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…
Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction to host seventh annual conference
The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction will host its seventh annual conference, in-person and via Zoom, on Monday, May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barron Innovation Hub at the University Park campus.
The all-day event is free, but all in-person and…
Symposium highlights the work of community-engaged research and public impact
The Social Science Research Institute’s Community-Engaged Research, Action and Partnerships (CERAP) unit and the College of the Liberal Arts' Child Study Center (CSC) hosted the 2026 Innovation Hub Symposium, “Community-Engaged Research for Public Impact: Process to Policy,” in early February.
The…
SSRI awards AI seed grants
The Penn State Center for Social Data Analytics and the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), has announced the recipients of its most recent seed grant awards. Six projects representing seven colleges and three universities…
New book by SSRI cofunded faculty member examines care and survival amid the overdose crisis
SSRI cofunded faculty member Sarah Brothers is the author of the forthcoming book “Hit Doctors: Care, Harm, and the Art of Survival”, an ethnographic study examining informal caregiving networks among people who inject drugs in San Francisco.
Drawing on more than seven years of fieldwork, the book…
Moral Measures Workshop to be held on March 23
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making workgroup will host a hybrid workshop on Monday, March 23 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the 124 Sparks Building at the University Park campus and on Zoom. The workshop will bring together scholars on…
Penn State network helps communities turn opioid funds into lifesaving action
In 2023, more than 83% of Pennsylvania’s 4,719 overdose deaths were opioid-related, as reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. To address these and other effects of the opioid epidemic, Pennsylvania will invest more than $1.7 billion, received from the opioid settlement agreement, over…
Clearinghouse director awarded Penn State Opportunity Grant
Keith Aronson, director of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State (Clearinghouse), has received a 2026-27 Penn State Opportunity Grant from the Center for Faculty Development and Advancement in Penn State’s Office of Faculty Affairs. The grants support the professional…
NSF MFTRP Annual Certification
You may have received an "NSF – OVERDUE: Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Annual Certification.” email recently. This email is related to an NSF policy change that requires all PIs and co-PIs named on an NSF award made on or after May 20, 2024, to certify in Research.gov that…
A new Pennsylvania network aims to help communities build climate resiliency
By Kara Holsopple for The Allegheny Front
Pennsylvanians are already feeling the effects of climate change, like more extreme weather, and the trends are only going to continue. A new statewide effort is looking to create a network to help communities face the challenges ahead. It’s called Prepare…
New program helps faculty and students manage and share research data
Federal sponsors like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have long encouraged researchers to manage and share the data from their work with the public and other researchers to support reproducibility and accelerate discoveries. In recent years, such management has…
Routine helps children adjust to school, but harsh parenting may undo benefits
Starting elementary school is a major milestone, but it can be a difficult transition as children can experience separation anxiety or have trouble adapting to school rules and structure. However, a team led by Penn State researchers found that consistent routines in the home can reduce the…