Cornellians come together to make positive change
Exploration across majors, academic fields, and acts of service is a defining characteristic of a Cornell education. It allows students, faculty, and researchers to adopt novel perspectives, discover new knowledge, and engage in alternative ways of thinking.
By working in partnership with each other, experts, and community leaders, Cornellians are developing solutions to problems impacting our world today. See how recent and ongoing collaborations at Cornell are already making a difference:
The good that Cornellians can do
Contribution Project helps students make a difference
The Contribution Project, an engaged learning and research initiative led by Professor Anthony Burrow, solicits and supports ideas that students believe will make a positive change or meaningful difference in the world today. In 2024, the project expanded to include students from Binghamton and Stony Brook universities.
An educational beacon
Faculty, students pair up for summer research projects
The Nexus Scholars program in the College of Arts & Sciences allows students to dedicate their summers to work with professors and their research. This work can bring together different majors and academic disciplines—like classics and information science majors who worked to preserve and digitize the lexica of classic Greek authors with the guidance of Jeffrey Rusten, classics professor emeritus.
A source of solutions
Student and professor develop ‘breakthrough’ smart syringe
When Jared Matthews ’21 was an undergrad, he was looking for a research project. He approached Professor Lawrence Bonassar and, together, they developed a smart syringe. The invention can measure, in real-time, the concentration and viability of cells that pass through it—a potential breakthrough for biomedical 3D printing and cell therapy.
A bridge to the world
Student team leads water sanitation, footbridge projects in Eswatini
Six students on the Engineers in Action (EIA) team worked alongside masons and community members in rural Eswatini. Together, they installed water sanitation systems and built a bridge over the Black Mbuluzi River, a project that connected 5,400 people to schools, health care, and markets.