Roberts retires after leading center from inception to success
Mark Roberts, former director of the Penn State’s Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC), and liberal arts professor of economics, retired at the end of December after 45 years at Penn State.
Roberts has led the FSRDC, part of the Social Science Institute, since its inception in…
Penn State professor named among most influential in shaping education
Erica Frankenberg, professor of education (educational leadership) and demography at Penn State and director of the Center for Education and Civil Rights, was recently named to the 2026 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list of top 200 U.S.-based university scholars who…
Revolutionizing Economic Measurement At The Census Bureau’s Center For Economic Studies: Pioneering Research On Firm Dynamics, Employment Flows And Transformative Statistical Products
Written by:
Ron Jarmin, Deputy Director of the United States Census Bureau
I recently had the privilege of speaking at conferences honoring two economists who’ve made huge contributions to the profession and, most importantly for this blog, to the U.S. Census Bureau. Mark Roberts of…
Back pain linked to worse sleep years later in men over 65, according to study
About half of older men suffer from sleep problems, back pain or both, according to Soomi Lee, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. Lee recently led a study to investigate whether one precedes the other and found that back problems…
Night waking impacts cognitive performance regardless of sleep duration
When it comes to sleep, traditional advice has focused on the number of hours a person sleeps. But for older adults, the quality of sleep may affect cognitive performance the following day regardless of their quantity of sleep, according to a new study by researchers from the Penn State College of…
CTSI to host three-part virtual mini-series on team science
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) will host a three-part virtual mini-series focused on team science, led by Susan Simkins, director of Team Science with Penn State CTSI. Designed for researchers, staff and leaders working in collaborative environments, the series will…
Forum focuses on helping military medics transition into civilian health care
Nearly 50 individuals, including members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, policy staff and representatives from leading health care organizations, attended the Veterans’ Solutions Forum on Dec. 10 at the Pennsylvania State Capitol. The event, hosted by the Clearinghouse for Military Family…
SSRI Launches Mid-Career Research–Practice Partnership Fellows Program
The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) has opened applications for its 2026–2027 Mid-Career Research–Practice Partnership Fellows Program, a new initiative designed to strengthen collaborative research that drives real-world impact.
Supported in part by a William T. Grant…
Sharkey to lead SSRI Grants and Contracts Office
Nicole Sharkey was recently named the Director of Grants and Contracts for the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI).
In this role, Sharkey will lead SSRI’s newly created Grants and Contracts Office, a team of administrators who support researchers with complex, multi-disciplinary proposal…
Penn State researchers attend empathy conference in the UK
Penn State researchers Daryl Cameron, Daniel Max Crowley, Robert Roeser, and Mark Brennan recently participated in the Wilton Park Empathy Conference in West Sussex, UK.
The event explored how empathy can act as an antidote to the global rise of polarization and extremism, focusing on the…
Fowler named director of statistical data center
Christopher Fowler, professor of geography, was recently named director of the Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) at Penn State, a unit within the Social Science Research Institute and one of over 30 Federal Statistical Research Data Centers located across the country.…
NIH Application Policy Update
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new Application Policy Update, effective December 3, 2025 implementing the Removal of Requirements for Letters of Intent and Unsolicited Applications Requesting $500,000 or More in Direct Costs
The Update, Notice Number: NOT-OD-26-019, states that…
CERAP researchers present at recent human development conference
The Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD) held their biennial conference in Lexington, KY from October 24-26, 2025. The theme of this year’s conference was Developmental Science for the Public Good, focusing on how “research on human development across the lifespan has the potential to…
A hard year for federal workers offers a real-time lesson in resilience
By Anne Pisor, SSRI cofunded faculty member and assistant professor of anthropology and demography, for "The Conversation"
Imagine going from having a book club with your co-workers to seeing them only on a Signal chat where every member has to be vetted – and the main conversation topic is when…
Baumgartner Named SSRI Research Operations Manager
Natahsha Baumgartner has been named research operations manager for the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at Penn State.
Previously, Baumgartner was the associate director of University Health Services (UHS) Operations. In this role, she served as the administrative lead of UHS’s Pharmacy,…
Nine Penn State faculty and staff receive 2025-26 Fulbright awards
For the 2025-26 academic year, six Penn State faculty and staff received Fulbright Scholar Awards, one received the International Education Administrator Award and two received the Fulbright Specialist Award, according to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The list of 2025-26 award recipients is…
Institute funds 20 faculty fellows in AI and quantum sciences
Daryl Cameron, Sherwin Early Career Professor, director of the Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, and senior research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, was recently awarded a Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) fellowship.
ICDS…
Veterans’ anxiety and depression rose during, after the pandemic, study finds
Symptoms of anxiety and depression increased among post-9/11 veterans over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, with persistent disparities tied to race, ethnicity and gender, according to researchers at Penn State.
Researchers at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State(…
Barbara Rigg retires from SSRI
SSRI Research Operations Manager Barbara Rigg recently retired after 35 years of service to Penn State. Barbara started at Penn State in 1991, working as a clerk accounting secretary in the Center for Cell Research, College of Science. She served in various research administrative roles in the…
Dispensaries are recommending cannabis for pain and sleep — with no evidence, UCSF study finds
The work of SSRI cofund Louisa Holmes, associate professor of geography & demography, was recently featured in this article published in the San Francisco Chronicle.
By Catherine Ho, Staff Writer, for the San Francisco Chronicle
Cannabis dispensaries in the Bay Area often recommend…
Structural issue believed to be the cause of Welch Building incident
As most of you are aware, an incident occurred in Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building last Wednesday which prompted the evacuation of all occupants. We want to reassure you that everyone in SSRI is safe, and that no one was injured during the incident. Please be patient with us as we locate…
Q&A: Can drinking tap water reduce how many calories children drink?
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Drinking beverages sweetened with sugar can lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, cavities, diabetes and other health problems. More than 20 years of public health campaigns significantly reduced the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by U.S children, but that…
SSRI faculty recognized for research impact
Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences recognized exceptional achievements in research during its fourth annual Research Awards Ceremony held Oct. 28 at the Hintz Family Alumni Center on the University Park campus.
SSRI cofunded faculty member Ryan Thombs, assistant professor of rural…
Shared decision making with child’s physician less common for immigrant parents
For people who grew up in the United States, navigating health care can be complicated and intimidating, according to Sawsan Salah, a doctoral candidate in biobehavioral health at Penn State. Those complications may be magnified when a person is unfamiliar with the culture of medical care in the U.…
Discussion approach improves comprehension for 4th, 5th graders, study finds
Small-group discussions designed to help elementary students engage in conversations that promote critical analytic thinking, reasoning and deeper understanding of the content they read increased critical thinking over time for fourth- and fifth-grade students, according to a new study by a team…