School of Arts & Sciences

Five University of Pennsylvania students have proven that an education can occur outside of the classroom – and that a hands-on experience can work artistic wonders.

The quintessential piece of origami might be a decorative paper crane, but in the hands of an interdisciplinary University of Pennsylvania research team, it could lead to a drug-delivery device, an emergency shelter, or even a space station.

France is renowned the world over as a leader in the crafts of viticulture and winemaking—but the beginnings of French viniculture have been largely unknown, until now.

Rakesh Vohra has been named the University of Pennsylvania’s 15th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, effective Aug. 1. The announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price.  

In a pilot partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Africa Center, two Penn students have been named 2013 Pulitzer Center International Student Reporting Fellows.

Hurricane Sandy caught the public and policymakers off guard when it hit the United States’ Atlantic Coast last fall. Because much of the storm’s devastation was wrought by flooding in the aftermath, researchers have been paying attention to how climate change and sea-level rise may have played a role in the disaster and how those factors may impact the shoreline in the future.

The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole.

The number of adults living beyond age 45 in sub-Saharan Africa is rapidly expanding, yet many of these older men and women experience physical illnesses and disabilities that limit their ability to function, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and in Malawi.

In 1700, a massive earthquake struck the west coast of North America. Though it was powerful enough to cause a tsunami as far as Japan, a lack of local documentation has made studying this historic event challenging.

Two University of Pennsylvania professors have won the chance to pursue their research full-time this fall.