News

Jul 31, 2026

Chemical engineering professor honored for work on plant-based tissue scaffolds

Amir Sheikhi, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biomaterials and Regenerative Engineering and associate professor of chemical engineering at Penn State, recently received the 2025 Early Career Investigator Award from the journal BioResources. The award recognized a paper published by Sheikhi and his research team in 2026, titled “All-Cellulose Cryogels with Tunable Extracellular Matrix-MimeticArchitecture.”

Full Article

Jul 13, 2026

Team led by Penn State researcher receives national biopharmaceutical award

A research team led by Andrew Zydney, Bayard D. Kunkle Chair and professor of chemical engineering at Penn State, has received the inaugural Most Impactful Project Award from the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL).

Full Article

Jun 29, 2026

GAP funding awarded to 12 Penn State research commercialization projects

Twelve research projects have been selected for the 2026 Penn State Commercialization GAP Fund. Awarded projects receive $75,000 in funding and other support to develop promising proof-of-concept research into commercial ready technology. As the name suggests, GAP funding is targeted towards research projects that — despite exciting potential — are sometimes stuck in the funding gap between government grants and commercial investment. Attracting commercial attention often requires extensive development and testing to show that a product is safe, effective at scale and properly positioned within the marketplace.

Full Article

Jun 02, 2026

Q&A: Are plants the key to solving energy and food crises worldwide?

Changing market conditions are increasing the need for cost-effective ways to produce biorenewable chemicals, biofuels and materials that can serve as alternatives to oil-based products. According to Costas Maranas, Robert V. & Gloria H. Waltemeyer Chair and Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering at Penn State, solutions to these problems could come from applying tools used in synthetic biology to plants and their microbial partners across the globe.

Full Article

May 26, 2026

Q&A: What can plant evolution teach people about breeding better crops?

May 22 is United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity, drawing attention to a critical resource for developing crops that are resilient or resistant to extreme weather and other threats to their health, according to Jesse Lasky, associate professor of biology at Penn State.

Full Article

Apr 08, 2026

Kaye honored with Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award

Jason Kaye, distinguished professor of soil biogeochemistry in the College of Agricultural Sciences and chair of the Ecology Intercollege Graduate Degree Program, is the 2026 recipient of the Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award.

Full Article

Apr 08, 2026

WATCH: Cell ‘snowball’ may be answer to large-scale tissue engineering

Cell cultures — single layers of cells grown in a small dish — have enabled researchers to study biological growth, develop or test drugs and even discover what causes some diseases. Cell spheroids, 3D versions of cell cultures built using a process known as cell aggregation, are the next step in advancing this work, capable of more closely modeling real tissue.

Full Article

Mar 27, 2026

Low-cost sensor system could warn farmers of salt stress in plants

Soil salinity is a critical concern in agriculture when excessive soluble salts restrict a plant’s water uptake, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hindering crop growth and reducing yields on roughly 30% of U.S. irrigated land. Caused by irrigation, poor drainage or saltwater intrusion, soil salinity impacts soil structure, reduces fertility and causes economic losses. To help growers identify and mitigate salt stress, in a proof-of-concept study, a team led by Penn State researchers built a low-cost sensor system that detects signals released by plants in trouble.

Full Article

Feb 17, 2026

Penn State names 14 new distinguished professors for 2026

Penn State's Office of Faculty Affairs has named 14 new distinguished professors for 2026. The distinguished professor or distinguished librarian title recognizes outstanding academic contribution to the University. This special academic title is bestowed upon a limited number of professors who are leaders in their fields of research or creative activity and who have demonstrated significant accomplishments with respect to teaching, research or creative activity, and service.

Full Article

Oct 24, 2025

Oct. 24 kicks off 'Plants for the People and the Planet' innovation series

This free seminar series, open to the community at-large, will showcase cutting-edge research and diverse perspectives on how plants can shape a healthier, more sustainable future.

Full Article