News from

Undergraduate Students

Reset All Filters
802 Results
Ella Vance: Diving into the causes of crime
Ella Vance stands in front of a staircase with her arms crossed.

Ella Vance says her psychology and criminology double-major meshes well with Paul Robinson’s research on the root causes of crime. Her summer work was supported by the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program.

nocred

Ella Vance: Diving into the causes of crime

Third-year Ella Vance spent the summer working with Penn Carey Law’s Paul Robinson exploring the potential roots of crime, including addiction and poverty. Her 10-week opportunity was supported by the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program.

2 min. read

Ngaatendwe Manyika: Helping to reshape renewable energy education
Lorena Grundy and Ngaatendwe Manyike kneel beside a miniature wind turbine.

Third-year student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science Ngaatendwe Manyika (right) of Harare, Zimbabwe, spent the summer working with Penn Engineering’s Lorena Grundy (left) to develop a new class, the Renewable Energy Technologies Lab, coming to Penn next fall.

nocred

Ngaatendwe Manyika: Helping to reshape renewable energy education

Third-year mechanical engineering student Ngaatendwe Manyika spent the summer working with practice assistant professor at Penn Engineering Lorena Grundy developing a new class, the Renewable Energy Technologies Lab coming to Penn next fall.

3 min. read

Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations
Chinmay Govind writing equations on a chalkboard.

Chinmay Govind, a rising second-year in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, writes equations on a chalkboard in his team's research space at David Rittenhouse Laboratory. For his portion of the PURM project, Govind used AI to track and map whale locations.

nocred

Students use machine learning to track and protect whale populations

For their Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project, Chinmay Govind and Nihar Ballamudi leveraged AI to locate and census whales. The study may inform policy measures that help to improve protections for whale populations worldwide.

5 min. read

At Convocation, first-years called on to ‘embrace the unexpected’
Franklin Field during Penn’s 2025 Convocation.

nocred

At Convocation, first-years called on to ‘embrace the unexpected’

Penn’s 286th academic year formally began at Convocation, where President J. Larry Jameson drew lessons from nature by invoking fireflies—recognizing students’ brilliance, prescribing them to ‘“embrace the unexpected,” and reminding them, “Fireflies do not glow alone.”

4 min. read

New Student Orientation: A week in photos
Class of 2029 spelled out by the student body on Franklin Field.

nocred

New Student Orientation: A week in photos

New and returning undergraduates arrived on campus last week, attending welcome events and receptions, including an introduction to the Libraries, the Class Photo on Franklin Field, and an evening at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

Penn leaders welcome first-years and families
Penn President J. Larry Jameson shaking hands with a new student at the NSO event.

nocred

Penn leaders welcome first-years and families

President J. Larry Jameson offered a message of encouragement, comparing the scaffolding on Fisher Fine Arts Library to the support Penn will provide the Class of 2029, and Provost John L. Jackson Jr. told students they will be challenged both with new ideas and to embrace differences.

2 min. read

By the Numbers: Move-In 2025
Students and their families outside the Quadrangle during Penn’s Move-In, some pushing Move-In carts.

nocred

By the Numbers: Move-In 2025

With students arriving on Penn’s campus this week to move into the College Houses, Penn Today has compiled links to resources and statistics about the Move-In experience.

2 min. read

Eri Maeda: Investigating barriers to menopause care
Eri Maeda standing outdoors against a brick wall and smiling, facing forward.

Eri Maeda, a rising third-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, spent her summer in the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM) studying the impact of insurance status on menopause care access in the U.S. A neuroscience major pursuing a pre-medicine path, Maeda has gained new insights and research skills throughout her PURM experience.

nocred

Eri Maeda: Investigating barriers to menopause care

Rising third-year Eri Maeda dedicated her summer to a Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program project exploring how insurance status may shape access to menopause care in the U.S.

4 min. read