations to test the effectiveness of social programs and scale up solutions that work.
Recent Highlights
- Innovative projects explore ways to deal with extreme heat — Low-cost personal cooling and emissions-free air conditioning among ideas studied with MIT’s Climate Project seed funding (June 2026).
- New J-PAL research and policy initiative to test and scale AI innovations to fight poverty — Project AI Evidence connects governments, tech companies, and nonprofits with world-class economists to evaluate AI solutions (February 2026).
- “MIT Open Learning has opened doors I never imagined possible” — Munip Utama applies knowledge from the MITx MicroMasters Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy to support students in Indonesia (January 2026).
- A new lens on humanity — The inaugural MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC) Annual Event showcased projects supported in the first year of the presidential initiative (January 2026).
- Introducing the MIT-GE Vernova Climate and Energy Alliance — Five-year collaboration to accelerate the energy transition (November 2025).
- Climate Action Learning Lab — Helps state and local leaders implement effective climate mitigation strategies using data and evaluation (September 2025).
- J-PAL North America launches Initiative for Effective US Crime Policy (IECP) — Generating rigorous evidence for fair public safety solutions (August 2025).
- Better public service with data — MIT master’s student and Brazilian diplomat Davi Augusto Oliveira Pinto applies data-driven policymaking (August 2025).
- Study in India shows several tactics together boost vaccination against deadly diseases — One combination led to a 44% increase in child immunizations (May 2025).
- New Alliance for Data, Evaluation and Policy Training (ADEPT) — Advances data-driven decision-making in public policy (March 2025).
- From refugee to MIT graduate student — Mlen-Too Wesley applies lessons from an MITx MicroMasters to help Liberia thrive (December 2024).
- J-PAL North America announces new evaluation incubator collaborators — LEVER collaborators develop evaluations of poverty-alleviation programs (November 2024).
- Groundbreaking poverty alleviation project expands — Collaboration with Arnold Ventures to reduce poverty and increase economic mobility in the US (July 2024).
- How a quantum scientist, a nurse, and an economist are joining the fight against global poverty — The MITx MicroMasters program educates learners worldwide (June 2024).
Through rigorous research and training, J-PAL continues to shape policies that improve millions of lives around the world.