Radical Collaboration

Cornell faculty are reaching across disciplines to tackle society’s most complex challenges and to make breakthrough discoveries. These radical collaborations—collisions of thoughts and perspectives from vastly different fields—lead to unexpected and unconventional solutions and deepen our thinking.


Electrons travel one of two routes in nano-biohybrid systems

Researchers have identified exactly what happens when a microbe receives an electron from a quantum dot: The charge can either follow a direct pathway or be transferred indirectly via the microbe’s shuttle molecules.

AI system can analyze serial medical images

A new AI-based system for analyzing images taken over time can accurately detect changes and predict outcomes, which may be useful across a wide range of medical and scientific applications.

Solar solutions: Bio-inspired approach creates bespoke photovoltaics

An interdisciplinary team of Cornell researchers is developing HelioSkin, an aesthetically appealing solar-collection fabric that is inspired by the biological mechanisms that enable plants to bend toward the sun.

Solar solutions: ‘Crazy’ perovskite offers sustainable alternative to silicon

Over the last decade, perovskite photovoltaics have emerged as the most exciting alternative to silicon, with Cornell researchers studying how the material can be grown to be more durable for optimal performance, and be recycled. 

Spent brewers’ grain could be big business as chicken feed

The grain could provide a more affordable alternative for the poultry industry, where about three-quarters of costs are tied up in feed. 

How to craft effective policy messages to advance equity

Expansion of the Child Tax Credit gives researchers a unique example of a universally praised social good that disproportionately benefited some populations.

New Cornell tech to evaluate anemia to be used across India

Cornell researchers develop affordable test for iron deficiency, which affects 2 billion people, disproportionately impacting women of childbearing age as well as infants and young children.

From tradition to innovation: CROPPS Symposium explores sustainable agriculture for hotter, drier climates

The 2024 CROPPS Annual Meeting and Symposium held in October in the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona provided an ideal stage for discussions on sustainable agriculture in hot, dry environments. 

Around Cornell

Microbe atlas could reveal how to mine critical metals sustainably

A Cornell-led team will use a $2 million National Science Foundation grant to develop a “microbe-mineral atlas,” a catalog of microorganisms and how they interact with minerals, key for mining critical metals used for generating sustainable energy.