News New MIT research projects aim to tackle real-world challenges in water and food

Now in its 12th year, J-WAFS seed grants support projects that have the potential to create significant advancements in water and food for human need

Carolyn Blais Pinter July 8, 2026

Last fall, J-WAFS solicited letters of interest from MIT principal investigators from all departments, labs, and centers for the 2026 J-WAFS Water and Food Seed Grants. This year’s call received 45 letters of interest from 50 MIT faculty—a record number of submissions, greater than any year before. Through a peer-review process and with the support of a review committee, today, J-WAFS is happy to announce that 8 projects, led by ten MIT researchers have been selected to receive funding. 

Seed grants award up to $150,000 over a two-year period and support new, innovative projects at MIT. Projects may address all areas related to water and food security, safety, and sustainability for human use. Of particular interest are projects at the climate/water nexus or the climate/food nexus, as many selected projects this round exemplify. From climate resilient greenhouses to more efficient thermal desalination to enhanced self-cooling crops, the 2026 seed grants are addressing the planet’s diverse needs for water and food at a time of extreme, unprecedented weather events. 

Click each link below to learn more about this year’s seed grants and the researchers leading them.

• Protecting community groundwater security: Network-based planning for data centers in water-stressed India
  PI: Saurabh Amin, Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  and Deepjyoti Deka, Research Scientist at MITEI
   
• Redox electrodialysis metathesis systems for high-yield water recovery
  PI: Fikile Brushett, Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering Practice and the Director of the David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice
   
• Efficient multi-stage distillation
  PI: Gang Chen, Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
   
• Machine learning-guided ligand design of PolyMOC gels for PFAS removal
  PIs: Heather Kulik, Lammot du Pont Professor in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
  and Jeremiah Johnson, A. Thomas Guertin Professor of Chemistry and Associate Department Head in the Department of Chemistry
   
• Engineering thermo-responsive plant growth-promoting bacteria to induce pre-emptive stomatal cooling in crops
  PI: Benedetto Marelli, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
   
• Lyophilized single-tube argonaute-based multiplex detection of waterborne viruses
  PI: Stacy Springs, PhD, Executive Director of MIT’s Center for Biomedical Innovation (CBI)
   
• Continuous methane sensing in cattle to accelerate climate-smart feed development
  PI: Giovanni Traverso, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
   
• Climate resilient greenhouses in water scarce and inarable environments
  PI: Evelyn N. Wang, Vice President for Energy and Climate and the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering