Why Social Science? - Because It’s Proliferating
By Alondra Nelson, President, Social Science Research Council
Social scientists and the research we pursue with such passion are being buffeted on all fronts, a fact not unknown to frequent visitors to this space. Today social scientists confront scarcities: of funding, of career opportunities in…
Lung inflammation from childhood asthma linked with later anxiety
Persistent lung inflammation may be one possible explanation for why having asthma during childhood increases your risk for developing anxiety later in life, according to Penn State researchers.
In a study with mice, researchers found that childhood exposure to allergens was linked with persistent…
Pilot grants available from Clinical and Translational Science Institute
As part of its mission to accelerate discoveries to benefit human health, the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute will award up to $300,000 in funding for pilot projects through its Bridges to Translation V pilot grant program.
A request for application workshop will be…
IRB International Research Workshop
Join the Office for Research Protections and Institutional Review board for a workshop on human subjects and compliance challenges with international research.
“Human Subjects Research in International Contexts: A Question and Answer Session” will take place Tuesday, November 6, 9 - 10 a.m. in 110…
Center changes name to Criminal Justice Research Center
The former Penn State Justice Center for Research kicked off the fall semester by changing its name to the Criminal Justice Research Center (CJRC).
“We are excited about the center’s name change as it more clearly summarizes our focus on criminal justice research and is well-timed to coincide with…
New behavioral intervention aims to improve research-to-policy translation
Max Crowley, assistant professor of human development and family studies and director of the Penn State Administrative Data Accelerator, has received a $500,000 award from the William T. Grant Foundation to evaluate the impact of behavioral intervention for increasing collaboration between…
2017-18 NSF I-Corps invent teams selected
Twelve entrepreneurial teams from Penn State have been selected to participate in the National Science Foundation I-Corps program. The teams receive up to $3,000, which can be used to attend industry trade shows, visit potential customers, develop prototypes and cover customer discovery expenses.…
De Jong receives PAA honor
Gordon De Jong recently became an honoree of the Population Association of America (PAA).
The PAA’s Honor A Colleague page campaigns are led by PAA members who want to see their colleagues recognized for their contributions to PAA and the population research community. PAA members include…
How winning friends may influence adolescent behaviors
Adolescents may get by with a little help from their friends, but, according to Penn State researchers, friend selection and friend influence, as well as gender, may all play a role in establishing friendships that can help, or possibly hurt, them.
In a study of adolescent friendship networks, the…
Firebaugh receives 2018 American Sociological Association Award
Glenn Firebaugh, Roy C. Buck Professor of American Institutions and professor of sociology and demography, received the 2018 American Sociological Association Methodology Section Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award. This award recognizes sociologist who have contributed to the field of sociological…
Clinical and Translational Science Institute program welcomes new scholar
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute has welcomed a new scholar into its program that invests in early-career faculty. Dr. Steven Hicks, assistant professor of pediatrics, was named into the institute’s KL2 Training Program, which gives researchers establishing…
Young children’s oral bacteria may predict obesity
Weight gain trajectories in early childhood are related to the composition of oral bacteria of two-year-old children, suggesting that this understudied aspect of a child’s microbiota — the collection of microorganisms, including beneficial bacteria, residing in the mouth — could serve as an early…
WPSU to address opioid addiction, recovery with special programming
Jaime Durst, from Centre County, said she was 28 years old when she began abusing drugs and alcohol.
“I don’t know how that started; it was just some of the people I was hanging with,” said Durst, who realized she needed to seek treatment for her opioid addiction. “All of a sudden it became really…
Global Programs updated travel grant applications now open
Global Programs travel grant applications are now open to faculty and graduate students.
Graduate student travel grant applications for this round are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 20 and faculty travel grant applications are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 8.
“In Global Programs, we view travel grants as our way to…
Applications open for Community Engaged Research Core Faculty Fellowship Program
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute‘s Community Engaged Research Core is now accepting applications for its 2019-2020 Faculty Fellowship Program.
This opportunity is open to all Penn State junior or mid-level faculty who want to advance their practice of community-engaged…
Penn State research expenditures rise to record $927 million
Penn State’s research expenditures reached a record high for the second consecutive year in fiscal year 2017-2018, according to Vice President for Research Neil Sharkey. The $927 million total represents a $64 million increase over last year’s figure, and includes a record $562 million in federal…
Seed grants to support opioid research announced
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), in collaboration with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), has awarded over $200,000 in funding to support 10 new interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is aimed at combating the opioid epidemic…
Center for Healthy Children recommends evidence-based programs
Federal legislation will radically change how foster care dollars can be used, and Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network and Center for Healthy Children(CHC) is leading the charge to ensure services intended to prevent foster care placement, and better serve foster youth, are backed by…
Yocum receives ACOR 2018 Career Achievement Award
The Administrative Committee on Research (ACOR) 2018 Career Achievement Award was presented to Sherry Yocum at the Annual Retreat Conference on September 7 at the Penn Stater Conference Center. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions towards the support…
New research shows sexual abuse unique risk factor for teenage pregnancy
Children who suffer childhood sexual abuse early are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, adolescent pregnancy, and teenage motherhood, according to new Penn State research.
The findings are important, because becoming a mother during adolescence can have consequences for not only the…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Can Have an Impact on Public Policy
By Peter B. Wood, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Eastern Michigan University
Why Social Science? Because social science can—and should—have a real impact on public policy at the federal, state, and local levels. More than a decade ago, while serving as President of the Southern Criminal…
Sekhar begins Community-Engaged Research Core Faculty Fellowship
There’s a difference between simply including in a research study the people a scientist wants to help and partnering with those people in the research process. That’s a lesson Dr. Deepa Sekhar learned while studying ways to better detect high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss in…
$6.3 million grant will fund video library of moms and babies at play
When toddlers play, there’s more going on than meets the eye. Play and other natural activities parents engage in help developing children build social, emotional and locomotor skills, among others.
To help tease apart these processes, a team of researchers led by Penn State and New York University…
Sterner, Grozinger recognized as outstanding postdoc and mentor
The Penn State Postdoctoral Society has announced postdoctoral researcher Glen Sterner III and Distinguished Professor of Entomology Christina Grozinger as the recipients of the 2018 Outstanding Postdoc Award and Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award, respectively.
Sterner, who received his doctorate in…
University Libraries offers maps and geospatial info sessions for fall 2018
This fall, Penn State University Libraries will once again offer informational sessions relating to foundational map and geospatial topics.
Some sessions may be similar or build upon topics from previous offerings, but one new session this semester will introduce users to ArcGIS Pro, a…