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.


NIH funds cross-campus effort to train experts in AI and nutrition

The $1.7 million grant will help scientists with expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning to address complex biomedical challenges in nutrition and health.

CALS offers new interdisciplinary minor in digital agriculture

Students can now choose a new minor in digital agriculture, a multidisciplinary field focused on food and agriculture production systems, but with an increasingly broader span of applications and interests.

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Hummingbird beak points the way to future micro machine design

A Cornell research team has developed a new way to design complex microscale machines, one that draws inspiration from the operation of proteins and hummingbird beaks.

Throwing shade: Model maps NYC street trees’ cooling benefits

Tree Folio NYC creates a high-resolution “digital twin” of New York City’s urban canopy, simulating how local conditions influence shading that is important to mitigating climate change and heat island effects.

Mineralization of bone matrix regulates tumor cell growth

An interdisciplinary Cornell team has identified a new mechanism regulating tumor growth in the skeleton, the primary site of breast cancer metastasis: mineralization of the bone matrix.

Q&A: What you need to know about reflecting sunlight to cool Earth

As concerns about climate change intensify, researchers are exploring the potential for large-scale human intervention in the Earth’s climate system, a strategy sometimes referred to as geoengineering. Two leading researchers in the area discuss how their research in sunlight reflection methods fits into the bigger picture of potential climate solutions.

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Interdisciplinary group creating biolubricants to combat arthritis

An interdisciplinary research team received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a new generation of biosynthetic lubricants that have the potential to treat arthritis and reduce the painful friction of artificial joints.

Blamed for fouling the environment, polyester may help save it

In a fast-fashion, throw-clothes-away world, textile expert Juan Hinestroza (Human Ecology) and a group of scientists have new ways to recycle wasted polyester into new useful products.

NYC faculty discuss equity, community ownership

Faculty in Cornell’s Action Research Collaborative (ARC) joined New York City and State policymakers and community members for ARC’s second symposium on June 22. The annual symposium is an opportunity for researchers, policymakers and community stakeholders to share their knowledge and advance equity in areas like nutrition and health, housing and social services, and youth development. 

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