Research & Ideas

Discover Harvard research, scholarship, and ideas shaping the world—from science and technology to policy, education, and the humanities.


‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ for the Return of Low Interest Rates

Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff discusses the global forces driving up borrowing costs.

by Olivia Farrar

Fast-spreading coronavirus variants raise concerns

Despite vaccines, Harvard scientists warn, more-transmissible variants make COVID-19 harder to control.

by Jonathan Shaw

Asset bubbles and credit growth precede financial crises.

Contrary to expert belief, some financial crises can be predicted—and perhaps averted.

by Jonathan Shaw

Harvard Portrait: Cassandra Albinson

A curator takes a fresh look at portraits of aristocratic European women.

by Jonathan Shaw

Paul Farmer on the West Africa Ebola Epidemic

The 2014 epidemic was rooted in centuries of exploitation and war, Paul Farmer argues.

by Jonathan Shaw

At Home with Harvard: Election Day

In a year like no other, read a selection of Harvard Magazine stories on the forces that will shape the presidential election outcome. 

Ask a Harvard Professor with Caroline Buckee

Anonymized location data can help guide strategies for protecting public health in a pandemic.

See Their Faces

Confronting “some of the most challenging images in the history of photography”

by Marina N. Bolotnikova

Harvard Portrait: Mayra Rivera

How apocalyptic narratives help make sense of the modern world

by Lydialyle Gibson

Can solar geoengineering slow climate change?

Coming to terms with climate change’s relentless, long-term fallout

by Jonathan Shaw

Review of Martin Puchner’s “The Language of Thieves”

A German American scholar is unsettled by an ancestor’s secret.

by Marina N. Bolotnikova