Department Homepage
The College of Arts & Sciences
Factorial Energy reached a $1.3 billion valuation after going public, a Cornell University startup founded by Siyu Huang, Alex Yu and chemistry professor Héctor D. Abruña. Its solid-state batteries power next-generation EV partnerships and expansion.
Cornell College of Arts and Sciences undergraduates are among the 2026 Jiang Fellows completing global startup internships. This Cornell Duffield College of Engineering program is open to all juniors at Cornell interested in entrepreneurship.
Cornell University chemist Youn Jue Bae found light-generated excitons exert nonlinear spin torque in magnetic semiconductor CrSBr. The Nature Materials study shows excitons actively control magnetic motion, enabling optospintronic and spintronic devices.
Cornell doctoral students, including some based in the College of Arts and Sciences, engaged in legislative opportunities in Washington, D.C. this spring. Some students attended an American Association for the Advancement of Science workshop, others a Cornell-organized Advocacy Day.
Graduate students and alumni of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences have benefited from Cornell University’s Graduate Teaching Fellows program, which trains future faculty through workshops, institutes and mentorship. The program marks 15 years this spring.
Researchers from Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences – Jeremy Baskin, Brian Crane and Andrew Grimson – are involved in various collaborative projects receiving 2026 multidisciplinary seed grants from the Cornell Center for Immunology to advance immune research.
Several Cornell College of Arts and Sciences graduate students and one faculty member from the college were honored with 2026 Graduate Excellence and Impact Awards. Presented May 13, the awards honor leadership, service and mentorship.
Jason Wu, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, develops sustainable reactions that improve pharmaceutical synthesis. His research advances nonmetal catalysis, expands medicinal chemical space, and highlights leadership and inclusive scholarship.
Gaby Markle is a chemisty major.
Ten Cornell doctoral candidates have been inducted into the Cornell chapter of the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Inductees from the College of Arts and Sciences are doctoral candidates Aleesha George and Jason Wu (chemistry and chemical biology) and Chelsea McNutt (history).
Cornell student and Arts & Sciences Ambassador Leah Condon talks about choosing to double-major in psychology as a result of taking a first-year writing seminar on female pain.
Two Students Awarded Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
A collaboration with Cornell is bringing relief to Vieques, a Puerto Rican island that still has unreliable power nine years after Hurricane Maria.
Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries. At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.
Cornell University researchers Héctor D. Abruña and David Muller developed a nickel‑carbon catalyst that delivers high hydrogen oxidation performance in alkaline fuel cells, surpassing U.S. DOE power density targets. Published in PNAS, this breakthrough demonstrates a durable, low‑cost, precious‑metal‑free path to scalable clean‑energy fuel cell technology.
Cornell researchers have uncovered a built-in molecular “gate” that controls the production of the molecule nitric oxide, a crucial signaling molecule throughout biology that in humans helps regulate blood pressure, brain signaling, and immune defenses. But when levels go unchecked, it can damage cells and disrupt normal signaling.
Researchers discovered electron transfer in electroactive bacteria is mediated by CymA proteins’ ability to synchronize and form a biomolecular condensate in the cell’s inner membrane.
Bayu Ahmad, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology, studies the use of organic chemistry for sustainable applications under the guidance of Phillip Milner at Cornell.
Cornell researchers have discovered a new way cells regulate how they respond to stress.
Cornell researchers interested in diverse topics ranging from peptide engineering and cellular metabolites to quantum physics and sustainable computing are among the newest cohort selected by the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellows program.
The 12 early-career scholars will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
Four faculty from A&S have been awarded Cornell’s highest honors for graduate and undergraduate teaching.
The award recognizes innovation in modern pharmaceutical discovery and manufacturing.
Eunice Bae is part of the three-person group researching “Quantum Entanglement of Skyrmion-Antiskyrmion Pairs.”
In 2026, the from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will begin funding 10 two-year postdoctoral appointments including three in astronomy, chemistry and physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The new method can predict molecular properties with up to 100 times more accuracy than the current method.
Scientists have outlined exactly how embryonic stem cells protect other cells from the effects of oxidative stress, thus preventing cellular aging.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers determined that organic residues of plant oils are poorly preserved in calcareous soils from the Mediterranean, leading decades of archaeologists to likely misidentify olive oil in ceramic artifacts.
New grant funding will support eight research projects seeking to reduce AI’s energy use and integrate AI in environmental research.
The portraits are part of a series by Christopher Michel, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s inaugural artist-in-residence.
Coates is being recognized “for transformative work at the interface of chemical catalyst design and polymer science.”
Researchers used single-molecule super-resolution reaction imaging in the study.
Newly admitted into the Praxis Center business incubator, Quantera aims to improve scientific sample collection.
Researchers have uncovered molecules that can preserve crucial cellular processes while blocking malignant proteins, indicating a new approach to fighting cancer.
Aleesha George, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology, studies the optical and electronic properties of organic and hybrid materials under the guidance of Andrew Musser at Cornell.
The president of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation will present Abruña with the award in a 4 p.m. ceremony in the Meshri Family Auditorium, Baker Laboratory Room 200 and also livestreamed.
Members of the cohort of eight scientists and engineers will each receive up to $2.5 million over five years.
Cornell researchers have uncovered the "three-tailed" fat molecule's surprising role in cellular survival: protecting against damage when oxygen runs out.
Recognized for advancing electrochemical techniques that enable efficient, sustainable synthesis of complex organic molecules, accelerating drug development, and materials innovation, Lin is a finalist in Chemical Sciences.
Marissa Lavagnino, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Jonathan “Jon" Kephart, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
A Cornell-led collaboration devised a potentially low-cost method for producing antibodies for therapeutic treatments: bioengineered bacteria with an overlooked enzyme that can help monoclonal antibodies boost their immune defenses.
Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..
Song Lin and collaborators use electrochemistry to selectively synthesize chiral compounds – important in pharmaceuticals.
Cornell chemistry researchers have designed a light-powered, reusable catalyst that’s pre-charged by electricity and capable of driving challenging reactions, with applications including drug development and environmental clean-up.
A new $5 million initiative, funded by the Astera Institute with experimental work conducted at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, aims to make diffuse scattering accessible to the public and the broader scientific community.
Innovative and far-reaching discoveries such as better electric batteries, carbon capture technologies, renewable plastics and improvements in solar cells are just a few of their research areas.
A grant from the Ono Pharma Breakthrough Science Initiative, which supports bold new ideas in science, will help Cornell researchers study how chemical modifications to proteins play a powerful role in cell survival.
Cornell chemistry and chemical biology researchers have found a new and potentially more accurate way to see what proteins are doing inside living cells — using the cells’ own components as built-in sensors.