Research Institutes, Centers, and Initiatives
Columbia Engineering is at the forefront of many strategic areas of research, from environmental sustainability and the human genome to infrastructure sensors, nanotechnology, and data sciences. Our professors and students collaborate with other leading experts not only within the Columbia research community but also at other world-renowned universities and institutions, bringing together the best minds from myriad disciplines to tackle and solve the most challenging problems in society, technology, the environment, infrastructure, and more.
The many interdisciplinary institutes, centers, and initiatives at the School are equipped with the latest technology, tools, and equipment, giving our professors and their students the ideal environment to be creative and thrive. Here is a sample list of the School’s institutes and centers as well as links to university initiatives, showcasing some of the broad subject areas in which the School is conducting cutting-edge research.
Multidisciplinary Research Institutes and Centers
Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI)
- Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering (MRSEC): Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids (PAS3)
previous centers) - Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC): Redefining Photovoltaic Efficiency Through Molecular Scale Control
- Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI): New Materials Approaches for Future Graphene-Based Devices
- Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC): Columbia Center for Electron Transport in Molecular Nanostructures
Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute
Research Centers
- Computing Systems for Data-Driven Science
- Cybersecurity
- Data, Media and Society
- Financial and Business Analytics
- Foundations of Data Science
- Health Analytics
- Sense, Collect and Move Data
- Smart Cities
Working Groups
Artificial Intelligence at Columbia
Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency
Center for Applied Probability
- The objective of the Center for Applied Probability is to provide an umbrella under which diverse research and educational activities in probability and its applications can be focused and supported, especially at Columbia University, but with a view to local, national, and international visibility.
Center for AI in Business Analytics and Financial Technology
- The Center for AI in Business Analytics and Financial Technology (FinTech) helps institutions and organizations leverage the immense resources within Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science to incubate ideas and develop innovative solutions to hard problems that can be taken to the marketplace.
Center for Digital Finance and Technologies
- The Center for Digital Finance and Technologies seeks to advance the digital transformation of financial services for higher efficiency and security, increased accessibility, and greater social responsibility
Center for Financial and Business Analytics
- The Center for Financial and Business Analytics develops analytical and computational tools to manage risk and to support decisions using the growing volume and variety of data available. It is a community of more than 40 affiliated faculty researchers from nine departments across the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia Business School, and Columbia Engineering.
Center for Financial Engineering (CFE)
- The Center for Financial Engineering was established at Columbia University with the goal of encouraging interdisciplinary research on financial engineering and risk management. It also promotes collaboration between Columbia faculty and financial institutions through the organization of research seminars, workshops and the dissemination of research conducted by members of the center.
Center for the Management of Systemic Risk
- To understand systemic failures and learn from them, one needs to go beyond analyzing them as independent one-off accidents, and examine them in the broader perspective of the potential fragility of all complex systems. One needs to study the disasters from a unifying systems engineering perspective, so that one can thoroughly understand the commonalities as well as the differences, gain insights about the system-wide breakdown mechanisms in order to better design, control and manage such systems in the future. In the Center for the Management of Systemic Risk, we conduct such transdisciplinary research.
Center for Life Cycle Analysis
Center for Neuroengineering and Computation
Computational Optimization Research Center (CORC)
- Computational Optimization Research Center researchers carry out advanced studies in the solution of difficult, large-scale optimization problems, with special focus on state-of-the-art implementation of modern algorithms. We are primarily interested in the solution of problems with practical relevance, and we actively seek collaboration with industrial partners.
Earth Engineering Center (EEC)
Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants
Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy
Nie Center for Intelligent Asset Management
-
The research of the Nie Center for Intelligent Asset Management focuses on the exploration of theoretical underpinnings and modeling strategies for financial asset management through the introduction of dynamic control and big data analytical techniques.
NSF IGERTs
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT)
Related Research Entities
Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (C2B2)
Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory