Columbia Arts & Sciences is partnering with stakeholders across the university and beyond to commit our world-class resources to urgent, global challenges in climate, health, and technology.
A New Model: Science as Startup
Science as Startup takes cues from the entrepreneurial startup culture to spur knowledge creation and to build institutions that translate this knowledge into action. Characteristics that define this effort include a commitment to acting now, focusing on strengths, funding at levels that insure success, and partnering with experts to build the institutional framework to lead change; including, in Columbia’s case, our cross-campus assets in the humanities and social sciences. Advancing our scientific knowledge is only part of the challenge; implementing viable solutions requires new public and private sector partnerships and links to the business and finance worlds.
Columbia’s location in New York City presents specific advantages for achieving this goal. As a global hub for finance, business, trade, and international co-operation, including the United Nations, New York City is the optimal location to lead science-centered efforts to accelerate discovery, and then turn this new knowledge into viable solutions for global society.
Our Priority Initiatives
Columbia Science Commits focuses on six areas where Columbia science has world-class intellectual leadership and where the promise for transformative innovation is greatest: neuroscience, precision medicine, climate change and its impacts on life, and the next generation of nanotechnology and materials development. Underpinning these key topics are the essential elements and tools needed for all great research: ground breaking discovery science, innovations in data science and informatics, and advancing Columbia’s preeminent scientific leadership.
