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From the frontlines of climate change
Mangroves growing on a small island separated from the mainland due to abrasion in West Java.

Image: Aditya Irawan/NurPhoto via AP Images

From the frontlines of climate change

People living on small islands and territories face mounting climate impacts, but little is known about their stance on the issue. Research from a team including Parrish Bergquist, assistant professor of political science, aims to fill those gaps.

From Omnia

2 min. read

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

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

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.
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.

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.

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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

AI uncovers new antibiotics in ancient microbes
Cesar de la Fuente in his lab.

César de la Fuente (pictured) and his team used AI to study the proteins of hundreds of ancient microbes, searching for new antibiotic candidates.

(Image: Jianing Bai)

AI uncovers new antibiotics in ancient microbes

César de la Fuente uses AI to hunt for new antibiotic candidates in unlikely places, from the DNA of extinct organisms to the proteins of ancient microbes.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Who, What, Why: Third-year gets a taste of the film biz
Bea Hammam

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Who, What, Why: Third-year gets a taste of the film biz

This summer Bea Hammam, a third-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, completed two internships with companies in the film industry, both founded by Penn alums.

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.

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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