interior of building with spiral staircase

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 235 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 a 101% increase in external research funding from FY2017 to FY2023, and by an investment in research capabilities 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.

Government and Industry Partnerships

Industry and government partner with Northeastern for basic and applied research. The reason is simple: they know that at Northeastern, our two guiding principles are interdisciplinary collaboration and engagement with the real world. These principles are reflected in our research programs, which are driven by critical issues in materials, processes, systems and infrastructure. Our research collaborations are a win-win-win: our partners receive knowledge and products tailored to their needs, our researchers validate and extend their work, and our students receive training and experience to become the next generation of effective technologists.


Research At-A-Glance

$118M

External Research Funding (FY2023)

20

Research Centers and Institutes

142

Young Investigator Awards (as of Aug. 2023)

154

Patents 2017-Aug. 2023


Recent News

Nian X. Sun

Patent for Innovative Thin Film Heterostructures

ECE Professor Nian X. Sun was awarded a patent for “Sputter deposited crystalline ordered topological insulator/ferromagnet (TI/FM) thin film heterostructures for spintronics applications.”

The New Role of AI in Physical Therapy

ECE Affiliated Faculty Eugene Tunik and Bouvé/ECE Assistant Professor Mathew Yarossi are investigating the potential of AI systems in physical therapy. Though the attentiveness of a human physical therapist remains essential, AI systems could play a critical role. 

edmund yeh

Patent for Faster Computing in Distributed Networks

ECE Professor Edmund Yeh was awarded a patent for “Network and method for servicing a computation request.”

Ning Wang

Patented Molecule that Eliminates Cancer Cells Commercialized

A patented anti-cancer molecule invented by Ning Wang, professor of bioengineering and director of the Institute for Mechanobiology, along with three collaborators, is being replicated and commercialized as a research product by several companies, a significant advancement that validates the invention.