2025
At Rutgers, research isn’t just about discovery—it’s about impact, economic development, and solving societal challenges. Improving lives, communities, and the world we share means we all win.
Our researchers have been a catalyst for societal and economic advancement. With almost $1B in sponsored research resulting in breakthroughs in health and life sciences, to innovations in agriculture, engineering, computer science, the arts, humanities, and social sciences, Rutgers drives progress.
Our work is not done in isolation. Strategic partnerships with industry are accelerating our innovation pipeline, ensuring that our discoveries reach the real world faster and with greater relevance. While Rutgers disclosed more inventions than ever, it is only with sustained engagement with government and community stakeholders that we can bring these inventions to those who need them. Our appreciation for our industry partners is what helps us turn our groundbreaking research into practical solutions.
As we’re presented with greater, more complex challenges, our researchers continue to work with you to do what they do best: find solutions. Together, we’re shaping a healthier and more resilient future—for New Jersey and far beyond.
As we reflect on another amazing year and all the societal challenges we solved and continue to work on, we always remember that when Rutgers wins, we all win!
Michael E. Zwick, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Research at Rutgers University
Enhancing lives, strengthening communities, and shaping a better world for all.
A new study from Rutgers Health shows that ciprofloxacin, a staple treatment for urinary tract infections, throws Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria into an energy crisis that saves many cells from death and speeds the evolution of full‑blown resistance.
Researchers from Rutgers Health and RWJBarnabas Health have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) technology that uses economical and readily available transforms basic electrocardiogram (ECG) readings of electrical activity into sophisticated heart motion signals normally obtained via costly and time-consuming echocardiograms (echos), potentially improving how heart disease is detected and monitored.
Rutgers–Newark’s Assistant Professor Pabitra Sahoo is pushing the boundaries of neuroscience. His team has uncovered a powerful peptide that helps nerve cells regenerate in both the central and peripheral nervous systems—a major leap toward healing spinal cord and brain injuries. Their groundbreaking discovery was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s top scientific journals.
Ferrero Group, the Italian company behind Nutella and the iconic holiday treat Ferrero Rocher, is helping researchers at Rutgers University–New Brunswick build on years of pioneering work aimed at transforming the region into a hub for hazelnut cultivation. Thomas Molnar, an associate professor in the Plant Biology Department of the Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, is leading the effort at Rutgers.
Using advanced computational modeling, a Rutgers professor, in collaboration with researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Stony Brook University, reveal both the immediate and delayed climate benefits of solar power.
Amid the callous clutter of today’s world, one may be hard pressed to find tangible sources of compassion and kindness. The Compassion and Well-Being Lab at Rutgers–Camden, led by Assistant Professor of Psychology Yoona Kang and an interdisciplinary team of graduate researchers, is working to change that. Having studied the neuroscience of compassion, Kang has created a new mobile app to measure, test, and encourage the spread of kindness in both digital spaces and everyday life.
As a key cog in New Jersey’s research and innovation ecosystem, Rutgers collaborates with companies, government agencies, and foundations on research and innovation to make the world a better place.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a core foundation of the state’s world-renowned research and innovation ecosystem. As the largest public research institution in the Garden State, Rutgers helps to build bridges between companies, other higher education research institutions, and government agencies —all in the name of advancing discoveries to address worldwide problems. One of those bridges is the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT), a key partner to Rutgers.
Born out of Rutgers research, Queens Carbon exemplifies how academic innovation can drive both climate solutions and economic growth. Founded by triple Rutgers graduate Daniel Kopp, School of Engineering Distinguished Professor Richard Riman, and entrepreneur David Gersholowitz, the company is built on technology that uses steam and pressure to react conventional raw materials such as limestone and sand at less than half the temperature of the traditional process.
Batten Disease – neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) – is a group of rare and fatal neurogenerative genetic disorders in young children whose symptoms were untreatable until Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine researchers discovered the disease’s genetic cause. Their groundbreaking discovery and partnership with the Office for Research Technology Transfer team and biopharmaceutical company BioMarin led to Brineura, the first life-extending treatment for young patients.
NanoNewron, a biotechnology startup developing humanized biologics aiming to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat central nervous system (CNS) neurodegenerative diseases, is entering Phase 2 of its TNF-alpha inhibitor program for Alzheimer’s disease. The therapeutic platform is based on research developed at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Steg.AI is a prime example of Rutgers’ commitment to cybersecurity innovation and digital trust. The startup, founded by Rutgers graduate Eric Wengrowski and School of Engineering professor Kristin Dana, PhD is based on information security software technology developed at Rutgers called light field messaging. "An advanced forensic water marking technique that adds information to files that is invisible to people but visible to Steg.AI's algorithms. The information is essentially embedded as forensic tracers."
The Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program (RAP), a project at Rutgers focused on “agrivoltaics” (also known as “dual-use” solar), is showing that a farm’s energy needs and expenses can be lowered through the use of solar panels in fields, while at the same time allowing the sun to nurture crops planted beneath those panels.
in Research Grants and Sponsored Programs
Licensing Revenue
Research Awards
Rutgers-Newark announced the launch of the Institute for Data, Research and Innovation Science (IDRIS), a groundbreaking effort that explores how AI and other technologies can improve healthcare, education, public safety, and other aspects of community well-being. IDRIS examines how AI data is gathered, incorporated, and applied. It focuses on ethical questions surrounding AI and how it can be used to advance equity and overcome challenges in urban communities.
Findings from the Rutgers Health study offer a deeper understanding of mental health conditions and cognition. Rutgers researchers at the Brain Health Institute (BHI) and Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) have uncovered how different types of brain cells work together to form large-scale functional networks in the human brain – interconnected systems that support everything from sensory processing to complex decision-making – paving the way for new insights into brain health and disease.
Research Week kicked off at Rutgers University–Camden with a keynote lecture titled “The Latest Novelties: New Goods and New Ideas in 19th-Century America,” presented by Professor of History Wendy Woloson, who explored how disposable novelties have shaped not only material culture but also American consumerism, capitalism’s rapid expansion, urban-rural tensions, and even our perception of time.
The work, led by Rutgers researchers, could pave the way toward new quantum materials needed for advanced computing. An international team led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers has merged two lab-synthesized materials into a synthetic quantum structure once thought impossible to exist and produced an exotic structure expected to provide insights that could lead to new materials at the core of quantum computing.
A new study by the Rutgers Education and Employment Research Center (EERC) reveals that gaming, modifying games (modding), and related hobbies can form a career pathway into the high-demand IT field, especially for adolescents and teens with supportive parents.
Excellence is earned at Rutgers. Ranked among the nation's top research powerhouses, Rutgers shines with the bold achievements of our brilliant minds—driving innovation, transforming lives, and making a lasting impact in education, groundbreaking research, and world-class health care.
Highlighting all four Chancellor led units (CLUs) to Rutgers' research ecosystem. Discover how Rutgers Research is making a difference—explore more impact stories from across the university.
