Shaping the future of Warfighter capabilities

Portrait of MIT professor Tomás Palacios wearing glasses, a gray suit jacket, and a blue tie, smiling at the camera against a warm-toned background.

A Department of War University-Affiliated Research Center and shared MIT research facility where MIT researchers work alongside government and industry partners to transform scientific discovery into technologies that strengthen national security.

ISN Director Tomás Palacios Receives 2026 SIA/SRC University Research Award

ISN in the News

Stylized illustration of a person walking along a circuit-board pathway toward an illuminated doorway in a classical building, symbolizing the convergence of technology, research, and human health.

ISN-hosted MIT Waves, Bits, and Molecules team wins ARPA-H award to advance next-generation personalized biosensors

ISN Director Tomás Palacios Receives 2026 SIA/SRC University Research Award

Improving the performance of high-power electronics (MIT News)

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Using ISN Labs

ISN equipment and laboratories in Technology Square are available to members of the MIT research community.

Learn more about available equipment and how to apply for ISN access.

Strategic Research Areas

ISN projects are organized into Strategic Research Areas (SRAs), each focused on a foundational domain of science and engineering critical to the ISN mission.

Soldier Medicine — Battlefield Care & Hazardous Substances Detection and Protection

Janus emulsion droplets are captured in the process of changing form in response to the presence of contamination by a food pathogen in a lab setting. The emulsions can be viewed by the naked eye and, with the aid of a handheld sensor currently in development, can quantify the presence and amount of bacterial contamination in food. (Image: Courtesy of the researchers, cropped by ISN)

SRA-5 harnesses research in bioengineering, nanomaterials, complex emulsions, and polymeric or protein scaffolds to discover and enable innovative approaches to protect humans from hazardous substances.

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Our Partners

The ISN works closely with partners across the U.S. Army, other military services, government agencies, industry, and academia to advance technologies that strengthen national security. These collaborations help ensure that groundbreaking research is informed by real-world challenges and positioned for successful transition to operational use.