MIT picked 35 young scientists from 550 nominations. Here's how

MIT Technology Review will reveal its 2026 Innovators Under 35 list on September 8, the publication explained, narrowing 550 nominations down to 35 young researchers and engineers judged to be doing work worth watching.

The process runs through several filtering stages before a winner gets named. Editors and the public submitted 550 nominations this year, which staff narrowed to 110 semifinalists based on whether candidates were tackling a genuinely hard problem and had already shown real progress toward solving it. Each semifinalist then completed a fuller application, including reference letters, a video submission, and a résumé, before 44 expert judges, several of them past Innovators Under 35 honorees who return to volunteer their time, evaluated the field and helped editors settle on the final 35.

The winners span four broad categories: biotechnology, artificial intelligence, computing and robotics, and climate and energy. MIT Technology Review frames the exercise as serving two purposes at once, giving readers an early signal of where scientific and technical progress is headed, and giving the newsroom itself a way to track rising researchers in the fields it covers before they become widely known.

“These Innovators represent some of the best aspects of science and technology research—pushing forward bold ideas to improve the future.”

— Costa Samaras, 2026 judge; Director, Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University

The list has run every year since 1999, long enough that some past honorees are now running the companies or research programs other lists cover. AMD CEO Lisa Su made the list in 2002; Spotify cofounder Daniel Ek made it in 2012. That track record is part of why the selection is treated as more than a feel-good exercise: a strong showing here has, historically, correlated with outsized influence a decade or two later.

The heavy filtering exists because the list has to work at two different speeds at once. Editors want names readers haven't heard of yet, which means favoring people still mid-career rather than those who already have a Series B or a Nature cover story behind them. At the same time, the judging panel needs enough signal, working papers, prototypes, patents, early users, to separate a genuinely promising research direction from an ambitious idea that hasn't produced anything yet. Reference letters and video submissions exist mainly to supply that signal in a format 44 volunteer judges can actually get through in the time they have.

• 550 nominations narrowed to 110 semifinalists, then to 35 winners
• 44 expert judges evaluated finalist applications, including past honorees who returned to volunteer
• Categories: biotechnology, artificial intelligence, computing and robotics, and climate and energy
• Full list goes live to subscribers online September 8, 2026; print edition reaches newsstands August 31

The 2026 edition arrives alongside a broader slate of annual MIT Technology Review lists, including its 10 Breakthrough Technologies and 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch rankings, plus a new addition this year, 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now, reflecting how much of the innovation pipeline the publication now tracks runs through artificial intelligence specifically, even as biotech and climate work continue producing their own share of young standouts.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.