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.


Wild blue wonder: X-ray beam explores food color protein

A natural food colorant called phycocyanin provides a fun, vivid blue in soft drinks, but it is unstable on grocery shelves. Cornell’s synchrotron is helping to steady it.

A 'freedom church' unearths its Underground Railroad history

Cornell researchers and students are collaborating with community members to shed light on the role St. James A.M.E. Zion Church played in the abolitionist movement of the 1800s.

New department unites design within the College of Human Ecology

The College of Human Ecology launched its new Department of Human Centered Design Nov. 10, uniting the design faculty from two existing departments and creating opportunities for new collaborations.

Earth Source Heat open house addresses community questions

By summer 2022, Cornell plans to drill a 10,000-foot hole to verify whether conditions underground will allow Earth Source Heat to warm campus and reduce the university’s carbon footprint.

New department unites veterinary medicine and public health

The College of Veterinary Medicine launched its new Department of Public and Ecosystem Health Oct. 25 after extensive campus consultation. This is the college’s sixth academic department and its first new department in more than 20 years.

Transdisciplinary film explores Trinidad and Tobago

"We Love We Self Up Here" is a documentary film that's an extension of Cornell's fall 2019 Mellon Collaborative Seminar titled Atmospheric Pressures: Climate Imaginaries and Migration in the Caribbean.

Sim City for food science takes on Listeria outbreaks

Researchers from Cornell are blending food science expertise and computer programming savvy to help the food industry stop Listeria outbreaks.

New moral psychology minor takes on challenging questions

Students across the university can now minor in the growing field of moral psychology, with faculty recently approving the new area of study.

Around Cornell

Grant to fund conference on climate change in South Asia

A Cornell-led international team of researchers has received a $65,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for its project, “The Next Monsoon: Climate Change and Contemporary Cultural Production in South Asia.”