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Broadening expertise
and impact 

Northeastern’s interdisciplinary discovery removes boundaries, testing new knowledge in the world and translating what we learn into high-impact solutions that advance society. 

Expertise that fuels innovation

Northeastern’s research enterprise ignites collaboration and solutions across the world. 

$267.1M

in external research awards in 2024-2025

448%

increase in research dollars since 2006

34

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships held by current PhD students, up from one in 2006

27

early career investigator awards, including 16 prestigious NSF CAREER awards, one NIH Early Stage Investigator MIRA awards, and one Scialog Fellow award 

Leadership in network engineering, network science, and cognitive and brain health 

Our researchers are discovering high-impact solutions to our greatest global challenges.

  • Ahmed Busnania

    Network Engineering

    Accelerating the speed of nanomanufacturing

    Ahmed Busnaina has patented a new process and printer for microelectronics manufacturing. The director of the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing has developed a revolutionary method to not only manufacture advanced electronics and chips more efficiently and cost-effectively, but make them at nanoscale. His process lowers the manufacturing cost of electronics to roughly 1% of the current costs. This breakthrough will not only democratize electronics nanomanufacturing, it will accelerate innovation in the electronics field.

  • Samuel Scarpino

    Network Science

    Leveraging AI to model epidemics

    Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences, is exploring how artificial intelligence can be used to predict future infectious disease outbreaks. To create these models, network science researchers must overcome the challenges of getting different kinds of data to talk to each other. But these new AI tools could predict how a pandemic will unfold; the tools may even help prevent it in the first place.

  • Computer science professors Aanchan Mohan and Mirjana Prpa are developing an AI-integrated app that will give speech-impaired users access to a range of communication tools.

    Health

    Pioneering AI tools to aid the speech-impaired

    Computer science professors Aanchan Mohan and Mirjana Prpa are developing a range of tools to help users with speech impairments communicate more naturally. Speak Ease, an AI-integrated app, will give people with communication disorders the ability to converse in real time. Unlike other speech recognition software, it enables users to express themselves in their own voices with their chosen mood and tone.

  • Cristian Cassella

    Network Engineering

    Powering faster, smarter 6G wireless

    Northeastern researchers have introduced a new class of technologies that could combat network congestion. Using metamaterials—a class of engineered materials not found in nature—Cristian Cassella, Microsystems Radio Frequency Laboratory lead, and his team have introduced new microelectromechanical technologies. The tiny tech could unlock the next era of wireless technology.

Expanding our capacity for transformational impact

Line graph showing steady yearly growth from 36 in 2006 to 1,067 in 2025, with data points labeled for each year; the line rises consistently, indicating continuous increase over time.

1,067

tenured and tenure-track hires since 2006, including 43 in 2024-25

252

faculty with interdisciplinary appointments, up 500% since 2012

Faculty awards, honors, and excellence

  • Eno Ebong

    PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER AWARD

    Eno Ebong

    Associate professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering

    Ebong conducts pioneering research on how mechanical forces influence endothelial cells, which line blood vessels and guard against cancer metastasis and neurodegeneration.

  • Ambika Bajpayee

    PRESIDENTIAL EARLY CAREER AWARD

    Ambika Bajpayee

    Associate professor of bioengineering

    Bajpayee is a leading researcher in bioelectriceuticals, electrically charged therapeutics that enhance drug delivery. Her work focuses on developing innovative methods to deliver treatments to traditionally hard-to-target connective tissues like cartilage.

  • Matthew Miller

    MEMBER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE

    Matthew Miller

    University Distinguished Professor of Health Sciences and Epidemiology

    Miller was honored in recognition of epidemiological work associating firearm ownership with higher rates of suicide. 

  • Eduardo Sontag

    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

    Eduardo Sontag

    University Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Bioengineering

    Sontag has earned a place among the world’s top scientists for breakthroughs in the mathematics of nonlinear and complex systems. His work has impacted biomedicine, systems biology, and neural networks.

  • Nian Sun

    MEMBER, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

    Nian Sun

    Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Sun was recognized for his revolutionary work in magnetoelectric materials, used in everything from microelectronics to biomedical devices that can “smell” cancer.

  • Randall Hughes

    LIFETIME FELLOW, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

    Randall Hughes

    Professor of Marine and Environmental Sciences

    Hughes studies how transferring plants between coastal systems affects restoration success and evolutionary dynamics. She was honored for research on genetic diversity’s role in conservation and restoration of species that define ecosystems. 

  • Lisa Feldman Barrett

    ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE WILLIAM JAMES FELLOW AWARD

    Lisa Feldman Barrett

    University Distinguished Professor of Psychology

    Feldman Barrett received this lifetime achievement award for pioneering research on emotions. Her contributions to psychology and neuroscience have wide-ranging implications across areas such as law, meditation, AI, and airport security.

  • Mansoor Amiji

    LIFETIME FELLOW, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

    Mansoor Amiji

    University Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering

    Amiji was honored for his contributions to pharmaceutical sciences with a focus on targeted drug delivery for diseases such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, and CNS disease.

  • Gregory Abowd

    FELLOW, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

    Gregory Abowd

    Dean, College of Engineering

    One of the world’s top scholars in ubiquitous computing, Abowd was recognized for his research contributions to human-computer interaction. 

  • Yiannis Levendis

    ASEE ROBERT G. QUINN AWARD

    Yannis Levendis

    Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

    An authority on emissions from diesel engines, Levendis received the award for his outstanding contributions to the promotion of excellence in experimentation and laboratory instruction.

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