News

<p>As the hotel industry can be prone to labor shortages, employing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can fill needed jobs when given support and resources, according to researchers in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management.</p>

July 24, 2025

Mutual benefits of hotels hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities

<p>The J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Penn State has awarded its first round of Fox Endowment scholarships to 18 graduate students in 15 graduate programs. More than 600 graduate students applied for a Fox scholarships. The scholarships, made possible through the $20 million commitment from Jeff and Ann Marie Fox, are designed to help students pursue excellence in their research and other academic endeavors.</p>

July 23, 2025

Eighteen graduate students awarded inaugural Fox scholarships

<p>New research, led by scientists at Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh and published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, indicates that immunity to a seasonal influenza virus known as pandemic H1N1 that began circulating in 2009 provides protection from severe illness from H5N1 — the strain causing the current bird flu outbreak — in a laboratory animal model.</p>
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July 23, 2025

Seasonal flu immunity protects against severe illness from bird flu in ferrets

<p>The blood and tissue shed from the uterus each month is often overlooked — and even stigmatized by some — as medical waste, but Penn State Professor Dipanjan Pan and his team have found that menstrual effluent could enable earlier, more accessible detection of biological markers to help diagnose endometriosis in just 10 minutes. The debilitating uterine disease impacts more than 200 million people worldwide yet no commercially available point-of care diagnostic test exists.</p>

July 22, 2025

Next-gen tech can detect disease biomarker in period blood

<p>Speeding up chemical reactions is key to improving industrial processes or mitigating unwanted or harmful waste. Realizing these improvements requires that chemists design around documented reaction pathways. Now, a team of Penn State researchers has found that a fundamental reaction called oxidative addition can follow a different path to achieve the same ends, raising the question of whether this new order of events has been occurring all along and potentially opening up new space for chemical design. </p>

July 22, 2025

New play in the chemical-reaction playbook uncovered

<p>A team of researchers from Penn State and Colorado State has demonstrated how gold clusters can mimic key properties of the most accurate systems currently used in quantum applications, showing promise for a tunable, scalable option for quantum devices.</p>

July 22, 2025

Gold clusters show promise as scalable options for quantum computers, sensors

<p>The Penn State One Health Microbiome Center received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a training program to provide early career professional development and research support to graduate students in the microbiome sciences.</p>

July 22, 2025

$2.6M NIH grant to fund new microbiome sciences training program at Penn State

<p>Research in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences aimed at helping amphibians fight fungal disease by strengthening their natural defenses has received a $120,000 grant from the Morris Animal Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing animal health through scientific research.</p>

July 22, 2025

National foundation grant to support study on amphibian health at Penn State

<p>Making wine is a complex endeavor — it depends on grape composition, microbes like yeast, and environmental conditions such as temperatures, rainfall amounts and soil quality where grapevines are growing. A team of researchers led by Penn State food scientists has validated a reliable and more convenient way to study wine chemistry than the traditional 5-gallon fermentation batch approach — microvinification, or fermentations of about a quarter cup. </p>

July 22, 2025

Wine chemistry can be accurately judged from fermenting tiny batches of wine

<p>For his master's degree in artificial intelligence (AI), Nicholas Gahman explored new frontiers in technology, such as integrating machine learning into cybersecurity as part of his capstone project. He said he is looking forward to using his skills in his new job as an AI research engineer at Lockheed Martin. </p>

July 21, 2025

Master of AI grad begins ‘dream job’ in space industry as AI research engineer

<p>Incorporation of local content into in-flight safety videos increased viewer excitement about a destination and influenced their travel plans, but the content also reduced how much safety content passengers retained, according to a new study led by researchers in the Penn State Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management.</p>

July 21, 2025

Travelers may recall less safety info if in-flight safety video promotes tourism

<p>Mariah Harmon, assistant professor of education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Penn State College of Education, has spent her career studying how teacher education programs can better center the developmental needs of minoritized teachers to improve their experiences. Her most recent paper focuses specifically on Black women pre-service teachers — individuals who have enrolled in teacher education programs but have yet to begin their professional careers.</p>

July 21, 2025

Q&A: Does centering experience improve teacher education?

<p>Peter Heaney, professor emeritus of geosciences, retired on June 30 after a 27-year career at Penn State. During his career, he inspired many students, including Mara Grigore, a rising senior in Earth science and policy, who interviewed him about his teaching and research.</p>

July 18, 2025

Q&A: Professor emeritus reflects on his research, teaching career in geosciences

July 16, 2025

Fox Graduate School announces parental leave policy for graduate students

<p>In this Q&A, Penn State alumnus John Panitz discusses his work, his path toward becoming a physicist, and his time working with renowned physicist Erwin Müller.</p>

July 16, 2025

The luck of the draw: Q&A with Penn State alumnus, physicist John Andrew Panitz

<p>Jessica Wellington, a doctoral candidate at the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, received the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award to fund a project focused on parental caregivers of adults with profound autism. </p>

July 16, 2025

Nursing grad student earns NIH grant to study wellbeing of caregivers

<p>Valerie Smykalov, a Penn State doctoral student, received a U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research on carbon movement through freshwater systems using deep learning and process-based modeling. Her work aims to uncover overlooked aspects of the carbon cycle and better constrain global carbon budgets.</p>

July 16, 2025

Graduate student earns NSF fellowship to study carbon in river systems

<p>The Penn State Alumni Association will recognize this year's Volunteer Award recipients during a ceremony July 27 on the University Park campus. All Penn Staters can register for the livestream, during which the Alumni Association will present six individual awards, made possible by endowments from alumni, and nine group awards, two of which are endowed by alumni. </p>

July 14, 2025

Registration open for 2025 Alumni Association Volunteer Awards livestream

<p>Greg Roszyk, who earned a bachelor's degree in computer science in 1989, and his wife, Marnie Salisbury, recently made a $1 million estate commitment to the College of Information Sciences and Technology. </p>

July 14, 2025

Computer science grad makes $1 million estate commitment to the College of IST

<p>A faculty member and a graduate student in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences received recognition at the 71st annual North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture conference in Alberta, Canada.</p>

July 11, 2025

College of Ag Sciences faculty, student recognized at annual NACTA conference

<p>Penn State Smeal College of Business Director of Alumni Relations Jennifer Crispell has announced that five new members of the college’s Alumni Society Board began their terms on July 1, as well as a new president and a new president-elect.</p>

July 10, 2025

Five new members elected to Penn State Smeal Alumni Society Board

<p>As an IST student, Charlie Watson, class of 2024, was actively involved with the Nittany AI Alliance. Now, as an alumnus, he's returned to Nittany AI as its first AI solutions architect.</p>

July 10, 2025

IST alumnus leverages Nittany AI Alliance experience into full-time career

<p>Rates of the Powassan virus infections — which can cause seizures and paralysis — are increasing across North America. Researchers from Penn State, the University of Minnesota and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have built a high resolution, 3D structure of the virus for the first time, a key step for developing strategies to prevent and treat infection.</p>

July 09, 2025

Structure of tick-borne virus revealed at atomic resolution for the first time

<p>To better understand processes driving change in Antarctic ice shelves, a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a new method to evaluate cracks that destabilize the shelves and accelerate ice losses.</p>

July 09, 2025

Measuring how – and where – Antarctic ice is cracking with new data tool

<p>Kathryn Rex, a biomedical engineering graduate student at Penn State, was awarded a U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to support her research on improving outcomes for rotator cuff surgery patients through the study of upper limb biomechanics. Her work, inspired in part by her own shoulder injuries as a collegiate softball player, aims to understand how altered movement patterns may contribute to surgical failure.</p>

July 09, 2025

Grad student earns NSF fellowship to study rotator cuff tears

<p>Researchers led by Soo-yong Byun, a College of Education professor, found that South Korean elementary students who consistently attend private tutoring are more likely to become behaviorally disengaged in their regular classrooms. The results raise concerns about the unintended consequences of supplemental learning, Byun said.</p>

July 08, 2025

Private tutoring linked to student disengagement, researchers find

<p>Golf course managers have much more insight into which fungicides to use to suppress turfgrass diseases, such as the common and costly dollar spot disease, without damaging the grass on their fairways, thanks to a new study by researchers at Penn State.</p>

July 08, 2025

Fungicides intended to suppress turfgrass diseases may damage fairways

<p>In this Q&A, Penn State postdoctoral fellow Laurel Seemiller describes her research on the biology and long-term consequences of adolescent alcohol use.</p>

July 08, 2025

Q&A: Does adolescent alcohol use impact future risk of addiction?

<p>As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 20 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.</p>

July 07, 2025

Sending a 'We Are!' to these Penn Staters — July 7

<p>Han Chen, a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Department of Art History, has been awarded a Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellowship at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., where she will work on her dissertation titled “Chinese Art en route: (Re)constructing Global Knowledge of China in the Art Markets, 1900-1950.”</p>

July 07, 2025

Art history doctoral student awarded Smithsonian fellowship

<p>Nighttime pistachio consumption affects gut bacteria in adults with prediabetes, according to a new study led by researchers in the Penn State Department of Nutritional Sciences.</p>

July 07, 2025

Nighttime pistachio snacking may reshape gut microbiome in prediabetic adults

<p>Four emerging leaders in science and innovation have been selected as the inaugural fellows in Penn State’s Next-Gen Innovators Fellowship program, an initiative designed to close critical training gaps in research translation and technology commercialization. </p>

July 07, 2025

Four selected for inaugural Next-Gen Innovators Fellowship at Penn State

<p>Leading North American forest genetics researchers, professionals and students joined together at Penn State for the 2025 Forest Genetics Conference, where they shared ideas and made connections to enhance research dedicated to preserving forests.</p>

July 02, 2025

National forest genetics groups meet at Penn State for annual conference

<p>Humans may not be the only species that struggles to eat the right amounts of the ideal foods. A new study led by researchers at Penn State suggests that what bumble bees choose to eat may not line up with their ideal nutritional needs.</p>

July 02, 2025

What a bumble bee chooses to eat may not match ideal diet

<p>A research group, including several Penn State researchers, developed a computational model to streamline flood prediction in the continental United States. Their model, which they call a differentiable routing model, incorporates physical readings — like temperature and river height — into a system that uses artificial intelligence to simulate and predict water movement.</p>

July 02, 2025

Improving predictions of flood severity, place and time with AI

<p>These eight students join the 56 prior recipients continuing in the University’s graduate degree programs across seven academic colleges.</p>

July 02, 2025

Eight graduate students receive U.S. National Science Foundation fellowships

<p>Sarah Chekan, a master’s student in mechanical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, was selected for the 2025-26 U.S. Fulbright Student Research/Study Program. She will conduct research within the Advanced Center for Electrical and Electronic Engineering on integrating renewable energy into existing power grids in Chile.</p>

July 01, 2025

Mechanical engineering grad student selected as Fulbright scholar for Chile

<p>The Penn State Alumni Association welcomed new volunteer leadership on July 1, with Susan Robinson, class of 1994, beginning a two-year term as president. Fellow leader Melissa Brickhouse, class of 1999, started her two-year term as vice president on the same day.</p>

July 01, 2025

Alumni Association welcomes new volunteer leadership

<p>A patch of the Atlantic Ocean just south of Greenland is cooling while much of the world warms. The origin of this “cold blob” has been linked to weakening ocean currents that help regulate global climate — called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Penn State researchers have found a weakening AMOC impacts not just the ocean but also the atmosphere, and that these two factors may contribute equally to the cold anomaly. </p>

June 30, 2025

Ocean, atmosphere equally responsible for Atlantic ‘cold blob,’ scientists find

<p>Tanusree Sharma, assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, received a $60,000 Google Research Scholar Award for a project to help blind and low-vision people identify artificial intelligence-generated content.</p>

June 30, 2025

Q&A: Improving how blind and low-vision people navigate deepfakes

<p>Two faculty members in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences have been awarded the prestigious U.S.-Africa Frontiers Fellowships by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to build high-impact research collaboration and strengthen capacity building with African scientists. In addition, three African scientists will be visiting Penn State.</p>

June 27, 2025

EMS faculty members earn National Academies US-African Frontiers Fellowships

<p>After more than 32 years of service as a faculty member in the Penn State College of Education’s workforce education program, Distinguished Professor William Rothwell has chosen to retire from the University, effective June 30.</p>

June 26, 2025

William Rothwell retires after three decades as College of Education faculty

<p>Professor of Biology Charles T. Anderson has been named the new chair of the intercollege graduate degree program in plant biology in the Huck Institutes, succeeding longtime program head Teh-hui Kao.</p>

June 25, 2025

Charlie Anderson to lead plant biology intercollege graduate program

<p>Graduate student Inori Hayashi is the 2025 honoree of the annual Lt. Michael P. Murphy Award, which recognizes a Penn State student who has made exceptional contributions in the global geospatial intelligence community.</p>

June 25, 2025

Penn State announces 2025 Lt. Michael P. Murphy Award recipient

<p>The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, in partnership with Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, hosted its eighth annual Translating Research into Innovations in Practice Symposium on May 13-14 at the Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center.</p>

June 24, 2025

Nursing hosts Translating Research to Innovations in Practice Symposium

<p>The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, in partnership with Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, hosted its eighth annual Translating Research into Innovations in Practice Symposium on May 13-14 at the Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center.</p>

June 24, 2025

Nursing hosts Translating Research into Innovations in Practice Symposium

<p>The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, in partnership with Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, hosted its eighth annual Translating Research into Innovations in Practice Symposium on May 13-14 at the Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center.</p>

June 24, 2025

Nese Nursing hosts Translating Research into Innovations in Practice Symposium

<p>At Penn State, two researchers are at the forefront of this intersection between computer science and biology. Mingfu Shao, associate professor of computer science and engineering, and David Koslicki, associate professor of computer science and engineering and of biology, recently presented three papers at RECOMB, one of the top conferences in computational biology, which took place April 26-29 in Seoul, South Korea.</p>

June 24, 2025

Q&A: How does computer science advance biology?

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