School of Arts & Sciences

For solar panels, wringing every drop of energy from as many photons as possible is imperative.  This goal has sent chemistry, materials science and electronic engineering researchers on a quest to boost the energy-absorption efficiency of photovoltaic devices, but existing techniques are now running up against limits set by the laws of physics.  

An interdisciplinary team of University of Pennsylvania researchers has already developed a technique for controlling liquid crystals by means of physical templates and elastic energy, rather than the electromagnetic fields that manipulate them in televisions and computer monitors. They envision using this technique to direct the assembly of other materials, such as nanoparticles.  

Paul Cobb, professor of Islamic History in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations will give a talk “Getting Crusaded: Medieval Islam and the Pointy End of Christian Holy War” on Nov. 12 at the Lightbulb Café.

Some people are deeply religious and others not at all. Evolutionary psychologists are interested in determining the functions of religiosity in social life that lead to this diversity.

Four years after retiring from the University of Pennsylvania, Frank Furstenberg has written a book that draws on his 42 years of teaching experience to help those in the pipeline from graduate school to the professoriate.

Centuries of economic theory have been based on one simple premise: when given a choice between two items, people make the rational decision and select the one they value more. But as with many simple premises, this one has a flaw in that it is demonstrably untrue.

Marcus Mundy’s introduction to the Glee Club in his first few days as a freshman was the start of his exploration of all that the University of Pennsylvania has to offer.

Seven professors from the Perelman School of Medicine have been elected members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine.

An ethically dubious medical research study from the 1950s and 60s, known as the “Bowery series,” foreshadowed and shared commonalities with prostate cancer screening and treatment measures as they are carried out today, argues University of Pennsylvania physician and historian Robert Aronowitz in two ne

Justin McDaniel, associate professor and chair of the religious studies department at the University of Pennsylvania, has won a $410,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to help fund the Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts project.