McCourtney Institute awards more than $50,000 in research grants

<p>A team of researchers from Penn State created a hairlike device for long-term, non-invasive monitoring of the brain’s electrical activity. The lightweight and flexible electrode attaches directly to the scalp and delivers stable, high-quality electroencephalography recordings.</p>

The future of brain activity monitoring may look like a strand of hair

<p>With a four-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Penn State Professor Dipanjan Pan will lead a team in developing a one-step confirmatory laboratory test that can definitively diagnose active syphilis infection within 10 minutes.</p>

$2.7M NIH grant to fund first comprehensive syphilis test

<p>Lightweight lithium metal is a heavy-hitting critical mineral, serving as the key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power phones, laptops, electric vehicles and more. As ubiquitous as lithium is in modern technology, extracting the metal is complex and expensive. A new method, developed by researchers at Penn State and recently granted patent rights, enables high-efficiency lithium extraction — in minutes, not hours — using low temperatures and simple water-based leaching.</p>

Rapid lithium extraction eliminates use of acid and high heat, scientists report

<p>Halima Binte Islam, a public policy graduate student from Bangladesh, is using her time at Penn State to explore research on digital inclusion and AI policy. Through hands-on projects and interdisciplinary collaboration, she’s preparing for a global career in public policy.</p>

Liberal Arts graduate student explores digital inclusion and technology policy

<p>Collegiate female endurance runners who experience chronic energy deficiency can compromise performance and training benefits, according to a recent study by researchers in the Penn State Department of Kinesiology. </p>

Energy deficiency impacts collegiate running performance

<p>Graduate students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences were recognized for their accomplishments during the 2025 Graduate Student Award Celebration, hosted by the Office for Research and Graduate Education and held recently on the University Park campus.</p>

College of Agricultural Sciences graduate students receive awards

<p>Ashlie Crosson, an English and journalism teacher at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, who graduated from Penn State with a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2015, has been named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers.</p>

College of Education alumna named National Teacher of the Year

<p>Scholar and entrepreneur C. Frank Igwé, founder and president of Moravia Health, will present the 2025 spring commencement address for the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology on May 10 at Pegula Ice Arena. Igwé earned his doctoral degree from the college in 2008. </p>

Scholar and entrepreneur alumnus to speak at IST commencement

<p>A project by two Stuckeman School architecture graduate students earned fifth place overall in the worldwide TerraViva “Easdale Ferry Office” Competition that welcomed entries from students as well as professional design practices.</p>

Architecture grad students earn gold mention in international design competition

<p>The Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences has announced a new program to foster interdisciplinary collaborations among early career researchers and Penn State faculty.</p>

Institute for Computational and Data Sciences issues call for proposals

<p>William Rothwell, distinguished professor of workforce education and development, has been honored with the Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award while Farhan Sadique, who received a Ph.D. in workforce development and training from Penn State and is now an assistant professor at Kansas State University, received the Distinguished Dissertation Award at the recent conference for the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) in Jacksonville, Florida.</p>

College of Education faculty member, alumnus honored at ISPI conference

<p>Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence announced the winners of its first-ever "Cheat-a-thon," a virtual competition that invited faculty and students at universities across the U.S. to test the capabilities and limitations of using generative artificial intelligence to answer college-level questions. </p>

Competition shows not all exam questions can be correctly answered using AI

<p>Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa uniflora, remains a mystery. Now, with social media and the internet driving a resurgence in the harvest and economic trade of the parasitic species — which appears strangely white because it is devoid of chlorophyl — a research team from Penn State has taken the first step toward documenting its new status.</p>

Traditional forest medicinal plant ghost pipe used differently today

<p>Two Penn State graduate students enrolled in Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs administered by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences have each been awarded two-year American Heart Association fellowships. Junyao Yuan is pursuing a degree in integrative and biomedical physiology, while Julio Flores Cuadra is pursuing a degree in neuroscience.</p>

Penn State graduate students receive American Heart Association fellowships

<p>Penn State Sustainability has announced the 2025 recipients of its sustainability awards. These accolades, including the John Roe Sustainability Impact Award, the Student Sustainability Advisory Council Tree Award and the Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium Campus Sustainability Champion Award, commend the extraordinary contributions of students in spearheading sustainability initiatives.</p>

Penn State celebrates the 2025 student sustainability award winners

<p>Lithium-ion batteries have been a staple in device manufacturing for years, but the liquid electrolytes they rely on to function are quite unstable, leading to fire hazards and safety concerns. Now, researchers at Penn State are pursuing a reliable alternative energy storage solution for use in laptops, phones and electric vehicles: solid-state electrolytes. Led by Hongtao Sun, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, the team published the approach using an advanced manufacturing technology to develop solid-state batteries. </p>

‘Cold’ manufacturing approach to make next-gen batteries

<p>Penn State Scranton Assistant Professor of Business Nonna Sorokina gave a presentation on research exploring sustainable energy investments. The research involved collaboration with several colleagues, including Saya Lee, assistant professor in the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering at Penn State, and Darshana Sunoj and Hyungjin Kim, graduates of the Penn State Department of Economics.</p>

Public support matters for sustainable energy investments, researchers find

World Campus Online Faculty Development offering course on teaching adult learners

<p>For the second year in a row, fourth graders in the State College Area School District have been learning about the earth sciences with the help of geosciences faculty members and graduate students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. </p>

For fourth graders, earth science lessons come to life at Penn State

<p>Ramsés Martínez Barquero, a fourth-year doctoral student in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, is the recipient of the 2025 Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Fellowship in the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. How authors in Spain and Portugal responded to the challenges posed by authoritarian regimes is the subject of Martínez Barquero's doctoral work.</p>

Spanish, Italian and Portuguese doctoral student named Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow

<p>The Penn State Smeal College of Business’ virtual teaching studios are attracting graduate students from around the world and providing them with a highly engaging team-based learning environment.</p>

Penn State Smeal virtual teaching studios attract new audiences

<p>Three Eberly College of Science graduate students, Kristen Aviles, Pranav Diwakar and Edward Hilvano, have been awarded the Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award.</p>

Three Eberly graduate students awarded Outstanding Teaching Award

<p>College of Arts and Architecture graduate students Mahsa Adib, a doctoral student in architecture with a focus on landscape architecture, and Glynnis Reed-Conway, a doctoral student in the dual-title art education and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies program, have each been recognized with the University’s Alumni Association Dissertation Award.</p>

Grad students in architecture, art education receive Alumni Association Dissertation Award

<p>Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing students Jessica Wellington and Ahmed-Rufai Yahaya won awards for their research at the 2025 Eastern Nursing Research Society’s Annual Scientific Sessions (ENRS) in Philadelphia on April 3-4.</p>

Nursing student research wins awards at ENRS Conference

<p>Tricia Hart, who earned a doctoral degree in nutritional sciences in December 2024, will be representing Penn State in the final round of a regional Three Minute Thesis competition on April 25. Community members can watch online and vote for the People's Choice award. </p>

Doctoral alumna advances to final round of regional Three Minute Thesis

<p>For the first time, the Tech Tournament technology showcase — held during the Invent Penn State Venture &amp; IP Conference on April 10 — featured university innovators from across Pennsylvania. The showcase highlighted 12 disruptive technologies and early-stage companies emerging from some of the state’s top research universities, including Penn State.</p>

Three research-based startups win funding in Invent Penn State Tech Tournament

<p>An interdisciplinary team from Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh developed a coastal management model that takes a chess-like approach to protecting shorelines against rising sea levels amid climate change uncertainty.</p>

Coastal management model plays the long game against the rising tides

<p>Jhan D. Doughty, vice president and global head of belonging and engagement at Everest Group Ltd., will be the keynote speaker at the Penn State College of Education’s spring 2025 commencement ceremony for undergraduate students.</p>

Jhan D. Doughty to give keynote address at College of Education commencement

Immune system proteins involved in severe parasitic disease identified

<p>Increased soil salinity can reduce damage from prominent tomato pests such as the tomato fruitworm, according to researchers at Penn State. </p>

Feeling salty? Increased salt stress reduces tomato pest activity

Summer 2025 student parking registration begins May 5

<p>Penn State Smeal College of Business alumna Brontë Hamilton was recently appointed to the college’s Finance Advisory Board.</p>

Brontë Hamilton named to Penn State Smeal Finance Advisory Board

<p>The Penn State chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, the agricultural honor society, recognized faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students from the College of Agricultural Sciences during its annual meeting April 3.</p>
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Agricultural honor society Gamma Sigma Delta recognizes faculty and students

<p>The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences honored six alumni with 2025 Outstanding Alumni awards in a ceremony on April 10 in State College. The six honorees were also inducted into the college’s Armsby Honor Society alongside four other inductees.</p>

College of Agricultural Sciences honors six with Outstanding Alumni awards

<p>Stuckeman architecture doctoral student Ali Baghi's research primarily focuses on new techniques for 3D printing concrete that would eliminate the need for traditional support structures, with a focus on sustainability and automation.</p>

Stuckeman grad student focuses on the future of sustainable construction

<p>The Fox Graduate School recognized three alumni — Jennifer Hoewe, Jonathan U. Dougherty and Gail Folena-Wasserman — with awards at the Fox Graduate School Alumni Recognition Dinner on March 29 at the Nittany Lion Inn.</p>

Three alumni selected for 2025 Fox Graduate School alumni society awards

<p>College of Arts and Architecture graduate students Alivia Cross and Isabella Scotti are among the recipients of the 2025 Professional Master’s Excellence Award, sponsored by the Office of the President and administered by the Fox Graduate School. </p>

Graduate students in theatre, music win Professional Master’s Excellence Awards

<p>Ephraim Hanks, associate professor of statistics in the Eberly College of Science, is the 2025 recipient of the Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award. The award honors faculty members for exemplary leadership that benefits graduate students and faculty in an existing graduate program at the University.</p>

Statistics faculty member honored with Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award

<p>Fawn Hosterman, director of graduate records in the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School, has been named the 2025 Staff Excellence Award winner.</p>

Fox Graduate School director of records named Staff Excellence Award winner

<p>Ram Narayanan, professor of electrical engineering in the College of Engineering, is the recipient of the 2025 Howard B. Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award. The award honors and recognizes outstanding achievement by a faculty member with at least five years of service who effectively guides junior faculty. Howard Palmer was the senior associate dean of the Graduate School from 1984 to 1991.</p>

Electrical engineering professor recognized with Palmer Faculty Mentoring Award

<p>Swaroop Ghosh, professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering, has received the 2025 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award. The award, established in 1992 by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School, is presented to faculty members in recognition of outstanding teaching performance and advising of graduate students. </p>

Engineering professor named recipient of Graduate Faculty Teaching Award 

<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged by hospitality companies to meet or even exceed customers’ expectations, but businesses should balance AI with their other needs like a personalized, human touch, according to a framework proposed by researchers in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management.</p>

Using AI to meet customer expectations in hospitality industry

<p>The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing and its Alumni Society Board presented awards to undergraduate and graduate students, engaged alumni, faculty and staff at the annual Awards Celebration reception and dinner at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.</p>

Nese College of Nursing Alumni Society celebrates 2025 alumni award recipients

<p>Six Penn State Great Valley students presented four research projects at the 2025 Graduate Exhibition, hosted by the Fox Graduate School. This event offered the students a professional development experience with opportunities to network and practice their communication skills as they explained their projects, the methods they used and the impact of their work in areas ranging from geographically targeted opioid interventions to affordable cybersecurity practices for nonprofit organizations. </p>

Great Valley students presented actionable insights at research exhibition

<p>Differences among the DNA of seven ape species — including humans — are greater than originally thought, according to a new study by an international team led by researchers at Penn State, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the University of Washington. </p>

Complete genome sequences of six ape species unveiled

<p>Readily available but underused Doppler radar data can help predict the height of the planetary boundary layer — the lowest part of the atmosphere and where weather forms — and, in turn, improve severe weather forecasts, according to scientists at Penn State.  </p>

Underused radar data may improve severe weather forecasts, scientists say

<p>College of Arts and Architecture graduate students Ye Sul Park and Nan Yang are among the recipients of the 2025 Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award. The award is sponsored jointly by the Fox Graduate School, through the Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award endowment, and the Office of the Vice President and Dean for Undergraduate Education. </p>

Graduate students in Art Education, Architecture receive outstanding teaching awards