Altoona

For Chancellor and Dean Ron Darbeau, education has the power to transform lives and strengthen communities. Drawing on his own educational journey, Darbeau reflects on Penn State Altoona's role in creating opportunity and supporting the future of Altoona, Blair County and the surrounding region. His message is simple: A campus is not an island, and the strongest institutions are deeply connected to the communities they serve.&nbsp;

WATCH: Penn State Altoona, a commitment to central Pennsylvania | Penn State University

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For Chancellor and Dean Ron Darbeau, education has the power to transform lives and strengthen communities. Drawing on his own educational journey, Darbeau reflects on Penn State Altoona's role in creating opportunity and supporting the future of Altoona, Blair County and the surrounding region. His message is simple: A campus is not an island, and the strongest institutions are deeply connected to the communities they serve. 

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Administration

WATCH: Penn State Altoona, a commitment to central Pennsylvania 

An op-ed co-signed by President Neeli Bendapudi urges the Pennsylvania General Assembly to approve a proposed $30 million allocation for a new performance-based funding model for Penn State, Pitt and Temple. The model ties additional state funding to metrics that prioritize strong student outcomes, access and affordability, workforce development, and meaningful community impact.

Pa. higher ed leaders: Performance-based funding an investment in state’s future | Penn State University

An op-ed co-signed by President Neeli Bendapudi urges the Pennsylvania General Assembly to approve a proposed $30 million allocation for a new performance-based funding model for Penn State, Pitt and Temple. The model ties additional state funding to metrics that prioritize strong student outcomes, access and affordability, workforce development, and meaningful community impact.

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Pa. higher ed leaders: Performance-based funding an investment in state’s future

From discovering planets beyond our solar system and analyzing samples returned from asteroids to understanding the large-scale structure and evolution of the cosmos, Penn State researchers are helping to address fundamental questions about the universe while also leading some of today’s key advancements in space-related innovation and instrumentation. For the second year in a row, Penn State ranks No. 20 in the world (No. 13 nationally) for space science research, according to the U.S. News 2026-27 “Best Global Universities."

Penn State ranks No. 20 in space science in US News 2026-27 'Global Universities' | Penn State University

From discovering planets beyond our solar system and analyzing samples returned from asteroids to understanding the large-scale structure and evolution of the cosmos, Penn State researchers are helping to address fundamental questions about the universe while also leading some of today’s key advancements in space-related innovation and instrumentation. For the second year in a row, Penn State ranks No. 20 in the world (No. 13 nationally) for space science research, according to the U.S. News 2026-27 “Best Global Universities."

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Research

Penn State ranks No. 20 in space science in US News 2026-27 'Global Universities' 

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Adopting, advancing and adapting to AI

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Anonymous $1.5 million gift to enhance finance education at Penn State Smeal

Penn State ranks 23rd in US, 92nd globally in 2027 QS World University Rankings

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Around Campus

More research news

A new study shows that PET plastic, such as discarded bottles, can be converted into highly ordered synthetic graphite — a material that could be used in batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and renewable energy storage systems.

Plastic bottles could find new life in batteries as graphite | Penn State University

A new study shows that PET plastic, such as discarded bottles, can be converted into highly ordered synthetic graphite — a material that could be used in batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and renewable energy storage systems.

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Plastic bottles could find new life in batteries as graphite

A research team of engineers at Penn State has developed a new design approach for&nbsp;optimizing internal fibers&nbsp;that could help cut the cost of ultra-high-performance concrete by up to 75%, while maintaining the material's exceptional strength and durability.

New design approach may help slash the price of ultra-durable concrete | Penn State University

A research team of engineers at Penn State has developed a new design approach for optimizing internal fibers that could help cut the cost of ultra-high-performance concrete by up to 75%, while maintaining the material's exceptional strength and durability.

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New design approach may help slash the price of ultra-durable concrete

Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves.

Newly discovered corn trait may help improve crop drought tolerance | Penn State University

Some corn plants are genetically predisposed to develop longer, less constricted water-conducting tissues and deeper roots, which helps them deal with drought. That’s the conclusion of a team led by Penn State researchers that conducted a study of the plant’s xylem tissue that moves water upward from the roots out to the leaves.

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Newly discovered corn trait may help improve crop drought tolerance 

Featured Research

A new study, led by a team from Penn State College of Medicine, found that when teenagers go to sleep and when they wake up may be the driving force behind what teenagers eat and how much they move. Teens who went to sleep later and woke up later were more likely to consume more calories, snack more and be less physically active — especially when in school compared to on break from school.

Study: Teens' sleep patterns affect their diet, exercise

A thick layer of haze around the ultra-low-density planet Kepler-51d likely obscures not only the strange planet’s composition, but also its origin, according to a new study. A team led by Penn State researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a deeper look at the “super-puff” planet that defies planetary formation models.

'Cotton candy’ planet hides its secrets beneath a massive layer of haze

Lightning formation and the conditions triggering it have long been shrouded in a cloud of mystery, but new research led by Penn State scientists is lifting the fog. Using mathematical calculations, the researchers discovered that lightning-like discharge doesn’t require a storm cloud — it could be made inside everyday material on a lab bench.

Researchers make mini-lightning in a block of plastic

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi shared her thoughts in a new blog in Forbes highlighting the importance of valuing people in the age of AI — and how universities like Penn State are preparing students for the workplaces of the future.

Why People Are The Smartest AI Investment—And What It Means For Universities

Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, may be better suited by a new name: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the fictional ragtag team of unenthusiastic heroes, the microscopic animals are providing real insight into how humans could adapt extraterrestrial resources to support space exploration, as well as whether such resources could help protect against the Earthly contaminants that humans might shed. This is according to an international study co-led by Penn State Altoona Professor of Microbiology Corien Bakermans.

‘Water bears’ reveal potential for adapting, protecting Martian resources

Thunderstorms often illuminate the night sky with flashes of lightning. They also seem to make treetops glow and sparkle — although the phenomenon is pretty much invisible to the naked eye. In a study led by Penn State published Feb. 12 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists provide the first direct observations of the weak electrical discharges around trees in nature.

Scientists capture first-ever ultraviolet 'sparkles' from treetops

Penn State researchers have developed a new high-temperature polymer capacitor that can store four times more energy than conventional designs while operating at temperatures up to 482 degrees Fahrenheit. The advance could improve power systems in electric vehicles, data centers, aerospace systems and other high-heat environments where today’s capacitors quickly fail.

New plastic material could solve energy storage challenge, researchers report

A new study offers a look at how the building blocks of life might have originated in the cosmos. Penn State scientists suggest that the amino acids found on the asteroid Bennu did not require warm, liquid water to form, as previously assumed. The team analyzed tiny samples, consisting of roughly 4.6-billion-year-old rocks, delivered by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to Earth in 2023.

Radioactive space can host building blocks of life, asteroid samples reveal

Researchers at Penn State say they’ve developed a new hydrogel material inspired by octopus skin that can encode images directly into its structure. The imprinted images then disappear and reappear when the skin is exposed to subtle changes in temperature or a surrounding solvent. The result is a “4D” synthetic smart skin capable of revealing hidden images and shifting surface patterns.

Study: Octopus-inspired material could lead to better camouflage tech

How a new father behaves toward his baby can change family dynamics in a way that affects the child’s heart and metabolic health years later, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.

Early dad's involvement linked to lasting child health, study finds

About half of older men suffer from sleep problems, back pain or both, according to Soomi Lee, associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State. Lee recently led a study to investigate whether one precedes the other and found that back problems can predict sleep problems years later in men over 65 years old.

Study: Back pain might predict future sleep problems among men

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi was featured in a CEO Magazine interview highlighting her belief in the transformative power of higher education and her efforts to expand access, advance ethical innovation, and strengthen the university’s educational, research, and economic impact.

President of PSU is redefining the power of education to transform lives

A new study led by researchers at Penn State found melanoma case rates tracking higher in counties with higher areas of cultivated land, where the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides can be higher.

Penn State study finds higher incidence of skin cancers in Pa.’s Farm Belt

In a significant advancement for materials science, scientists have successfully created niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties for the first time. An international team, including Penn State researchers, achieved the long-sought feat using an unexpected ingredient—common table salt. According to researchers, the discovery could pave the way for faster electronics, efficient superconducting wires, and future quantum technologies.

Study: Common salt helps create nanomaterial for high-speed electronics

Researchers at Penn State have proposed a novel design for a lithium-ion (Li) battery. It could address the long-standing performance and stability issues of standard Li batteries in extreme temperatures. The design, dubbed the All-Climate Battery (ACB), was developed to fix a core flaw in standard Li batteries.

‘All-Climate Battery’ developed at Penn State could keep EVs running in extreme heat, cold

The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an international team including researchers from Penn State. They dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it is almost four times as massive as the Earth and likely to be rocky planet.