R E S E A R C H

Research – and the groundbreaking discoveries it enables – is at the core of Arts and Sciences.

Our faculty undertake wide-ranging research across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and contribute expertise to numerous University-wide initiatives and collaborations. Within the Arts and Sciences, our centers and institutes also pursue leading-edge research that seeks to unlock new knowledge and achieve new levels of impact.

Through coursework, independent study, and assistantships, our students gain valuable research experience and meaningful opportunities to build their knowledge and skills.

Research Spotlight

Incite Institute at Columbia University

At Incite, the worlds of scholarship, community engagement, the arts, and other specialties unite to ask ambitious questions and understand and engage the social world in surprising new ways. Incite is home to centers including the Columbia Center for Oral History Research, the Trust Collaboratory, and the Columbia Labor Lab.

Obama Presidency Oral History

Since 2019, Incite Institute at Columbia University has interviewed hundreds of people to produce the official oral history of the Obama presidency. These in-depth interviews, conducted with those inside and outside of the administration, represent roughly 1,100 hours of audio and video that together form a comprehensive record of the Obama years.

Assembling Voices

Launched in 2020, Assembling Voices is a year-long fellowship that supports activists, artists, scholars, workers, and others with ideas for public initiatives that bring people together to address community-identified issues in novel ways.

Learn more about Incite and its programs here.

Faculty Research Videos

Alessandra Russo, Chair and Professor in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, speaks about her award-winning book, A New Antiquity: Art and Humanity as Universal: 1400-1600, and the role that artifacts play in shaping modern conceptions of art.

Professor Russo’s book received the 2025 Eleanor Tufts Award from the Society for Iberian and Global Art, which recognizes an outstanding English-language publication in the area of Spanish or Portuguese art history.

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Ishmail-Abdus Saboor, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, shares insights into his research on how our nervous system distinguishes between a soft caress and a painful bite, and the broader implications for society.

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Folarin Kolawole, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, discusses his work to better understand how preexisting cracks in the earth’s crust could be used to safely sequester carbon.

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Undergraduate Research at Columbia

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships works closely with faculty and students to develop and design research and fellowship opportunities at every stage of a student’s Columbia experience

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Platform (UROP) acts as a central repository for Columbia undergraduates to search for research opportunities from across the University, and for mentors from all Schools to advertise research projects that welcome undergraduate participation or research programs targeting undergraduates.