Research at Northeastern paving pathways to discovery, breaking down barriers between fields of study, and leveraging unique collaborations

Northeastern University’s (NU) State of the University Address was delivered on Thursday afternoon, celebrating its accomplishments over the past year and exploring its future goals. President Joseph E. Aoun delivered his remarks via a live video feed from London and Provost James C. Bean spoke from the main NU campus, touching on the university’s new academic plan, and how it is fostering a “no boundaries” approach.

“Bean, who delivered remarks from the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, talked about how research at Northeastern is paving pathways to discovery, breaking down barriers between fields of study, and leveraging unique collaborations with industry and other outside partners,” reported News@Northeastern. “These research initiatives, he said, are underway university-wide at ISEC, the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, the Global Resilience Institute, and the Coastal Sustainability Institute, among others.”

The Global Resilience Institute (GRI) is a major university-wide initiative that involves all nine of Northeastern’s colleges. It is a leader in applied interdisciplinary research, providing resilience-related solutions for individuals, communities, and industries. GRI works in close partnership with business leaders, NGOs, and public officials to develop and deploy state-of-the-arts tools that directly contribute to societal resilience so that communities can thrive in an increasingly turbulent world.

During the state of the university address, President Aoun touted the work underway to build a global university system and emphasized the importance of education grounded in experiential discovery.

“It will position us for preeminence,” he said.”We are leading with our differentiation, which is experiential.”

Aoun, author of the new book Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, added, “The mission of higher education is to make people robot-proof throughout their lives. That’s why we are focusing on discovery, lifelong learning, and the human attributes that machines cannot duplicate.”

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