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.


Astronomers seek gravitational waves with renewed NSF grant

The funding will enable astronomy researchers at the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves consortium to continue their search for five more years.

Cornell Atkinson awards $1.8 million to fund vital collaborations

Cornell Atkinson has awarded eleven Academic Venture Fund (AVF) seed grants for research by 40 faculty researchers representing eight Cornell colleges and 19 academic departments. The 2021 awards span 11 countries on five…

Around Cornell

Gift to establish K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics

The $24 million gift will enable the center’s unique mission to use bioacoustics to help conserve biodiversity in some of the most remote yet species-rich parts of the world.

Nanoscale sensors measure elusive water levels in leaves

A breakthrough technology uses nanoscale sensors and fiber optics to measure water status just inside a leaf’s surface, providing a tool to greatly advance our understanding of basic plant biology, and opening the door for breeding more drought-resistant crops.

Pollen-sized technology protects bees from deadly insecticides

A Cornell-developed technology provides beekeepers, consumers and farmers with an antidote for deadly pesticides, which kill wild and managed bees that pollinate crops.

Cornell researchers see atoms at record resolution

Cornell researchers have topped their own record for atomic resolution with an electron microscope pixel array detector that incorporates sophisticated 3D reconstruction algorithms.

Superconducting quantum material has an organic twist

An interdisciplinary team of Cornell researchers has created a cohort of new quantum metamaterials that can achieve superconductivity at temperatures competitive with state-of-the-art solid-state materials synthesis. 

PolyForm celebrates mission, spirit of Human Ecology

Featuring color-shifting walls and folded stainless-steel modules, the permanent pavilion designed by Jenny Sabin (AAP) and her practice serves as a new gateway to – and symbol of – the interdisciplinary college.

Mice licking could reveal mysteries of the human brain

Cornell researchers have developed a technique for revealing how the motor cortex in the brain works – by focusing on a mouse’s tongue when it licks a water spout.