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Convocation 2026

Convocation is the official welcome for Northeastern’s newest students before classes begin. Campuses will host their own ceremonies featuring student speakers, alumni voices and university leaders.

University News

A grid showing 34 winners from the Women Who Empower Awards.

And the recipients of the 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards are…

In its 6th year, the Women Who Empower Innovator Awards have invested over $2.3 million in ventures spanning technology, health and more.

Photos: Move-in beginnings, high school scholars and RA semester-prep

A close-up of a box turtle held in cupped hands, its head extended and legs outstretched, set against grass.

This student toiled in aviaries, barns and pens for his co-op

Portrait of Samantha Johnson in a modern building.

Samantha Johnson ’21, robotics CEO, to speak at Boston Convocation

Entrepreneurship

A three-panel composite of Cynthia Orofo, Oliver Homberg, and Nicholas Lara, each laughing or smiling while speaking.
Entrepreneurship

How Northeastern prepared these graduates for entrepreneurial success

Alumni discussed ventures, shared experiences as entrepreneurs and imparted wisdom on their journeys through the world of business.
Aoun and Fish laughing mid-conversation, seated in armchairs on stage in front of a large digital screen, with an audience visible in the foreground.

The commonalities between building buildings and shaping minds

Suffolk CEO John Fish joined President Joseph E. Aoun on Monday for a fireside chat about AI's transformational power
A student's face is reflected in the glass of a Prusa Core One 3D printer as it prints, with the print head and extruded red material visible in the foreground.

Summer school robots give future engineers hands-on inspiration

Teenagers test-drive future careers in engineering, psychology, and robotics, during events at the Northeastern London campus maker space.
A hand holds a prototype of the NextTile building block toy.

Student startup develops hands-on learning toy for future engineers

The magnetic squares powered by batteries and filled with circuitry could encourage the next generation of students to pursue STEM.
A hand lifts a bamboo toothbrush from a stand next to a bathroom sink, with a potted succulent on the counter nearby.

Revolutionizing dental hygiene, starting with your toothbrush

“I believe that what we're building is the future of toothbrush storage products,” says Northeastern graduate and inventor Brian Gellman.

Artificial intelligence

A person wearing headphones sits at a computer, using an AI mom model.
Artificial intelligence

Should AI labs try to recreate a human mother’s maternal instincts?

Unlike a real mother, AI Mom can be modulated to adjust her strictness, reinforcement style and love philosophy to visitors' liking.
Grace Awuma types on a computer, looking at dual-monitors while standing.

Co-op student’s head is in the cloud with the UN Development Program

Grace Awuma completed a co-op with the cloud infrastructure services team for the United Nations Development Program in Copenhagen.
A student examines the pages of a book that fold out into an intricate diagram.

Artists’ books provide valuable analog learning in a digital age

Professors say the unique art objects help students to tap into their creative selves, immunizing them from an AI-dominated future.
A person wearing a stethoscope around their neck types on a laptop. A diagram of a person floats above the keyboard.

This student is using AI to give doctors more time with their patients

His co-op work reduces labor-intensive hospital procedures with the goal of giving doctors and nurses more time for care-giving.
Close-up of a person's hands typing on a laptop keyboard, face out of frame.

When human knowledge has been exhausted, where will AI get its data?

Graduate student Harsh Raj explores cutting-edge LLMs in search of data that could one day help them think like a Nobel Prize winner.

Commencement

Northeastern University graduates in black and gold regalia toss their caps in the air on the steps of a building in Portland.
Commencement

Northeastern’s Portland campus celebrates new graduates

Students represented 10 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and 25 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and ranged from ages 23 to 58.
A happy graduate cross the stage at Northeastern Seattle's 2026 commencement while waving both hands.

‘Say yes to the thing that scares you,’ speaker tells Seattle grads

About 280 students received advanced degrees during Northeastern Seattle’s commencement ceremony on Thursday at Benaroya Hall.
Oakland graduates celebrate with confetti.

Oakland, Silicon Valley graduates told degree is ‘not just a credential, it’s a connection’

More than 300 undergraduates and graduate students receive degrees on Holmgren Meadow.
A student speaker dressed in cap and gown addresses graduates from the podium.

Vancouver graduates urged to ‘show up’, shape the future

Northeastern University Vancouver celebrated more than 200 graduates during the 2026 commencement ceremony.
Bradley Peterson in a cap and gown poses with three other family members, two wearing red Northeastern hats and the third in a golden colored cap and gown signifying one of the Northeastern 'Golden Grads'.

It’s a three-peat! One family, three generations of Huskies

The co-op experience and strong STEM program have drawn members of this family to Northeastern ever since the 1960s.

Global University System

Students cheer with arms raised alongside Northeastern's husky mascot at an outdoor welcome event, with a large crowd seated behind them.
Global University System

Everything to know about convocation 2026 at Northeastern Oakland

The celebratory event brings together students, faculty and university leaders for a formal welcome to the lush, 135-acre campus.
Darhlilove Botchway sitting at a table outside working on a laptop.

This student wowed one of Canada’s top pension funds with automation

Darhlilove Botchway is now an essential IT auditor at one of Canada's largest pension funds, earning a rare 8-month extension on his co-op.
Andrew Gonzales stands in a forest with the sun shining brightly behind him.

This project aims to rescue Oakland’s namesake tree species

As climate change threatens Oakland's namesake tree, Northeastern has launched a transplant program to safeguard the city’s urban forest.
A person in a yellow fire-resistant jacket and hard hat digs into the ground with a shovel on a wooded section of a Northeastern campus, wearing a backpack that appears to be firefighting or wildland-response gear.

Rising high schoolers study wildfires amid historic dry season

The two-week wildfire ecology program on Northeastern's Oakland campus coincided with a deadly blaze along the Colorado-Utah border.

The Ming Dynasty lion-dogs guarding the Oakland art museum

The statues serve as a protective force around the art museum's exhibits and as remarkable reminders of a symbol-rich Chinese history.

World & National News

A man wearing a denim sweater is walking through an open cell door.

Why hostage-taking thrives in an era of great power competition

Many causes for floods, many causes for their devastation

Is there a ‘birth tourism’ boom? Experts weigh in on the issue

Science & Technology

A Flock Safety surveillance camera mounted on a pole, shot from below with bright sun flare in the frame.

What’s behind the Flock camera controversy?

Graduate student studies oyster genomics to preserve biodiversity

Scientists put algae to work making fuel. AI keeps watch.

Entrepreneurship

A hand holds a prototype of the NextTile building block toy.

Student startup develops hands-on learning toy for future engineers

Summer school robots give future engineers hands-on inspiration

Revolutionizing dental hygiene, starting with your toothbrush

Arts & Entertainment

Martha Reeves singing into a microphone on a baseball field, wearing a dark suit with floral embroidery, with a full stadium crowd behind her.

Why is it so difficult to sing the US national anthem?

Sony’s brand new bet on ‘Brand New Day’

Slow down and zoom in: The case for microfilm research

Business

Exterior of a Home Depot store with the illuminated sign above the entrance and customers pushing carts to their cars.

Why it matters if a retailer has inaccurate personal data on you

For hiring, remote work means more expertise, research finds

Why is the US buying Japanese yen? Experts explain the rare move

Health

A school bus driver wearing a neon vest giving a high five to a young student.

Grandparents, teachers and even bus drivers can build resilient kids

Moderna and Merck show personalized cancer vaccines can work.

Why Massachusetts banned this addictive Asian plant

Society & Culture

A laptop screen displays OpenAI's announcement of ChatGPT for Teens, softened by lens flare.

OpenAI introduces ChatGPT for Teens. What do teachers think?

Can meditation change the way you think?

Researcher investigates how people get into the urban mix

Sports

Novak Djokovic raises his hand to his head, appearing tired, with the U.S. Open logo shown in the background.

Father Time or something more? What’s bothering Novak Djokovic?

Math professor puts two and two together in world title bid

Northeastern helped launch this World Cup star for Haiti

NGN Films

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Can Meditation Change the Way You Think?

Northeastern experts explore how mindfulness can help us recognize habitual thought patterns, become less reactive, and respond to life with greater awareness and intention.

In the Press

Media Inquiries See All
The Washington Post Logo

As workplace surveillance grows, experts say it’s good to know the ways your employer is watching

Some of the most common workplace monitoring programs have shared names, email addresses and other personal worker data with hundreds of outside data brokers and technology companies without clearly disclosing the practice, according to an investigation by Vanderbilt University, Northeastern University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Reuters Logo

Explainer: What El Niño’s return means for the Panama Canal — and global trade

Samuel Muñoz, ⁠an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, said that when reservoirs run low, the canal authority must cut the number of ships it allows through ​to conserve water — a reduction that “creates shipping disruptions that ripple through the global economic system.”
Associated Press Logo

As workplace surveillance grows, experts say it’s good to know the ways your employer is watching

Some of the most common workplace monitoring programs have shared names, email addresses and other personal worker data with hundreds of outside data brokers and technology companies without clearly disclosing the practice, according to an investigation by Vanderbilt University, Northeastern University and the University of California at Berkeley.
The Chronicle of Higher Education Logo

Colleges lean in to teaching AI

“The design here is for our students to become what we term ‘AI orchestrators’ rather than passive users of the technology,” Northeastern’s chancellor, Ken Henderson, said.

Global Conflicts

Families wade at the shoreline while several large cargo ships sit anchored in the hazy water behind them.

A deal may resolve the Strait of Hormuz, but not the war

An anticipated deal between Iran and Oman would manage shipping in the strait, but has not yet been finalized.

Would the US defend Europe from a Russian attack? Leaders meet at NATO Summit

Kevin Warsh faces first major test as Federal Reserve chair

Would a federal gas tax holiday actually lower gas prices?

Hacks, doxxing and deepfakes: Are we overexposed as a society?

Seen Around

A daily visual journey across our campuses.