Jesse Thaler

Jesse Thaler

I am a theoretical particle physicist who fuses techniques from quantum field theory and machine learning to address outstanding questions in fundamental physics. My current research is focused on maximizing the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider through new theoretical frameworks and novel data analysis techniques. I joined the MIT Physics Department in 2010, and I am currently a Professor in the Center for Theoretical Physics. In 2020, I became the inaugural Director of the NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions.

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Education

  • Harvard University, Ph.D. Physics, 2006
  • Brown University, Sc.B. Math/Physics, 2002

Key Positions

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Professor of Physics, 2021-Present
    • Associate Professor of Physics, 2015-2021 (tenured in 2017)
    • Assistant Professor of Physics, 2010-2015
  • NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions
    • Director, 2020-Present
  • University of California, Berkeley
    • Miller Research Fellow, 2006-2009

Selected Awards

  • APS Fellow, American Physical Society, 2022
  • Simons Investigator in Physics, Simons Foundation, 2022
  • Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award, MIT, 2016
  • Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 2013
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, White House, 2012
  • Early Career Research Award, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, 2011-2016

Selected Publications

Inspire arXiv ORCID Google Scholar

In the News

Profiles and Highlights
Awards and Honors
Quotations and Perspectives
  • “Faculty discuss Flexible P/NR policy”
    The Tech, March 2020

    Our goal was to come up with a grading policy that was simple, flexible, and discipline agnostic, with mechanisms to ensure that students would always be incentivized to engage in all of their classes.

  • “In the Dark about Dark Matter”
    Scientific American, October 2016

    Do we live in a universe where each discovery leads to deeper, more fundamental insights, or do we live in one where some parts have rhyme and reason, but others don’t?

Group Members in the News