Q&A: How are researchers optimizing AI systems for science?

Q&A: How are researchers optimizing AI systems for science?

IST student earns first place in national cybersecurity competition

IST student earns first place in national cybersecurity competition

GPSA accepting applications for executive board positions until Aug. 15

Predicting vaccination levels without accurate or timely vaccination data

Predicting vaccination levels without accurate or timely vaccination data

Mutual benefits of hotels hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities

Mutual benefits of hotels hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities

Eighteen graduate students awarded inaugural Fox scholarships

Eighteen graduate students awarded inaugural Fox scholarships

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

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

Next-gen tech can detect disease biomarker in period blood

Next-gen tech can detect disease biomarker in period blood

New play in the chemical-reaction playbook uncovered

New play in the chemical-reaction playbook uncovered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q&A: Does centering experience improve teacher education?

Q&A: Does centering experience improve teacher education?

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

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

Fox Graduate School announces parental leave policy for graduate students

<p>In this Q&amp;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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

Fungicides intended to suppress turfgrass diseases may damage fairways

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

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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>

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