Research

Featured research news

Detail from 1800s map of Havana’s outskirts showing the distribution of drinkable water to public fountains and private residences provided by the Ferdinand VII aqueduct.

Study shows long-standing links among disease, race, class, infrastructure

Chinese flag with vaccine needles sitting on top of it.

US-China vaccines collaboration leads to partisan distrust, study finds

Portrait of Miguel Albújar-Escuredo in the Department of Spanish/Portuguese office suite.

Contemplating eco-catastrophe through Spanish science fiction lens

The “deep, existential malaise” stemming from fear of impending ecological catastrophe has permeated science fiction around the globe, a KU professor writes in a new journal article.

Science and Technology

Study: AI writing, illustration emits hundreds of times less carbon than humans

A KU legal scholar contributed to a study that found AI emitted hundreds of times less carbon than humans in the tasks of writing and illustrating. That does not mean they should replace humans, but their environmental impact and how the two can work together should be considered, researchers said.

Groundwater measurement results mixed in western, south-central Kansas

The KGS, based at the University of Kansas, and the Division of Water Resources of the Kansas Department of Agriculture measure water levels in about 1,400 wells every year to monitor the health of the High Plains aquifer and other aquifers in western and south-central Kansas.
Individual carrying cooler through shallow pond of water in wetlands surrounded by leafy green trees.

KU Engineering professor wins NSF CAREER Award for research into wetlands’ water-quality benefits

Amy Hansen has won a five-year, $577,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for her work to understand the role of vegetation in nitrogen exchange and removal in riparian wetlands.

Health and Well-Being

KU research center to host global audience for premier developmental disabilities research conference

The KU Life Span Institute will welcome hundreds of scientists, students and practitioners for a conference focused on research in the field of intellectual and developmental disability from April 17 to 19 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Study shows narrative conversion messages boost attitudes about COVID vaccinations among unvaccinated adults

Messages in which a hesitant person detailed their decision about getting vaccinated also reduced resistance to inoculation, KU research shows. The findings could guide future public health communications.
Facebook screen image

Political anger seems to override inhibitions online, study finds

The desire to express political anger seems so strong that it overrides the instinct, found in older research, to control one’s anger in public, according to a new paper co-written by a University of Kansas professor of communication studies.

Teaching, Learning and Behavior

Jayhawks recognized for research at 2024 Capitol Graduate Research Summit

Annie Chuning, Kara Hageman, Natalie Lind and Luke Parker were each honored for their exceptional research and presentations at an event that assembles the top graduate student researchers in the state of Kansas. Their work delved into topics including the effects of food insecurity on rural Kansans' health and solutions to orthopedic joint infections.

Journalism professor explores how helping students embrace data offers new approach to writing instruction

A KU professor who teaches data storytelling is author of a chapter in the new book “Better Practices: Exploring the Teaching of Writing in Online and Hybrid Spaces” on how reflection and embracing the idea that data is all around us can be a new approach to teaching writing.
Fraser Hall

KU professor of anthropology receives prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship to work on 2nd book

Jennifer Raff, KU associate professor of anthropology, was recently awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on the history of human populations through sequencing the genomes of contemporary peoples and their ancestors.

Arts, Architecture and Humanities

Contemplating eco-catastrophe through Spanish science fiction lens

The “deep, existential malaise” stemming from fear of impending ecological catastrophe has permeated science fiction around the globe, a KU professor writes in a new journal article.

Study shows long-standing links among disease, race, class, infrastructure

Links – both real and imagined – between race and disease are far older than the COVID-19 pandemic. A University of Kansas researcher says her new study of a 19th-century Cuban aqueduct project during a cholera outbreak demonstrates this.
World map with the following countries highlighted: Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Nepal, Paraguay, Mexico, South Africa, Peru, Benin, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Morocco, Poland, Ecuador, Zimbabwe and Ghana.

KUIA awards 31 grants for research and collaboration abroad

KU International Affairs has awarded more than $58,000 in travel grants to 23 KU faculty members and eight graduate students to support research and collaboration abroad.

Business, Economics and Innovation

KU School of Business accounting faculty again earn top spot in BYU rankings

For the fifth year in a row, accounting faculty at the University of Kansas School of Business earned a No. 1 global ranking for their audit archival research contributions over the past six and 12 years, according to Brigham Young University’s 2023 rankings.

Geopolitical tensions provide multinational corporations with diplomatic leverage, but ‘frenemy’ strategy can backfire

A KU School of Business professor’s new research, titled “My Best Frenemy: A History-to-theory Approach to MNCs’ Corporate Diplomatic Activities,” appears in the Journal of International Business Studies.
A human hand touching a robotic one with AI word cloud in background.

People underestimate AI capabilities due to ‘exponential growth bias,’ study finds

In a new paper, Nathan Meikle, a KU assistant professor of business, examines the human biases that impede assessment of AI’s potential threats to humanity. His experiments find that people are prone to underestimate AI capabilities due to exponential growth bias and that they reject the aversive implications of rapid technological progress even in cases in which they themselves predict the growth rate.

Law, Politics and Society

SEC could patch enforcement mechanism, regardless of Supreme Court ruling, analysis shows

In a new study, Alexander Platt analyzes the Supreme Court case of SEC v. Jarkesy and argues regardless of the high court's decision, the agency will not have its enforcement powers stripped and could patch its approach.

KU centers to host conference: When Global East Meets Global South

Members of the KU community and the public are invited to an interdisciplinary East-Asian and Latin America conference March 29 that will bring together scholars from a variety of fields to explore the historical and contemporary links between the regions.
A photo illustration of a thermometer hitting high temperatures against the backdrop of a city.

Marginalized communities develop 'disaster subculture' when living through extreme climate events, study finds

An ethnographic study of one of the most marginalized communities in Seoul, South Korea, found residents have developed a mindset that every day is a disaster when dealing with extreme heat and climate events.