<p>Two students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences’ turfgrass science program recently were selected for highly competitive United States Golf Association Green Section internships.</p>

Turfgrass science students selected for US Golf Association internships

<p>Tamara Peyton, who earned a doctoral degree from the College of Information Sciences and Technology in 2016, was recently named dean of the School of Media and Information Technology at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. </p>

IST doctoral alum named dean of Canadian iSchool

<p>Low breast and cervical cancer screening rates in Nepal may be associated with a lack of women’s autonomy to make health-related decisions on their own, according to a new study from researchers in the Penn State Department of Health Policy and Administration.</p>

Women’s autonomy in health decisions may be a driver of cancer screenings

<p>Throwing a little heat on your meal might be an effective strategy for cutting back on calories, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.</p>

Looking to cut calories? Try adding chilies, study suggests

<p>Dan Bransfield is a recent master of public policy graduate of Penn State. His campus involvement and policy experiences prepared him to pursue law at Duke University this fall.</p>

Liberal Arts graduate prepares to tackle policy and law

<p>Ashlie Crosson, a Penn State College of Education alumna and English and journalism teacher at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers and will spend the next year serving as a representative and advocate for educators across the country.</p>

College of Education alumna prepares to serve as National Teacher of Year

<p>Penn State geography doctoral student Harman Singh is giving back to the program that shaped her academic journey by mentoring undergraduates through the Department of Geography’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Connection. Through her leadership, Singh helps students gain research experience and professional development while strengthening her own mentorship skills.</p>

Graduate student mentorship helps undergraduates build research skills

<p>Pedro Robles, assistant professor of cyber analytics and operations at Penn State Lehigh Valley, and Daniel J. Mallinson, associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, were honored by the American Society for Public Administration with a best article award.</p>

Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg professors win best research article award

<p>Jason Lucas, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in informatics at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, credits his mentors for helping him define his interdisciplinary research path. </p>

Penn State connections lead doctoral student to interdisciplinary College of IST

<p>Each semester, staff across Penn State's colleges pull off what seems like an impossible task: Host the perfect ceremony to cap off every student's journey toward a degree. But commencement ceremonies are an undertaking that can't happen overnight. It takes the dedicated work of commencement coordinators and college staff to plan, prepare for and execute the biggest annual event at University Park.</p>

In photos: Setting the stage for Penn State's commencement ceremonies

<p>On May 9, Penn State Great Valley held a commencement ceremony honoring 474 students who have completed their graduate degrees this past academic year. MBA alumna Rina Desai, principal/owner of Eigen X, a professional services firm focused on data and technology, gave the keynote address.</p>

Penn State Great Valley honors graduates at 2025 commencement

<p>A Penn State pilot course brought police officers and community members together in Philadelphia to enhance law enforcement de-escalation skills and foster community connections through effective communication and trust building.</p>

Bridging the communication gap between police and the community

<p>A new one-year fellowship program created by Penn State’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) aims to give students and early-career professionals hands-on experience in taking scientific discoveries from the lab to the marketplace. The Next-Gen Innovators Program, a paid fellowship opportunity, is designed to train the next generation of leaders in technology commercialization through a cross-sector experience that includes rotations with a venture capital firm, a technology-based startup company and OTT.</p>

New fellowship program in research commercialization

<p>Saturday and Sunday, May 10-11, will mark a time of transition at the Penn State Smeal College of Business as the college bids farewell to more than 2,000 graduates.</p>

Penn State Smeal to award more than 2,000 degrees during spring 2025 commencement

<p>For the first time, scientists have discovered fossils of a living, endangered tropical tree in Borneo, revealing that Asia’s rainforests have sheltered these ancient giants for millions of years and highlighting the need for their conservation. The team was led by researchers at Penn State.</p>

First fossil evidence of endangered tropical tree discovered

<p>Nominations are now open for the first round of scholarships made possible through The Endowment for The J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School. The first round includes general scholarships, dissertation completion awards, summer research funding, and military and veteran student scholarships.</p>

Fox Graduate School opens nominations for first scholarships from Fox endowment

<p>While the effects of the housing crisis and the environmental impacts of debris generated in the construction sector persist in the United States, two projects led by Penn State Stuckeman School architecture professors have earned funding to develop new methods to address these challenges while also bolstering the manufacturing industry in Pennsylvania.</p>

Manufacturing PA Innovation Program funds two Stuckeman-led research projects

<p>A new study exploring how therapy dogs can create a safe, nonjudgmental environment for survivors of domestic violence in educational, therapeutic and courtroom settings was recently published posthumously on behalf of John R. Chapin, professor emeritus of communications at Penn State Beaver. The research highlights the ways therapy dogs, who are trained to provide emotional support to survivors, can reduce anxiety, foster trust and facilitate positive outcomes.</p>

How do therapy dogs help domestic abuse survivors receiving support services?

<p>The spring graduates of the Penn State World Campus Class of 2025 include 1,556 students who will earn degrees in 99 of the more than 200 programs offered online.</p>

Congratulations to the spring graduates of the World Campus Class of 2025

<p>Research completed by the late John Chapin, a professor emeritus of communications at Penn State Beaver, has now been published posthumously because of his former student, Michael Brayack, a 2014 Penn State Beaver graduate, and Chapin's wife, Grace Coleman.</p>

Penn State Beaver alumnus helps finish, publish professor’s final research

<p>While service robots with male characteristics can be more persuasive when interacting with some women who have a low sense of power, “cute” design features — such as big eyes and raised cheeks — affect both men and women similarly, according to new research from a team in the Penn State School of Hospitality Management.</p>

Gender characteristics of service robots can influence customer decisions

<p>The Faculty Senate Committee on Student Life recently awarded six graduating Penn State seniors who will be pursuing graduate-level education with the John W. White Graduate Fellowship.  </p>

Faculty Senate honors six graduating seniors with 2025 John W. White Fellowships

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