Research & Ideas

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

A man with glasses, wearing a black suit and white shirt, smiling against a dark background.

Jason Furman: Capitalism Is Working. It Could Work Better.

On Open to Debate, the Harvard economist defended free market competition—with meaningful government involvement. 

by Schuyler Velasco

Image courtesy of Harvard Imaging Services and the Harvard-Yenching Library

Japanese falconry preserved by note-taking

An item in the history of note-taking

by Christopher Reed

An image from the cover of a book about AIDS treatment in Africa, edited by faculty members Phyllis Kanki and Richard Marlink, who spoke at the "PEPFAR in Africa" conference held at Harvard School of Public Health on January 10.

Fighting AIDS with Harvard's PEPFAR programs in Bostwana, Tanzania, and Nigeria

A symposium at Harvard School of Public Health reflects on the school's PEPFAR-funded programs in Tanzania, Botswana, and Nigeria.

HarvardX offers Justice, Classics courses

New Harvard online courses go beyond quantitative subjects to include "Justice," ancient Greece

This disortion-free flat lens, less than a millimeter across, uses antennae etched from a layer of gold, rather than glass, to focus laser light.

Lightweight, distortion-free flat lens uses antennae, not glass, to focus light

Harvard scientists have developed a tiny, lightweight, distortion-free lens that focuses light without glass.

by Jonathan Shaw

Leila Ahmed

Harvard Divinity's Ahmed wins Grawemeyer Award

Harvard Divinity School scholar recognized for book on Muslim women and the veil

Helen Vendler on admitting and nurturing creative undergraduates

Helen Vendler on how to welcome and nurture the poets and painters of the future

Jones professor of statistics Xiao-Li Meng, Ph.D. ’90 has been appointed dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Harvard news: Grad School dean Xiao-Li Meng, Marc Hauser, rugby, and more

Harvard news: Graduate School dean Xiao-Li Meng, Marc Hauser, University Professor Eric Maskin, and more

The front of a papyrus fragment from an early Christian codex on which is written a previously unknown gospel, the Gospel of Jesus's Wife.

Harvard professor finds new Christian gospel fragment refers to Jesus's wife

A papyrus fragment interpreted by Hollis professor Karen L. King quotes Jesus speaking of "my wife."

David Jones

Short profile of David Jones, Ackerman professor of the culture of medicine

David Jones, Ackerman professor of the culture of medicine, works in both history and medicine.

Illustration by Jon Krause

Philosopher and scientist Robert O. Doyle has a new model of free will

Robert O. Doyle proposes a two-stage, “Jamesian,” model of free will.

by Craig Lambert