The field of artificial intelligence is moving at a staggering clip, with breakthroughs emerging in labs across MIT. Through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), undergraduates get to join in. In two years, the MIT Quest for Intelligence has placed 329 students in research projects aimed at pushing the frontiers of computing and artificial intelligence, and using these tools to revolutionize how we study the brain, diagnose and treat disease, and search for new materials with mind-boggling properties. Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli, an assistant professor in the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has enlisted several Quest-funded undergraduates in his mission to discover new molecules and materials with the help of AI. "They bring a blue-sky open mind and a lot of energy," he says. "Through the Quest, we had the chance to connect with students from other majors who probably wouldn't have thought to reach out."

Even in ordinary times, scientific process is stressful, with its demand for open-ended exploration and persistence in the face of failure. But the pandemic has added to the strain. In this new world of physical isolation, there are fewer opportunities for spontaneity and connection, and fewer distractions and events to mark the passage of time. Days pass in a numbing blur of sameness. Working from home this summer, students participating in MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) did their best to overcome these challenges.