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Research Institute Centers

The NYUAD Research Institute is a world-class epicenter of groundbreaking research, pioneering scholarship, and vibrant cultural engagement, driving innovation and shaping excellence across disciplines globally. It supports centers that address questions of global significance and local relevance and allows leading faculty members from across the disciplines to carry out creative scholarship and high-level research on a range of complex issues with depth, scale, and longevity that otherwise would not be possible. NYUAD Research Institute centers provide an extraordinary, interdisciplinary atmosphere for research and creative practices that impact knowledge and artistic efforts and directly engage students at all levels in the creative process.
Centers
Research Institute centers consist of multiple projects that work toward a common, well-articulated set of goals, allowing NYU Abu Dhabi to apply its world-class academic and research capabilities to advance Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s development efforts. These centers strengthen cross-disciplinary engagement and innovation among the faculty, building critical mass and international recognition in areas of major local and global significance, strengthen NYU Abu Dhabi’s connection to NYU and the global network, forge local and international research partnerships, and build NYU Abu Dhabi’s research and educational mission and capacity to ensure student success.
Research Funding
As a form of sponsored research, the NYUAD Research Institute offers substantial and sustained funding for multi-year research programs led by top global scholars that address complex issues of global and national significance. The Research Institute catalyzed the development of premier science and engineering facilities and NYUAD’s Core Technology Platforms. These technology platforms support research across NYU Abu Dhabi, including regular faculty and student research. Research Institute projects draw top talent to NYU Abu Dhabi, including prospective faculty members, but also postdocs, graduate students, undergraduate students, and researchers.

Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental ScienceS (ACCESS)

Mubadala ACCESS is the leading UAE-based interdisciplinary research center dedicated to advancing climate and environmental research. It develops cutting-edge monitoring networks, innovative analytical tools, and regional climate models to track environmental change, assess ecosystem health, and inform future sustainability strategies.

Principal Investigator:  Francesco Paparella
Co-PIs: Shady Amin, John Burt, Monica Menendez, Olivier Pauluis, Farah Shamout, Shafer Smith, Antonios Tzes
Program: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biology, Mathematics
Division: Engineering, Science

Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Faculty from electrical and computer engineering, psychology, and computer science from NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and NYU New York established the Center for AI and Robotics (CAIR) at NYUAD to conduct fundamental research and develop applications in AI and robotics. Its research areas include the processing and fusion of data from sensors to perceive the surroundings of the robot and intention of moving objects, path planning and navigation in unknown environments, coordination of multi-agent systems formed by groups of robots, brain-machine interfaces, autonomous decision-making, and robotic safety and resiliency.

CAIR’s five research clusters are:
1. Multi-agent systems
2. Planning, navigation, and perception
3. Deep learning for safety, security, and resiliency for robotic systems
4. Human-machine interfaces
5. Applications

Principal Investigator:  Anthony Tzes
Co-Principal Investigators: Farshad Khorrami, Yann LeCun
Program: Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology
Division: Engineering,  Science

Center for Astrophysics and Space Science

The Center brings together a distinctive blend of theorists, observers, and instrument builders, all dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos. Our research covers an immense range of astronomical scales, from our own Sun and its planetary system to the vast expanse of the Universe. CASS is committed to advancing discovery and innovation across five core research areas, fostering future breakthroughs in the field.

Director: Andrea V. Macciò
Principal Investigator: Katepalli Sreenivasan
Co-PIs: Francesco Arneodo, Milan Bogosavljevic, Ian Dobbs-Dixon, Joseph Gelfand, Shravan Hanasoge, David Russell, Ingyin Zaw
Program: Physics
Division: Science

Center for Behavioral Institutional Design (C-BID)

The Center for Behavioral Institutional Design (C-BID) at NYU Abu Dhabi is a globally recognized research hub that explores in depth the origins of human behavioral diversity, undertakes the development of empirically informed theories of human behavior, leads their application to public policy, and builds capacity in behavioral social science in the public and private sector, locally and internationally.

Principal Investigator: Nikos Nikiforakis, John Wooders 
Co-PIs: Olivier Bochet, Ernesto Reuben
Associate Director: Federico Bernardini
Program: Economics; Social Research and Public Policy
Division: Social Science

Center for Brain and Health


The Center draws on existing strengths in the domains of Cognition, Health, and Data Science at NYUAD, the UAE, and NYU’s Global Network University. The research projects are strategically positioned in themes at the intersection of these strengths, allowing us to leverage existing resources to develop new interdisciplinary research directions. Each theme incorporates the Center’s Disorders and Methodology organizing principles. Finally, these research directions and ensuing collaborations are designed to be sustainable and provide a clear pathway to Center independence.


Principal Investigator: Bas Rokers
Co-PIs: David Melcher, Dipesh Chadury, Kartik Sreenivasan, Olivia Cheung, Osama Abdullah
Program: Psychology, Biology
Division: Science

 

Center for Cyber Security

A world-class cyber security center partnering with key local universities, industry, and government agencies to facilitate cyber security research, education, and practice in the UAE and GCC region.

Principal Investigator: Ozgur Sinanoglu
Co-PIs: Ramesh Karri, Christina Pöpper, Muhammad Shafique, Sandra Siby, Ramesh Karri, Nasir Memon
Program: Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, General Engineering, Social Research and Public Policy
Division: Engineering, Science, Social Science

Center for Genomics and Systems Biology

Providing a nexus for cutting-edge life sciences research in the UAE, with world-class facilities and resources to promote innovative advances in genomics and systems biology.

Principal Investigator: Stéphane Boissinot, Claude Desplan, Kristin C. Gunsalus
Co-PIs: Mohamed Al-Sayegh, Shady Amin, Joy Bergelson, Kenneth D Birnbaum, Justin Blau, John Burt, Dipesh Chaudhury, Kirsten Sadler Edepli, Aashish Jha, Piergiorgio Percipalle, Fabio Piano,  Michael Purugganan
Program: Biology
Division: Science

Center for Interacting Urban Networks (CITIES)

The NYUAD Center for Interacting Urban Networks (CITIES – مدن) is an interdisciplinary research center dedicated to advance urban science and promote cutting-edge research that is translated into practical, real-world solutions for the benefit of society. Our ultimate goal is to foster sustainable, resilient, and equitable cities. Our mission is to establish a vibrant and globally recognized knowledge hub for urban networks, bridge the gap between scientific significance and practical value, and further develop the human capital that will propel the city of Abu Dhabi and the UAE into a richer and more sustainable future.

Principal Investigator: Monica Menendez
Co-PIs: Azza Abouzied, Kinga Makovi, Saif Jabari
Program: Civil Engineering, General Engineering, Computer Science, Social Research and Public Policy, Economics, Film and New Media
Division: Arts and Humanities. Engineering, Science, Social Science

Center for Quantum and Topological Systems

A nucleation point for cross-disciplinary expertise in quantum and topological systems, with an emphasis towards the unifying goal of robust quantum computation — combining all questions from theoretical foundations (topological quantum computing, quantum error-correction) over hardware (topological quantum materials and NV-centers in diamond), architecture (parameterized quantum circuits and quantum communication), and software (foundations of quantum programming languages and hardware-aware software optimization) to various applications (via quantum machine learning and quantum sensing).

Principal Investigator:  Hisham Sati
Co-PIs: Tuka Alhanai, Tim Byrnes, Asif Equbal, Saurabh Ray, Muhammad Shafique
Program: Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering
Division: Engineering, Science

Center for Smart Engineering Materials

The Center for Smart Engineering Materials (CSEM) serves as an institutional research platform dedicated to the research and development of new smart materials and technologies. The center's team of science and engineering experts offers integrated knowledge in science and technology to design, test, and apply advanced materials. The CSEM’s work is particularly focused on supporting the 4th industrial revolution and addressing the key sectors of the UAE's economy.

Director: Panče Naumov
Co-Director: Mohammed F. Daqaq
Co-PIs: Mahmoud Rasras, Asif Equbal, Serdal Kirmizialtin, Kemal Celik
Program: Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Urban Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Divisions: Science, Engineering

Center of Interdisciplinary Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CIDSAI)

The Center for Interdisciplinary Data Science and AI (CIDSAI) at NYU Abu Dhabi is a cross‑disciplinary hub where mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers, and social scientists join forces to advance fundamental theory in probability and machine learning, and to translate those breakthroughs into high‑impact tools that serve the UAE, the wider Arab world, and global society.

Principal Investigator: Pierre Youssef
Co-PIs: Kyunghyun Cho, Yi Fang, Nizar Habash, Aaron Kaufman, Saurabh Ray, Keith Ross, Hanan Salam
Program: Mathematics, Computer Science
Division: Science, Engineering, Social Science

NYUAD Wireless

The overarching goal of NYUAD Wireless is to establish a globally recognized research and innovation hub, dedicated to addressing key challenges towards limitless connectivity and shaping the wireless networks of the future.

Principal Investigator: Murat Uysal
Co-PIs: Marwa Chafii, Mahmoud Rasras, Qurrat-Ul-Ain Nadeem, Elza Erkip
Program: Electrical Engineering
Division: Engineering

Public Health Research Center

The center addresses critical topics in public health, epidemiology, and population genetics to better understand the causes of common chronic diseases in the UAE.

Principal Investigator: Youssef Idaghdour
Co-PIs: Abdishakur Abdulle, Aashish Jha, Scott Sherman
Program: Public Health
Division: Science, Social Science

Research Center for Translational Medical Devices (CENTMED)

A multi-disciplinary center combining expertise in engineering, biology, and chemistry to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. The objective of CENTMED is to catalyze translational research collaborations between researchers and clinicians.

Principal Investigators: Rafael (Yong-Ak) Song, Khalil Ramadi, Sohmyung Ha, Mohammed Qasaimeh, Panče Naumov, Dipesh Chaudhury
Program: Bioengineering, Biology, Chemistry
Division: Engineering, Science

Sand Hazards and Opportunities for Resilience, Energy, and Sustainability (SHORES)

The SHORES research center is a global hub addressing key challenges of sustainable development in desert environments through community-driven, world-class research. We aim to drive innovation in resilient infrastructure, sustainable construction, and energy systems, while fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and government partners.

Principal Investigator: Tarek Abdoun
Program: General Engineering
Division: Engineering

Water Research Center

The Water Research Center (NYUAD-WRC) at NYUAD is dedicated to advancing innovative research in water desalination, wastewater treatment, and related environmental challenges, all aimed at promoting water security and sustainability.

As an interdisciplinary innovation hub, the center transforms scientific knowledge into practical solutions for the world’s most urgent water issues.

Principal Investigator: Nidal Hilal
Co-PIs: Raed Hashaikeh, Ali Trabolsi, John Burt
Program: Engineering, Chemistry, Biology
Division: Engineering, Science