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A new way to guide light
Researchers stand and point at a white board littered with equations.

Bo Zhen (right) and postdoctoral researcher Li He developed a system for guiding light through tiny crystals in ways that allow it to navigate undeterred by bumps and defects. Their work could lead to sturdier lasers, faster data links, and light-based chips that don’t get tripped up by imperfections.

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A new way to guide light

Penn researchers developed a system that allows light to be guided through a tiny crystal, undeterred by bumps, bends, and back-reflections. Their findings pave the way for robust, controllable light-based chips, smarter routing for data links, and more stable lasers.

3 min. read

Students use art to change how we communicate about research
Five ceramic art pieces on display.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News

Students use art to change how we communicate about research

Science is hard to explain. The Artist-in-Residence initiative at Penn’s Translational Research Immersion Program seeks to help by using art.

2 min. read

Understanding atomic disorder and next-gen electronics
Imaging devices surround a material on a blue backlit surface.

A new class of 2D materials known as MXenes holds the key to next-generation applications, such as consumer electronics and medical devices. Now, collaborative research led by Zahra Fakhraai of the School of Arts & Sciences, Aleksandra Vojvodic of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and their collaborators offers fundamental insights into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of these materials, a finding that could lead to cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage for these devices. 

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Understanding atomic disorder and next-gen electronics

A Penn team has developed insight into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of new 2D materials, paving the way for next-gen devices, biomedical applications, and cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage.

5 min. read

Pioneering strategy may keep breast cancer from coming back
A mammogram technicial looking at the scans of a mammogram with patient in the background.

Image: peakSTOCK via Getty Images

Pioneering strategy may keep breast cancer from coming back

A clinical trial led by scientists from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine offers proof-of-concept for a treatment approach to prevent breast cancer recurrence.

2 min. read

Where AI models fall short in mimicking the expressiveness of human speech
Ethan Yang, Jjianjing Kuang, Kevin Li, and Henry Huang.

Through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program, students Ethan Yang, Kevin Li, and Henry Huang worked with linguistics professor Jianjing Kuang to study the ability of AI models to replicate the expressiveness of human speech.

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Where AI models fall short in mimicking the expressiveness of human speech

Undergraduates Kevin Li, Henry Huang, and Ethan Yang worked with linguistics professor Jianjing Kuang to compare speech production and perception by humans and AI—research that can help companies move closer to natural and expressive AI speech.

2 min. read

Charles Kane to receive Lorentz Medal
Charles Kane

Charles Kane, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics at Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences.

(Image: Brooke Sietinsons)

Charles Kane to receive Lorentz Medal

Awarded every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the medal honors Kane’s pioneering research on topological insulators.

3 min. read

Melissa Lee wins APSA’s Mary Parker Follett prize for best scholarly article in politics and history

Melissa Lee wins APSA’s Mary Parker Follett prize for best scholarly article in politics and history

The Klein Family Presidential Associate Professor of Political Science’s article, “From Pluribus to Unum: The Civil War and Imagined Sovereignty in Nineteenth Century America,” will be the recipient of American Political Science Association’s Politics and History Section’s Mary Parker Follett prize, awarded annually for the best scholarly article in politics and history.

The Innovation Advantage: A new executive certificate from Penn Carey Law

The Innovation Advantage: A new executive certificate from Penn Carey Law

A new executive education certificate program from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will equip tech professionals with the legal insight needed to design smarter, safer, and more future-ready products. The in-person program launches in June 2026, and will combine classroom sessions, case studies, site visits, and peer interaction.