National Science Foundation Archives

Devesh Tiwari, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering poses for a portrait. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

How do you deal with quantum computing 'noise?' This computer engineer has a solution.

Northeastern researchers are hard at work trying to improve quantum computers, including Devesh Tiwari, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, who was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to embark on research to improve the reliability of these fledgling devices.

by Tanner Stening February 3, 2022

Steven Lopez, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Can we mimic the chemistry of the sun to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere?

Steven Lopez, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, studies molecules that are powered by sunlight rather than heat, a faster and more efficient catalyst for chemical reactions. As one of four principal investigators in the newly launched Institute for Data-Driven Dynamical Design, Lopez will use his expertise as a photochemist to study sustainable materials that can sequester carbon dioxide.

by Emily Arntsen October 13, 2021

Can we better understand online behavior? These researchers will dig deep to find out.

Researchers at Northeastern University were awarded a $15.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build a research infrastructure that will provide scientists around the world and across disciplines with open, ethical, analytic information about how people behave online.

by Molly Callahan October 7, 2021

‘One-of-a-kind’ cellular platform could help usher in 6G technology

New funding from the National Science Foundation will be put toward the construction of a fully open, programmable platform that could test higher frequency radio bands in an effort to unlock higher internet speeds and solve barriers to connectivity plaguing the current generation of wireless communications, say several Northeastern experts involved in the research.

by Tanner Stening October 4, 2021

Gene Tunik, associate dean for research and innovation, works in his lab in Robinson Hall on Sept.14, 2021. Northeastern received a prestigious major research instrumentation grant to acquire a new brain stimulation machine. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Why a groundbreaking brain stimulation machine promises new health insights

Northeastern will soon be home to a “revolutionary” brain stimulator that researchers can use to study everything from cognition, emotion, and memory to movement disorders, motor function, and aging, says Gene Tunik, associate dean of research and innovation at Northeastern.

by Tanner Stening September 14, 2021

Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Carla Mattos works in Hurtig Hall at Northeastern. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

This mysterious on-off switch holds clues to new cancer treatments

One-third of all human cancers are caused by mutations found on a protein called RAS, explains Carla Mattos, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern. “The ultimate goal is to make drugs that stop this type of cell proliferation,” she says. “But the problem is, we don’t even know how RAS works normally.”

by Emily Arntsen - contributor September 7, 2021

Katie Lotterhos, associate professor of marine and environmental sciences, recently received two prestigious awards: a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, and a Fulbright scholarship.

What would make oysters better? This scientist is figuring it out.

Katie Lotterhos is helping breed better oysters. Not just ones that taste better (although, that’s part of it), but importantly, ones that will be better suited to stave off disease and survive in warmer, saltier, more acidic waters. For her work, Lotterhos recently received two prestigious awards: a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, and a Fulbright scholarship.

by Molly Callahan July 13, 2021

She wants to make more efficient batteries without exploiting cobalt miners

Sydney Morris, a fourth-year chemical engineering major at Northeastern, studies how to make batteries last longer, perform better, and cause less harm to the environment, as well as the people who mine the materials needed to make them.

by Emily Arntsen - contributor May 10, 2021

We know how to make AI work. How can we make it work fairly?

“The most common approach to fairness right now is to take an existing model and check whether it’s fair,” says David Liu, a doctoral student at Northeastern who recently received a National Science Foundation grant to research the problems of fairness and and the inability to reproduce an experiment in artificial intelligence. “Instead of checking after the fact, what we really want to do is bake fairness into the design process itself.”

by Emily Arntsen - contributor April 26, 2021

Max Bi, assistant professor of physics, received a National Science Foundation CAREER award for cellular research. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

His parents wanted a better life for Max Bi. Their gamble paid off.

Their decision to emigrate to the U.S. from China when Bi was 14 enabled him to pursue a career in higher education. Bi, an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award for cellular research that could advance the understanding of cancer, asthma, and other diseases.

by Ian Thomsen April 7, 2021

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