Ten interdisciplinary research teams awarded IEE seed grants
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More than 30 researchers from seven Penn State colleges received seed funding from the Institute of Energy and the Environment to advance innovative, early-stage work addressing critical energy and environmental challenges.
Architecture student awarded Justice Alliance in Design Education Fellowship
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Tavia Mitchell, a third-year architecture student in the Stuckeman School, was named one of six recipients of DesignPhiladelphia's 2025 Justice Alliance in Design Education Fellowship, which aims to help create a more welcoming and inclusive culture for all students in architecture and design education.
Nursing hosts Translating Research to Innovations in Practice Symposium
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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.
Q&A: How does computer science advance biology?
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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.
Warmer spots within fields have more blooms and more bees
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Climate can vary across large areas of land, but it also can vary within much smaller areas such as farms. A new study led by researchers at Penn State examined whether these microclimates affect pollination by both wild and managed bees and resulting wild blueberry yields.
New program aims to help faculty build skills in AI, quantum sciences
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The Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences announced the Faculty Upskilling Fellowships program, which seeks to provide Penn State University faculty with the opportunity to learn new skills and make use of available resources in the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and quantum sciences. The program is available to all Penn State tenure-track and tenured faculty members in any discipline. Deadline to apply is 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 28.
Farshad Rajabipour named Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering head
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Farshad Rajabipour, the John and Harriette Shaw Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been named head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Penn State, effective July 1. The promotion follows his service as interim department head since July 2023 and as a Penn State CEE faculty member since 2009.
Heard on Campus: PhysicsX founder on deep learning in physics and engineering
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Robin Tuluie, founder and chairman of PhysicsX and former postdoctoral scholar with the Penn State Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC), gave a talk about how deep learning models are transforming engineering at the IGC Alumni and Friends Reunion on May 30.
Multistate herbicide-resistant weeds study aims to protect soybean crops
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Herbicide-resistant weeds result in significant economic losses for U.S. soybean growers, according to the United Soybean Board, which has awarded $500,000 to a multistate research project to develop new diagnostic tools for herbicide-resistant weeds in soybean production. The team includes scientists from Penn State.
Kao steps down as plant biology graduate program chair
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Teh-hui Kao, distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, has stepped down as chair of the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology after 26 years in the role. Longtime program faculty member Charlie Anderson, professor of biology and co-director of the Center for Biorenewables, will take over as chair.
How a genetic tug-of-war decides the fate of a honey bee
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Despite having identical genetic instructions, female honey bee larvae can develop into either long-lived reproductive queens or short-lived sterile workers who help rear their sisters rather than laying their own eggs. Now, an interdisciplinary team led by researchers at Penn State has uncovered the molecular mechanisms that control how the conflict between genes inherited from the father and the mother determine the larva’s fate.
Rewriting a scientific law to unlock the potential of energy, sensing and more
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With help from an IEE seed grant, a research team from Penn State has broken a 165-year-old law of thermal radiation with unprecedented strength, setting the stage for more efficient energy harvesting, heat transfer, and infrared sensing.