Research & Discovery

This page highlights the astonishing amount of scientific discovery happening at Columbia, one of the world’s leading research universities. 

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Clockwise from top left: An iceberg stranded on a submerged rock in northwest Greenland (Karl Zinglersen); homo erectus crania from the Turkana Rift (John Rowan); a mosquito feeding (Alex Wild); a shell of thick gas and dust (red) expelled from the outer layers of a star as its core collapses into a black hole. The inner regions show a heated ball of gas (white) continuing to fall into the central black hole. (Keith Miller, Caltech/IPAC - SELab)
Columbia University Discoveries in 2025-26 to Know About

Here are some of the top scientific research findings of the past academic year.


 

RECENT STORIES

Stratospheric aerosol injection is much harder than it looks on paper. A new study shows its real-world constraints.

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

A Columbia scientist’s lab revolutionized digital photography with a new kind of imaging now used in more than a billion smartphones.

The consortium will operate ‘Gotham Foundry,’ a pioneering R&D and startup hub focused on the circular materials economy.

Columbia engineers are paving the way for a new generation of data center hardware and portable sensing technologies.

Professor Jessica Fanzo was a commissioner of the new EAT-Lancet report, which offers a blueprint for transforming food systems.

In the past decade, Michel Sadelain has been at the center of a revolution in the treatment of cancer.

The discovery paves the way for a new type of antidepressant that inhibits the chemical.

Entangled photons will soon move instantaneously across the network, which now extends from Long Island to Morningside Heights.

The honor, often called a “genius” grant, recognizes exceptional creativity and dedication.

A Columbia Public Health study identified eight metabolic features significantly associated with breast cancer risk. 

Now an annual tradition, the Engineering Student Council (ESC) contest sends students sailing in nothing but cardboard.