Network for Collaborative Intelligence - Northwestern University
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Where Collaboration Leads to AI-Driven Breakthroughs

Join us in advancing research, education, and society.

About Our Network

A backbone of modern innovation, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science are central to advancing research, education, and translational impact in nearly every field of inquiry. Offering powerful methods for modeling, prediction, and decision-making, these disciplines allow us to extract insights from complex, high-dimensional data to fuel new discoveries and transformative solutions to tackle global grand challenges.

The Northwestern Network for Collaborative Intelligence (NNCI) is a vibrant community of experts dedicated to advancing responsible, high-impact, world-class research and education in data science and AI. We are harnessing Northwestern’s unparalleled interdisciplinary culture and uniting the strengths of the University’s top schools to build dynamic partnerships around and beyond campus.


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Connect with NNCI

We invite faculty, educators, students, and industry leaders to join us in leveraging AI to address societal needs. Together, we’ll unlock new ways to teach, learn, and discover.

News & Events

Explore the latest happenings

News

Archival environmental impact statement

Northwestern University Libraries Transform Environmental Impact Archive Using AI

March 19, 2026
from Northwestern University Libraries

Northwestern University Libraries were awarded a two-year, $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support the transformation of unique and extensive collection of environmental impact statements (EISs) into a dataset that can be explored through a digital exhibit platform and analyzed through a new AI agent framework pioneered at the University.

Events

Apr
7
2026

"AI and Modern Cyberinfrastructure: Enabling the Next Wave of Interdisciplinary Discovery" - Featuring Sean Mooney, Joe Paris, & Abel Kho, Moderated by Kristi Holmes

12:00 PMNorris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive
Join us for an in-person Distinguished Panel event featuring Sean Mooney, Director of the Center for Information Technol...
Apr
14
2026

"AI & The Future of Education" Featuring Jeremy Gilbert, Sara Sood, Moderated by Karen Smilowitz

12:00 PMNorris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive
Join us for an in-person Distinguished Panel event featurin Jeremy Gilbert and Sara Sood, moderated by Karen Smilowitz. ...
May
12
2026

"Fun with Fashion" - Larry Davis

12:00 PMNorris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive
Join us for an in-person Distinguished Speaker event featuring Larry Davis, a leading figure in computer vision and arti...

AI Tools & Resources

Artificial Intelligence at Work

Learn what AI is and how it works. Get a simple, easy‑to‑navigate overview that helps you feel confident using AI tools in your day‑to‑day work, teaching, learning, or research.

AI @ NORTHWESTERN IT 

lines

AI + X

Harnessing AI and data science to innovate across industries and disciplines

Through our collaborative ecosystem, we are catalyzing breakthroughs in foundational science and real-world, domain-specific applications of AI and data science across STEM fields, the arts, and the humanities. We aim to redefine the future of collaborative intelligence by establishing Northwestern as the global epicenter where human ingenuity and AI solve society’s most urgent challenges.

Here are just a few highlights of our network in action:
SESP Center for Technology, Policy, and Opportunity
AI + Education & Learning Sciences

Center for Technology, Policy, and Opportunity

Launching in fall 2025, the center will lead initiatives at the intersections of technology, society, and policy — including high school electives, undergraduate microcredentials, and graduate certificates and degrees.

Knight Lab team meeting
AI + Communication & Journalism

Knight Lab

The team of technologists and journalists at the Knight Lab are working on solution-oriented projects advancing news media innovation, including AI art generation, AI editorial model training, and automated live streaming data dashboards.

scales of justice on abstract technology background
AI + Law, Policy, & Geopolitics

Northwestern Law and Technology Initiative

The initiative leads research and development projects with law and legal-services delivery partners and hosts events at the intersection of law and technology.

Professors Dashun Wang, Brian Uzzi, and Benjamin Jones
AI + Business & Decision-Making

Ryan Institute on Complexity

The Ryan Institute harnesses the power of big data and AI to address complex challenges, while providing students with an understanding of powerful new quantitative approaches to problem solving.

Credit: Bettymaya Foott/NSF NRAO/AUI
AI + Astronomy

SkAi Institute

Jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation, the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI) will develop AI tools and accelerate astronomy’s data-driven revolution.

abstract image of traffic speeding through a tunnel

These are a few examples of our network in action. What's your DS/AI + X impact story? Collaborate with our network and push the boundaries of what's possible.

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Facts & Figures

Setting ourselves apart

200+
faculty actively engaged in AI work
8
top-ranked Northwestern schools driving interdisciplinary collaborations
51
educational programs equipping the next generation of workers and researchers

Education

Equipping our students for the evolving demands of the workforce

We are committed to ensuring that students at every level have access to an educational background in data science and AI through program offerings and resources.

Students working together

Undergraduate Study

Explore Northwestern’s undergraduate programs with a focus on artificial intelligence and data science, including majors, minors, and certificates from departments across the University.

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Panel discussion

Graduate Study

Browse graduate level programs including master's, PhD, and certificate programs designed to advance expertise and launch careers in artificial intelligence, data science, and machine learning.

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Students in an Executive Education classroom

Professional Education

Discover programs in artificial intelligence, analytics, and data strategy that empower professionals to leverage emerging technologies, lead strategic change, and advance their careers.

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