Featured news at KU


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Students gathered in a crowd on the Hill for Traditions Night in August 2024.
KU has its largest freshman class and its highest overall enrollment in history, according to annual data released today. The record-setting freshman class includes 5,323 new Jayhawks – an increase of 1.2% from last year’s class – while overall enrollment has grown 4.8% to 30,770 students.

Other featured news

Images of concentration camp clothing from a Holocaust museum in Budapest, Hungary.

State mandates requiring genocide education lack standards to guide teachers, study finds

A study analyzing state mandates requiring genocide education almost always lacked standards on what topics to teach and how to address the subject. The lack of guidance fails to give students an understanding of the causes of genocide and how to prevent them in the future, KU researchers found.
Stock image of a Japanese spitting cobra

Research shows Asia — not Africa — played cradle to snake superfamily that includes cobras, mambas and many common pet species

Based on the fossil record, it’s been assumed that elapoid snakes, found worldwide, had their origins in Africa. But the new University of Kansas study appearing in Royal Society Open Science — which depends on broad genetic sampling as well as fossils — points instead to Asian origins for these snakes.
An image of an HIV molecule illustrating a study in which research found that the most at-risk populations for new HIV infections often discuss the topic in negative ways or promote risky behaviors on social media. They also tended to get the most attention of posts on the topic.

Study finds most at-risk populations for HIV discussing subject in negative, risky ways got most social media attention

An analysis of young men, the most at risk for new HIV infections in the United States, who discussed the topic in negative ways or promoted risky behaviors tended to get the most attention on X. Deeper understanding of why the population discusses the subject that way and how algorithms further their messages can help design better public health campaigns, researchers argue.
KGS researchers take soil infiltration measurements.

KGS to explore on-farm integration of solar energy, water management

Kansas Geological Survey scientists have been awarded nearly $900,000 in grants to spearhead the development of an innovative technology system that will leverage underused corners of farm fields to generate energy and collect water.

Research



Based on the fossil record, it’s been assumed that elapoid snakes, found worldwide, had their origins in Africa. But the new University of Kansas study appearing in Royal Society Open Science — which depends on broad genetic sampling as well as fossils — points instead to Asian origins for these snakes.
A paper by Brad Cokelet, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas, was included in the esteemed Philosopher’s Annual, which gathers the top 10 articles during the year in the field of philosophy. Cokelet’s paper titled “Competitive Virtue Ethics and Narrow Morality” introduces a new form of patient-centered virtue ethics.
Edward Bowen standing in front of a large building in Rome, once used as the Cinema Palazzo.
From fascist "cine clubs" to modern multiplexes, new book co-written and edited by KU assistant professor of Italian tells history of film exhibition in that country.

Kansas Communities



The Kansas Statistical Abstract 2023 is now available online. This data compendium is published annually by the Institute for Policy & Social Research at KU. It includes information on a wide range of topics about Kansas, with information in downloadable tables, maps and graphs.
A $500,000 Forging Opportunities for Research, Growth & Entrepreneurship grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce will help KU create software, infrastructure and financial mechanisms needed to bridge the gap between academia and industry, growing the state’s economy while enhancing the university’s teaching and research missions.
Fraser Hall in fall
A new research center in the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare will elevate health-related research, training and collaboration. The Center for the Advancement of Health Equity is committed to improving health, behavioral health and long-term care systems, as well as promoting health equity and access.

Economic Development



For the second year in a row, the University of Kansas has landed a spot on the National Academy of Inventors' top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents list. The 2023 list showcases universities that play a pivotal role in advancing the innovation ecosystem within and beyond the United States.
Research expenditures spanning all KU campuses increased to $368.6 million in 2023, capping nearly a decade of steady expansion. Last year alone, externally funded research at KU supported the salaries of 4,372 people, and the university spent $78.9 million in 97 Kansas counties on research-related goods and services, according to a report from the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science.
Douglas A. Girod, chancellor of the University of Kansas (left), and Akira Nagasaki, Deputy Head of Mobility Business Division, Panasonic Energy (right)
Panasonic Energy and the University of Kansas today announced that they have signed an agreement aimed at promoting the development of next-generation technologies and the cultivation of specialist expertise in the field of lithium-ion batteries.

Student experience and achievement



KU Debate began the season with a dominating performance at the Owen L. Coon Memorial Debate Tournament, which took place Sept. 14-17 at Northwestern University. The KU team of John Marshall and Graham Revare defeated Emory University in the championship debate to win the tournament from a field of more than 100 of the top teams in the country.
University of Kansas history doctoral candidate Alicia Houser has received the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award to spend a year conducting research in Tanzania.
Aerial perspective of Lawrence campus in fall.
KU's Undergraduate Research Award recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects. Nineteen Jayhawks received an award for fall 2024.

Campus news



The Kansas Board of Regents awarded three current KU scholars and one former KU professor as Faculty of the Year for 2024. This program recognizes the outstanding contributions of faculty at state universities to teaching, student success, research and Kansas communities.
The University of Kansas will host its 112th Homecoming, sponsored by Central Bank, Oct. 14-20. KU Alumni Association has organized a series of service events to extend the Homecoming spirit of Jayhawk unity and goodwill beyond Lawrence.
A symphony performing onstage with a large choir behind them
The University of Kansas School of Music is inviting everyone to celebrate a major milestone this year as the beloved annual Vespers Concert turns 100. Concerts will take place Dec. 8 at the Lied Center of Kansas.

Latest news

A film still from El Palomar’s “Schreber is a Woman” shows an individual whose fingers extend beyond the frame.

Provocative art exhibit showcases fraught relationship between sex and science

Jeanne Vaccaro, an assistant professor of museum studies and women, gender & sexuality studies, has guest curated an exhibit titled “Scientia Sexualis.” It gathers an ambitious group of contemporary artists whose work confronts, dissolves and reimagines sex and gender within the scientific apparatus.
Students gathered in a crowd on the Hill for Traditions Night in August 2024.

KU sets all-time marks for freshman class size, overall enrollment

KU has its largest freshman class and its highest overall enrollment in history, according to annual data released today. The record-setting freshman class includes 5,323 new Jayhawks – an increase of 1.2% from last year’s class – while overall enrollment has grown 4.8% to 30,770 students.
Two young women from the Kansas Debate team engage with two young mean wearing University of Michigan T-shirts at a tournament.

Debate empowers human over artificial intelligence, authors argue

As opposed to artificial intelligence, the human interaction of debate stimulates critical thinking skills, not to mention empathy, according to a new paper from a communication studies researcher.
teacher gives student sitting at a desk with other students a high five and smiles

Education researcher enhances software to make assessments a tool for teachers

The measr project is bridging the gap between complex statistical models used in student assessment and their applications in the classroom. Refining measr and offering training options will equip researchers across skill levels to effectively support teachers and improve student learning outcomes.