Penn’s Computational Social Science Lab’s Media Bias Detector team, under founder and director Duncan Watts, explores how people behave, how media works, how society functions, and how the human mind operates.
Mapping catalyst failure to advance clean hydrogen fuel production
A new study co-led by computational Penn engineering professor Aleksandra Vojvodic and collaborators offers an unprecedented view of the complicated degradation process of a material based on one of the rarest elements, iridium. Their findings, which show how this catalytic agent breaks down at the atomic scale, pave the way for better hydrogen fuel production.
Dennis Massimo was only 42 and symptom-free when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, thanks to a research study he signed up for with the Penn Medicine BioBank nearly a decade earlier.
The art of retelling ancient stories: A Q&A with Steven Weitzman
In his new book, the Penn professor and scholar of religion examines how the biblical story of the 10 plagues has been reshaped by people across time and culture to make sense of their experiences and find meaning in disasters.
Students in Penn Carey Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic gain hands-on trial experience representing clients in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and the Philadelphia Municipal Court.
Penn’s third annual AI Month spotlights the evolving frontier of human-centered AI
A monthlong series of talks, workshops, symposia, and more highlights how recent advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping robotics, health, education, and public life, all the while keeping human values at the center.
Mikhaidia Miller: First-gen perspectives on nursing, health equity, and what’s next
The fourth-year reflects on what underpins her desire to pursue a nursing career and how Penn First Plus has supported her as a first-generation student.
Penn Dental Medicine’s Kyle H. Vining and Hardik Makkar take a biomaterials approach to understanding periodontal disease, using a hydrogel system to investigate how the physical properties of the gum tissue impact inflammation.
AI Month at Penn is a month-long, University-wide initiative throughout April 2026 that will focus on human-centered AI. The month's events will highlight research, dialogues, and collaborations that focus on the link between humanity and technological innovation. Through panels, workshops, lectures, and community events, the initiative highlights work across AI in health, science, education, business, and public life. Register to attend individual events.
Participants will learn ways to combat these pitfalls using theater-style improv techniques. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.
Penn’s guiding principles are the University’s enduring values and distinctive strengths: anchored, inventive, interwoven, and engaged. The practices support and strengthen Penn’s core educational mission.
At Penn Today, we focus on some of the ways the University is putting this framework into action. From student, faculty, and staff profiles to research updates and event coverage, Penn Today highlights the latest examples of the University’s principled approach to excellence.
Students test one way to combat extreme heat in Philadelphia
Third-year students Nafisa Bangura and Angelica Dadda expanded upon a multidisciplinary research endeavor to evaluate a reflective pavement coating as a tool to mitigate extreme heat. Their work may inform policy efforts to improve urban heat resilience.
Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value co-chairs on creating opportunity
As co-chairs of Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value working group, Sara Bachman, dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Patrick Harker, a professor and dean emeritus of the Wharton School, discuss breaking down barriers and opening pathways.
A conversation with Penn Forward’s Global Opportunity and New Markets co-chairs
In a Q&A with Ezekiel Emanuel and Megan Ryerson, co-chairs of the Global Opportunity and New Markets working group for Penn Forward, the duo discuss the charge of their group, where they are in the process, and leaning into global engagement.
Average net tuition down when adjusted for inflation, Brookings data shows
“A growing number of [private, high-endowment] institutions—including Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology—offer free tuition to students whose families make below a given income threshold.”
