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Impact

Launched in 2015 in a converted space within a campus parking structure, The Garage has helped more than 10,000 students explore the world of entrepreneurship. Ten years later, it has expanded beyond the Evanston campus, utilizing Northwestern’s academic space in San Francisco to offer programming for Bay Area alumni who are a part of the startup ecosystem.

See how The Garage has grown

Four students sit at a round table with laptops in front of them, chatting with each other.
The Block of Museum of Art’s Woven Being exhibit showcases Chicagoland’s many Indigenous art histories, with more than 80 works of various materials — including painting, basket weaving, bead work, sculpture, photography and mixed media.

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An acrylic painting of humanoid creatures, painted in blue, red, green and tan.
Northwestern’s Institute for New Music organizes workshops, symposia and residencies for visiting composers and ensembles and gives students opportunities to interact with and learn from prominent figures in the new music world.

Learn about the institute

Alan Pierson stands on stage in front of a pianist and other musicians with his arms poised to conduct while an audience looks on behind him.
An accomplished scholar of European and global history, Deborah Cohen has led the Northwestern Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs since January 2024. During this time, her team has launched a raft of programs that build on the institute’s mission of fostering interdisciplinary teaching and research about the world beyond U.S.

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Deborah Cohen smiles at the camera in front of a blue background. She wears a purple shirt, a dark blue jacket and glasses.
A gift from Northwestern Trustee Steven A. Cahillane ’87 and Tracy Tappan Cahillane ’88 is kickstarting the renovation of the Donald P.

Learn about the renovation

A digital rendering of the renovated Jacobs Center shows a concrete building next to a large lawn, with people scattered across the front steps and nearby walkways.
A health crisis motivated Victor Su and Patricia Kou to help expand Northwestern’s speech and language services to a wider community. Their gift establishes the Su Family Community Impact Fund, which will support the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and create a scholarship fund for undergraduate students in the McCormick School of Engineering.

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A group of children and adults pose in a mirrored studio room, holding up peace signs, hearts and thumbs up and smiling at the camera.
The voices of people incarcerated in Illinois are rarely heard outside their institutions’ walls. Students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) are changing that.

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Four men in blue polo shirts and dark blue pants sit at desks in a classroom, listening to a teacher who is sitting at a desk across from them, wearing a gray shirt and dark gray pants. In the background there is a chalkboard and television.
As the world’s population rises and the effects of climate change threaten crop yields, food insecurity is an urgent matter. With the support of University Trustee Melih Keyman and Zeynep Keyman, Northwestern researchers are pursuing a novel approach to farming with the potential to make a substantial impact on the global food crisis.

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Sarah Sobol, wearing safety glasses, a light blue lab coat with a Northwestern research logo and orange gloves, is conducting synthetic biology research in a lab.
The Lucks Laboratory developed a home test that can detect common contaminants in water. The technology, called ROSALIND, harnesses the “molecular taste buds” found in bacteria and programs them to glow when they detect a contaminant.

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In a lab environment, Julius Lucks, wearing a dark suit and a purple striped tie, stands beside a Northwestern researcher wearing a light blue lab coat. Their mouths are open as though in conversation, and they are gesturing while looking at a laptop screen.
Northwestern has been awarded $50 million over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation to establish the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) — the first institute of its kind in the U.S.

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A close-up infrared image of a fruit fly’s brain, displayed in neon reds, greens and yellows.