Research
Boldly innovating to impact society and transform the world.
Northeastern University has achieved the prestigious recognition as a top-tier R1 institution for research activity among U.S. colleges and universities by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Our tradition of partnership and engagement guides a use-inspired and interdisciplinary research enterprise that is strategically aligned with three global imperatives: health, security, and sustainability. Our annual Annual Report highlights pioneering research and achievements over the past year.
The College of Engineering has over 240 tenured/tenure-track faculty, each bringing complementary areas of research expertise to address pressing global challenges. Their state-of-art-research looks at critical issues in materials, processes, systems, infrastructure, hardware and software at every scale—nano to macro to global—grounded in a translational approach that integrates the values of fundamental and applied research.
Our faculty boldly innovate by collaborating across engineering disciplines and the university, as well as with government, academia, and industry. The College of Engineering has more than 20 multidisciplinary research centers and institutes with funding from eight federal agencies. Our commitment to conducting transformative research to better the world can be seen by our growth in external research funding, which exceeds $100 million annually, and by an investment in research facilities such as our 223,000 square foot, six-story Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex and 367,000 square foot, eight-story EXP facility for teaching and research.
Research At-A-Glance
External Research Funding (FY2024)
Research Centers and Institutes
Young Investigator Awards (as of Aug. 2024)
Patents 2018-Aug. 2024
Related Resources
Understand how Northeastern partners with industry for research and workforce development
View the faculty directory for more information on individual researchers.
Recent News
Northeastern Launches Physical AI Research Initiative, Unveils NU-WORLD Platform
Northeastern University launched the Physical AI Research (PAIR) Initiative on May 21–22, bringing together over 200 researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and government representatives to advance intelligent systems that learn from and act in the physical world. The two-day event featured keynote talks, the public debut of Northeastern’s open world-model platform NU-WORLD, and broad participation from organizations including NVIDIA, Amazon Robotics, Boston Dynamics, and Microsoft — signaling strong momentum around a field that spans robotics, healthcare, manufacturing, and beyond.
Bridging the Gap Between Next-Generation Wireless Transmitters and Quantum Computing Hardware
ECE Assistant Professor Najme Ebrahimi’s research on “Direct Digital-to-Physical Synthesis: From Millimeter-Wave Transmitter to Qubit Control” was one of the featured articles in the IEEE Microwave Magazine.
NIH Trailblazer Award Funds Electro-Optic Sensors for Safer Surgical Interventions
ECE Assistant Professor Soner Sonmezoglu is leading a $668K NIH Trailerblazer Award for “Fully Integrated Electro-Optic Sensor for Real-Time MRI Guided Interventions” from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
NSF CAREER Award for Networked 4D Spatial Intelligence Architecture
ECE Assistant Professor Mallesham Dasari was awarded a $623K NSF CAREER award for “A Networked 4D Architecture and Systems Foundation for Spatial Intelligence.”