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
Patent for New Methods to Reduce Power Consumption in Electronics
ECE Associate Professor Aatmesh Shrivastava was awarded a patent for “Ultra-low power timing circuit with PLL locking.”
Showcasing Next-Generation Flexible and Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing with AI and Digital Twins at FLEX 2026
ECE Assistant Professor Benyamin Davaji, alongside Haiyang Yun, PhD’28, electrical engineering, will instruct a professional course titled “Digital Twins for Printed Electronics: How Can AI Learn FHE Printing” at FLEX 2026, the premier international conference for Flexible and Hybrid Electronics (FHE), taking place in Phoenix, Arizona on February 24, 2026.
How Mining Waste and Microwave Technology Could Solve the Rare Earth Shortage
ChE/COS Assistant Professor Damilola Daramola developed a method using chemical treatments and microwave reactors to extract rare earth elements from coal tailings two to three times more efficiently than standard approaches.
Tracking the 8,500 km Journey of Petroplastic Pollutants
ChE Assistant Professor Bryan James is the lead author of a new study on “Long-range transport of oil by marine plastic debris: Evidence from an 8500 km journey,” which was published in Environmental Science & Technology.