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Graduate Students

What is real about human-AI relationships?
A screenshot of a Replika chatbot screen.

Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication

What is real about human-AI relationships?

In a new paper, Annenberg School for Communication doctoral student Arelí Rocha explores how people discuss their relationships with AI chatbots.

Hailey Reissman

2 min. read

The poetry of ancient math
Medieval mathematical manuscript written in vernacular Malayalam script on palm-leaf

Medieval mathematical manuscript written in vernacular Malayalam script on palm-leaf at the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, Thiruvananthapuram, India. Ph.D. student Priya Nambrath is using manuscripts like these to better understand “a deeply grounded and long-lasting mathematical tradition.”

(Image: Courtesy Priya Nambrath)

The poetry of ancient math

The methods and findings of pre-modern Indian mathematicians remain poorly understood. Priya Nambrath, a doctoral candidate in the School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of South Asia Studies, wants to change that.

From Omnia

2 min. read

Curiosity, STEM, and a summer on campus
Two high school students woking with pipettes in a science classroom.

nocred

Curiosity, STEM, and a summer on campus

The Penn Research Experience for High School Students gives Philadelphia 11th and 12th graders a rare opportunity to tackle college-level research.

From Omnia

2 min. read

Disaster simulation trains nursing students in mass casualty incident response
Nursing students help man on floor in disaster simulation.

nocred

Disaster simulation trains nursing students in mass casualty incident response

The School of Nursing—in collaboration with Penn Medicine, the School of Social Policy & Practice, and the Division of Public Safety—held a disaster simulation, with graduate nursing students responding to volunteer actors injured in a mock explosion.

4 min. read

A hands-on education of Pennsylvania and New Jersey ecology
Three people walking through a field.

One of six field trips in Sally Willig’s Regional Field Ecology class took students to Natural Lands’ Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary.

(Image: Chi-Hyun Kim)

A hands-on education of Pennsylvania and New Jersey ecology

Sally Willig has been teaching Regional Field Ecology at Penn since 1999, educating students about plants, soils, and more at sites such as Ringing Rocks County Park and the Pine Barrens.

4 min. read

Penn students and alumni awarded Fulbright 2025-26 U.S. Student Program grants
headshots of 17 people

The 17 Penn students and alumni who have been offered 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants are (from left) (top row) Emily R. Antrilli, Leo Biehl, Emmie Chacker, Claire Elliot, Zane Grenoble, and Arielle Hardy; (center row) Theresa Haupt, Timothy Lie, Paul Lin, Henry McDaniel, and Nova Meng; (bottom row) Aleena Parenti, Rajat Ramesh, Elan Roth, Emma Steinheimer, Rachel Swym, and Teresa Xie. Not pictured: Anjalee Bhuyan and Margaret Gerhart.

(Images: Courtesy of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships)

Penn students and alumni awarded Fulbright 2025-26 U.S. Student Program grants

As of early July, 19 Penn students and alumni have been offered Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants for the 2025-26 academic year. They will conduct research, pursue graduate degrees, or teach English in more than a dozen countries.

Louisa Shepard

5 min. read

Library research in action: Wandering the stacks with Mengliu Cheng
Mengliu Cheng.

History doctoral student Mengliu Cheng.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Libraries)

Library research in action: Wandering the stacks with Mengliu Cheng

The history doctoral student is working on a dissertation about agricultural science in modern China with the help of Penn Libraries’ Zilberman Family Center for Global Collections.

From Penn Libraries

2 min. read

Annenberg School launches Master of Communication and Media Industries program
Annenberg School for Communication exterior and the silhouette of a student.

Image: Eric Sucar

Annenberg School launches Master of Communication and Media Industries program

For the first time in 25 years, Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication will offer a master’s program. The new Master of Communication and Media Industries (MCMI) is a reimagining of the Annenberg School’s inaugural academic program in 1954; its curriculum will be defined by its exploration of rapid technological change, global interconnectivity, and evolving professional demands.

From Annenberg School for Communication

1 min. read

Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?
Close-up of ATLAS detector at CERN.

ATLAS’s wheel-like end-cap reveals the maze of sensors primed to catch proton smash-ups at the LHC. Researchers comb through billions of events in search of fleeting “ghost” tracks that might expose cracks in string theory.

(Image: Courtesy of CERN)

Can data from the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Theoretical physicist Jonathan Heckman of the School of Arts & Sciences has put a spin on ideas related to testing string theory: Rather than looking to verify it, he and his collaborators sought a novel way to falsify it. Heckman and Ph.D. candidate Rebecca Hicks explain string theory, researchers’ quest to unify physics, and what their new paper puts forward.

10 min. read

Lauder Institute launches expanded summer immersion for Class of 2027, introducing new geopolitical themes

Lauder Institute launches expanded summer immersion for Class of 2027, introducing new geopolitical themes

This year’s program, a cornerstone of the Institute’s Master of Arts in International Studies—a joint degree offered in combination with the Wharton MBA—offers a six-week deep dive into the Institute’s newly introduced geopolitical themes, with an additional week at the start of the immersion dedicated to contextualizing the geopolitical challenges shaping today’s business landscape.