33 faculty members earn Opportunity Grant Awards
Thirty-three non-tenure-line faculty will use Opportunity Grants to fund a project of their choosing during the 2026-27 academic year.
Opportunity Grants are designed for clinical, teaching, research and professors of practice faculty to receive funding for professional development through a self-…
Cameron talks about empathy between humans and AI
For the second time, people in Philadelphia have beaten up a robot. Last month, an Uber Eats delivery robot was kicked over and vandalized. About a decade ago, Hitch Bot was also beaten up in the City of Brotherly Love.
Daryl Cameron, associate professor of psychology at Penn State and director of…
NIH Announcement of Upcoming System Enforcement of Common Forms
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced: NOT-OD-26-079: Announcement of Upcoming System Enforcement of Common Forms and End of NIHs Leniency Period that goes into effect on May 7, 2026.
Changes For NIH Biographical Sketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support:
Applicable to 1.)…
Deadline approaches for Presidential Public Impact Research Awards Proposals
Penn State is launching the next phase of its Presidential Public Impact Research Awards (PPIRA), which supports faculty–student research teams from the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses working alongside local partners to address pressing challenges across Pennsylvania.
Interested faculty can find…
Registration open for Open Scholarship Boot Camp on May 11-12
Penn State University Libraries’ Research Data Stewardship Department is accepting registrations for the spring 2026 Open Scholarship Boot Camp. The two-day event offers a hands-on introduction to open science practices that can enhance research transparency, rigor and impact.
The boot camp will be…
David Baker receives Mercator Fellowship from German Research Foundation
Penn State Professor of Sociology, of Education and of Demography David P. Baker has been appointed a Mercator Fellow by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), also known as the German Research Foundation.
Beginning this month, Baker will spend the next four years making regular trips to Germany’s…
Cocoziello Built Environment Showcase to highlight impact of recent research
Registration is now open to attend the first annual Penn State Cocoziello Institute Built Environment Showcase, happening Monday, April 27, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn.
The event will bring together a diverse mix of students, researchers and industry professionals, indicative of the…
Intimate partner homicide has clear warning signs – and is often preventable, research shows
By Kathryn Spearman, assistant professor of nursing and SSRI cofund, for The Conversation
Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was an accomplished dentist and a loving mom to two teenage children. On April 16, 2026, she was killed by her estranged husband, former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who then…
Communication, Science & Society Initiative awards four interdisciplinary grants
The Communication, Science & Society Initiative (CSSI), a research partnership between Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences in the College of the Liberal Arts, has announced the grant recipients from its 2025 request for…
Photovoice exhibition to show immigrant experiences in access to health care
A photovoice exhibition showcasing the health care experiences of immigrants with limited English proficiency in the United States will be held from noon to 3 p.m. April 15 in the Morrison Gallery of the Madlyn L. Hanes Library at Penn State Harrisburg.
The exhibition, hosted by Sara Imanpour,…
Van Hook to lead data resources unit
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) recently announced that Jennifer Van Hook, distinguished professor of sociology and demography, will become the new director of its Data Resources Hub (DRH), effective July 1.
Van Hook, who is also an SSRI cofunded faculty member and…
Faculty panel to discuss migration, asylum and refugee experience on April 16
The Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Woskob Family Gallery, located at 146 S. Allen Street in downtown State College, will host a cross-disciplinary faculty panel to discuss the current migration landscape, asylum and refugee law and on-the-ground advocacy efforts on April 16 at 4 p.m…
Thiede named new PRI director
Brian Thiede, associate professor of rural sociology, sociology, and demography, has been named the director of the Population Research Institute (PRI) at Penn State.
PRI is a multidisciplinary research center at Penn State that promotes innovative population research. Part of the Social Science…
Why eight hours of sleep may not be enough anymore
By Emaan Adeel for National Geographic
Using a tablet at night may feel like rest, but exposure to light and ongoing stimulation can keep the brain in astate of alertness, even as the body winds down.
For many people, rest no longer marks the end of the day—it interrupts it. Work slows,…
Rosinger named recipient of Kopp International Achievement Award
Asher Rosinger, associate professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology as well as the environmental health sciences program area leader in the College of Health and Human Development, is the recipient of the 2026 W. LaMarr Kopp International Achievement Award.
Established in 1995, the award…
Penn State seeking proposals for the next phase of Presidential Public Impact Research Awards
Penn State is launching the next phase of its Presidential Public Impact Research Awards (PPIRA), which supports faculty–student research teams from the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses working alongside local partners to address pressing challenges across Pennsylvania.
Interested faculty can find…
Female veterans faced steeper well-being declines after COVID-19, study finds
While the COVID-19 pandemic challenged all veterans transitioning to civilian life, female post-9/11 veterans experienced a sharper decline in overall well-being compared to their male counterparts, according to new research from the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State.…
President Bendapudi receives national ARIS Impact Innovations Award for advancing public impact research
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has received the 2026 Impact Innovations Award from Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), a national organization dedicated to strengthening the societal benefits of research, for her leadership in making real-world impact a central part of the University…
Interdisciplinary event on morality, fragmentations, and boundaries to be held April 19-20
The “Moral Fragmentations and Boundaries” event will be held at the Penn State Innovation Hub and on Zoom April 19-20.
The event is being coordinated by Daryl Cameron, who is Sherwin Early Career Professor, senior research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, and director of the Consortium…
New website shares data on the immigrant population
In the United States, immigrants without permanent residence comprise nearly one-third of the adult and child population born abroad. It is important to assess their health and service needs, yet little is known about the demographics of this group. A new website developed by Penn State researchers…
Q&A: Is true empathy possible between humans and AI?
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to influence all facets of our personal and professional lives, questions abound, like, “Can people have actual feelings for robots?” or “Can a chatbot comfort someone in distress?”
Penn State faculty members and Rock Ethics Institute senior research…
Ending birthright citizenship would impact Asians and Latinos most, study finds
Established in 1868 with the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, birthright citizenship grants citizenship to all persons born on U.S. soil regardless of the parents’ citizenship status. If birthright citizenship is ended, the number of children born without a defined legal…
Rossinger named outstanding researcher
SSRI affiliate Kelly Rosinger, associate professor of education and public policy, Department of Education Policy Studies, was given the Outstanding Researcher Award during the Penn State College of Education's annual awards ceremony, held March 30 at the Graduate hotel in State College.
Award…
Faculty, alumni gifts establish flexible fund for sociology and criminology
When Michelle Frisco, who earned a degree in administration of justice from the College of the Liberal Arts in 1994, became head of Penn State's Department of Sociology and Criminology in 2022, she saw a need and opportunity to build something the department didn't have — a flexible fund that could…
AI and Social Research event poster call
Organizers of the “AI and Social Research: Empathic AI, Metascience, and Methodology” event, taking place June 3 – 4 at Penn State’s Innovation Hub and on Zoom, are inviting early career researchers to submit a poster.
The poster submissions are an opportunity to build a robust network of…