Student innovation competitions, exhibitions and training programs are a crucial part of the university environment because they provide students with valuable experience that isn’t always achieved in the classroom. Researchers from Penn State Berks and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University recently received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for a project focused on advancing equity among underrepresented students in STEM-related innovation competitions and programs.
With approximately 12% of the population in Berks and Schuylkill Counties living in poverty, food banks are a critical resource for those who face hunger issues. Penn State Berks faculty are collaborating with faculty at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local food banks. The team has recently received a seed grant from the Penn State Institute for Computational Data Sciences as part of the Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research to explore this issue.
The 2024 awardees of Penn State’s Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research initiative comprise five collaborative projects that connect Penn State researchers with colleagues from Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the University of Texas Health Brownsville Campus, all minority-serving institutions
Two Penn State Berks students, Vinh Lu and J'Kaia Reynolds, had an opportunity to explore careers in health care through internships with the Berks County Medical Society as Pat Sharma President’s Scholars. Lu and Reynolds participated in the six-week summer internship, June 3 to July 12, at Reading Hospital and its outpatient facilities.
When Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president, two questions were at the forefront of social media memes: Who would she select for her running mate, and had Maya Rudolph cleared her schedule to reprise her Harris impression for Saturday Night Live? Politics permeates pop culture, and vice versa, especially during presidential elections. Penn State News spoke with three faculty experts to learn more about how people can best parse politics in pop culture, as well as how to take care in a saturated media landscape.
Penn State announced the recipients of the inaugural Commonwealth Campus Undergraduate Community-Engaged Research Awards, a new program designed for faculty who specifically support undergraduate student participation in research that aims to improve community well-being.
Two Penn State Berks students received the 2024 Erickson Discovery Grant. Rising fourth-year student Kimberly Nicholas and rising third-year student Nathan Tam are two of the 43 recipients of the grant University-wide.
Penn State has announced the recipients of the inaugural Presidential Public Impact Research Awards, a new program designed to support faculty and students who are working on research projects that directly benefit communities.
The supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way is spinning so quickly it is warping the spacetime surrounding it into a shape that can look like a football, according to a new study led by Penn State Berks Professor of Physics Ruth Daly. That football shape suggests the black hole is spinning at a substantial speed, which researchers estimated to be about 60% of its potential limit.
Praveen Veerabhadrappa, associate professor of kinesiology at Penn State Berks, was part of a panel of 43 scientists from 18 countries convened by the International Society of Hypertension College of Experts to review current research on new directions in hypertension prevention and develop recommendations that individuals can apply to their own lives.
