Kids' Brains at MIT! « How to Find Us »

Our building has more than one name and address, which can be confusing. At MIT all the buildings have numbers, and ours is Building 46. It is also called the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Building, and it is also home to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Picower Center for Learning and Memory.

You will enter the building at the 550 Main Street entrance, and that is the address you should use if you use an online mapping tool to get directions (even though our building's official address is 43 Vassar Street). And if you would like to mail us something, please send it to:

Room 46-4141D Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139

Parking: If you will be driving to your visit, let us know ahead of time so that we can make arrangements for you to park, either at one of our reserved spaces or at the meters on the street. (We supply the quarters!)

We are located on the first floor at 550 Main Street between Albany and Vassar Streets) just outside of Kendall square in Cambridge. Our building is large and off-white:

Picture of the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences building

It is built over a set of train tracks.

You will see the words “McGovern Institute for Brain Research” above a revolving door:

Revolving door at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Come on in, and wait on our comfy couch next to the door for the Martinos Imaging Center – if a researcher is not already waiting for you, someone will greet you soon!

∇ Directions by MBTA Subway

Inbound

Take the red line to the Kendall/MIT stop.
Exit onto Main Street and turn left.
Follow Main Street for approximately three blocks, crossing Dock Street, Ames Street, and Vassar Street.
The 550 Main Street Entrance is past the railroad tracks on your left.

Outbound

Take the red line to the Kendall/MIT stop.
Exit onto Main Street, cross the street, and turn right.
Follow Main Street for approximately three blocks, crossing Dock Street, Ames Street, and Vassar Street.
The 550 Main Street Entrance is past the railroad tracks on your left.

∇ Directions by MBTA Bus

The #1 or Dudley/Harvard Station bus stops at MIT on Massachusetts Avenue. The MIT stop is at a large crosswalk with a stop light. On one side of the street are steps leading up to large Ionic columns and the Small Dome of MIT, on the other side of the street is the Stratton Student Center and Kresge Oval (an open, grass-covered area).

Walk west on Mass Ave (away from Boston and the Charles River, with the Small Dome on your right).
Take a right onto Vassar Street, and follow it until the light at Main Street.
Turn left onto Main Street and look for our entrance just after the railroad tracks.

Additionally, the CT1 (Cross Town) stops at MIT on Massachusetts Avenue and the CT2 stops on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Vassar Street as well as the Kendall Square T Station.

∇ Directions by Car

I-90 (Mass Turnpike)

Follow I-90 east to the Cambridge/Brighton exit (exit 18).
Following the signs to Cambridge, cross the River Street Bridge, and continue straight to Central Square.
Turn right onto Massachusetts Avenue and follow Massachusetts Avenue for about 0.2 miles.
At the third stoplight, take a left onto the Sidney Street Extension (it looks like you are driving into Toscanini’s) and then an immediate right onto Main Street.
We are approximately O.4 miles on the right, just past the turn for Albany Street.

Route 2

Follow Route 2 East past Alewife T Station, around the two rotaries near Fresh Pond (you just barely glance off of the second rotary and stay to the right), and along Fresh Pond Parkway.
Continue to follow route 2, getting onto Memorial Drive on the Cambridge (left) side of the river.
Take a left onto River Street, between a Mobil Station and a Shell Station.
There should be a sign that points you to Central Square.
Stay on River Street (which briefly merges with Western Ave.) up to Central Square, and take a right and follow Massachusetts Avenue for about 0.2 miles.
At the third stoplight, take a left onto the Sidney Street Extension (it looks like you are driving into Toscanini’s) and then an immediate right onto Main Street.
We are approximately O.4 miles on the right, just past the turn for Albany Street but before the train tracks.

I-93 North or South

Take exit 26 and follow the signs toward Back Bay along Storrow Drive West, approximately 1.5 miles, to the exit for Route 2A.
The exit will be on the left, just before the Harvard Bridge (also called the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge). As you cross the bridge, you will be looking at MIT - the Great Dome and academic facilities are on the right, the dormitories and athletic facilities are on the left.
Go past MIT's main entrance, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, which will be on the right at the second set of traffic lights.
Make a right at Albany Street.
Go about 0.3 miles on Albany Street and turn right onto Main Street.
Our entrance is just on your right, before the railroad tracks.

From the Tobin Bridge

Take I-93 South.
IMMEDIATELY get over into the right lane (this can be tricky).
Take the Storrow Drive exit. Follow directions above for From Highway I-93.

∇ Directions to Parking

From 550 Main Street Entrance, cross the railroad tracks, and turn right onto Vassar Street.
Just past our building, turn right into a driveway that says "Building 48 Deliveries."
You will almost immediately come to a fence and railroad tracks. Ignore the one-way “deliveries” sign and turn left.
Our parking spaces are the last two at the end of the building, perpendicular to the building with a few big metal butterflies on it. They say "Martinos Imaging Center" on them.
After you park the car, follow the sidewalk along the railroad tracks back under our building.
Turn left at Main Street, and you will be back at the entrance.

Please be sure to get a parking permit from us and display it on your dashboard. Thank you!