Research

Itai Cohen, professor of physics, in his lab in the Physical Sciences Building
Research matters.
Exceptional faculty and facilities, focused on solving society’s most urgent challenges.
After-school Nutrition After-school Nutrition Cancer Treatment National Defense Employment Support
Watch with audio description
After-school nutrition and career readiness for NYC middle-schoolers
Funding has been cut short for a national program to help young people feed themselves and their families nutritiously and introduce them to potential career paths in agriculture, food, and nutrition.
Watch with audio description
Stopping metastatic cancer
Weill Cornell Medicine researcher Nancy Du received a $500,000 grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs at the U.S. Department of Defense, but a stop-work order brought her research to a halt in April.
Watch with audio description
Protecting national defense from cyberattacks
A Cornell-led assessment of vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain and how to mitigate them is on hold after receiving a stop-work order.
Watch with audio description
Breaking down barriers for autistic job seekers
A project examining how to help companies hire neurodivergent people has received a termination order, halting work that could have helped autistic people find jobs and employers find talent.

Real-World Impact

Research feeds the world.
Gloved hands holding a container of pomace.
Turning apple waste into profit and protein
Research saves lives.
Ekta Khurana with Udayan Bhattacharya.
Research at Risk: Rooting out treatment-resistant prostate cancer
Research helps animals.
Jason Vassallo and George Perez retrofit windows.
To protect birds from windows, change human behavior
Research matters.
Claudia Fischbach-Teschl and Nozomi Nishimura.
Cornell launches initiative to unravel the science of menopause
200+
Interdisciplinary Centers, Institutes and Programs engaged in research
$1.61B
Invested in Cornell research (FY24)
50+
Cornellians honored with Nobel Prizes for their extraordinary contributions to knowledge and society
3,200
Full-time jobs provided by Cornell start-ups since 2020
40,000+
new food products brought to market with help from Cornell Agritech
$768M
Economic impact generated by Cornell Tech, its alumni and startups in New York City (FY24)

Research for Food Safety and Sustainability

Cornell research teams are pursuing partnerships to tackle complex global challenges that affect us all – from training farmers and grocers about food safety to creating a dairy farm modeling tool to enable researchers, farmers, and food processors to assess outcomes, such as production costs, resource use, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Watch with audio description

Purpose-Driven Science

Cornell researchers turn bold ideas into breakthroughs that change lives.

Joshua Umansky-Castro and Verena Padres ’26 work on components for the Sailing to the Stars project.
Student-designed technology bound for space station
“It’s been a dream of mine to send something into space . . . And I’m so thankful to have this opportunity at Cornell to do it and to share that experience with all these students who also want to do the same thing.”
—Joshua Umansky-Castro, a doctoral student in aerospace engineering

Research Across Disciplines

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

CALS scientists tackle the world’s most pressing challenges through purpose-driven discovery, innovation, and collaboration, improving lives for a more resilient future.

Cornell Engineering

Cornell engineers work across disciplines to improve our world, making advances in everything from pediatric health, wireless communication, and fast-charging batteries, to safer, more efficient transportation.

Weill Cornell Medicine

Weill Cornell Medicine's commitment to biomedical research shapes the care of tomorrow, benefitting patients from the latest discoveries every step of the way.

International Research

For 160 years, Cornell has carried out groundbreaking international work that turns bold ideas into solutions and improves lives abroad and in the U.S.

A History of Progress

From inventing chicken nuggets to exploring the solar system and unlocking DNA sequencing, Cornell research has propelled society forward since our founding in 1865.

2023
Scientists peer into the depths beneath the Antarctic ice

Underwater robot Icefin provides an unprecedented look inside a crevasse in the Ross Ice Shelf.

1968
RNA structure discovery leads to Nobel Prize

Robert W. Holley wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1977
Voyager spacecraft launches

Cornell astronomers and astrophysicists are extensively involved in the missions of Voyager 1 and 2 to explore the outer solar system.

2014
King makes breakthrough in cancer treatment

Michael King and team use two proteins to create white-blood cells that obliterate metastatic cancer cells.

1967
Innovation underground

At its opening, the Wilson Synchrotron is Cornell's largest single construction and the world's largest particle accelerator.

grey background
Research matters.

We are making history that impacts our future.

   Explore More
Explore the history of research at Cornell

A Culture of Collaboration

From Ithaca to New York City and across the state, Cornell scholars combine their disciplinary expertise through more than 200 centers, institutes, programs, and laboratories.

Rice plants photographed in the x-ray beam line at CHESS.
Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS)
A barred owl in a tree.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Kavya Mittha ’26 tests the wave energy conversion machine in the wave simulator tank.
Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
PhD student works with shear thickening fluid in a Clark Hall lab.
Cornell Center for Materials Research
See More Labs and Facilities

An Engine for Innovation

Working across a network of public and private partners and entrepreneurs, Cornell accelerates translation of ideas and research into products, technologies, and companies with real-world impact and drives regional and state economic growth.

Researchers collaborate in a lab.
Cornell matters.
Help Cornell drive research that fuels innovation and accelerates solutions in health, climate, and the economy.
Keep Cornell Strong

Research and Innovation Resources

Subscribe to the latest Cornell Chronicle news

Contact

Cornell Research & Innovation
222 Day Hall, Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-7200
Interim Vice Provost for Research: [email protected]
Vice President for Innovation and External Engagement Strategy: [email protected]

Continue Exploring …

Back to top
  1. About Cornell
  2. Academics
  3. New York State Impact
  4. Radical Collaboration