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Images that represent approval of social media posts descend through a smart phone, where they’re converted into dollar bills.
Social media companies thrive on the subtle influencing of users’ behavior. “It is of interest to social media companies to nudge users in such a way that their engagement level increases, but as a result, echo chambers are created and the level of polarization increases,” said Debabrata Dey, a professor of business at the University of Kansas.

Other featured news

Artist's rendering of ruined building, surrounded by lighted panels with image of Emmett Till, as visitors pass.

Scholar inspires more plans to memorialize site of Emmett Till tragedy

Over the past decade, Dave Tell has become one of the nation’s leading academic experts on the commemoration of the 1955 lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Now, one of his scholarly articles has inspired a new collaboration titled “Artist’s Project: Memorializing a Site of Sensitivity in Mississippi: Redemption and Reconciliation in the Shadows of Emmett Till.”
Globe

Study finds giving pre-service social studies educators practice in teaching difficult topics boosts confidence

Four pre-service teachers designed and delivered a lesson on "Night," Elie Wiesel's seminal Holocaust survival memoir, in a University of Kansas study. The lesson, performed in a mixed-reality simulator, found the teachers did not have instruction on teaching difficult topics, but their confidence in teaching difficult material improved. The research suggests training in traumatic history instruction and opportunity for practice should be a part of teacher preparation programs.
Images that represent approval of social media posts descend through a smart phone, where they’re converted into dollar bills.

Profit motivation of social media companies may compel them to inject bias and create polarization, study finds

Social media companies thrive on the subtle influencing of users’ behavior. “It is of interest to social media companies to nudge users in such a way that their engagement level increases, but as a result, echo chambers are created and the level of polarization increases,” said Debabrata Dey, a professor of business at the University of Kansas.
View out a plane window showing residential coastline, water.

Airlines can improve travel efficiency and resilience by incorporating passenger-level data, study finds

Mazhar Arikan, associate professor of business at the University of Kansas, explores how airlines that incorporate passenger-level data along with flight-level data could make modest adjustments in passenger itineraries that result in major travel improvements without significantly deteriorating efficiency.

Research



Four pre-service teachers designed and delivered a lesson on "Night," Elie Wiesel's seminal Holocaust survival memoir, in a University of Kansas study. The lesson, performed in a mixed-reality simulator, found the teachers did not have instruction on teaching difficult topics, but their confidence in teaching difficult material improved. The research suggests training in traumatic history instruction and opportunity for practice should be a part of teacher preparation programs.
A study co-led by the Universty of Kansas found that news outlets that took part in Democracy SOS engagement journalism training reduced the amount of false-binary "horse race" coverage of elections that focused solely who was winning, instead producing more substantive content. Researchers argue the training could help generate content for a less polarized, more engaged populace.
Artist's rendering of ruined building, surrounded by lighted panels with image of Emmett Till, as visitors pass.
Over the past decade, Dave Tell has become one of the nation’s leading academic experts on the commemoration of the 1955 lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Now, one of his scholarly articles has inspired a new collaboration titled “Artist’s Project: Memorializing a Site of Sensitivity in Mississippi: Redemption and Reconciliation in the Shadows of Emmett Till.”

Kansas Communities



The Life Span Institute's center will serve as third-party evaluator to support the Kauffman Foundation's Collective Impact Initiative and will provide a wide variety of educational and action support for staff and coalition partners.
All University of Kansas campuses received top rankings among Tier 1 research institutions in the annual “Military Friendly Schools” survey, the longest-running review of college and university investments in serving military-affiliated students.
Instructor working with young child on speech therapy.
GAIN, a nationally recognized professional development program that aims to improve the accuracy, quality and accessibility of autism diagnoses for families, is now based at the University of Kansas and has the potential to expand autism screening in schools, mental health clinics and other settings.

Economic Development



Research and development expenditures spanning all University of Kansas campuses increased to $546.1 million in fiscal year 2024, surpassing the half-billion-dollar mark for the first time in university history. The reverberations of that growth extend far beyond KU to benefit people throughout the Sunflower State and beyond.
With $5 million in support from U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Kansas and Avium, a startup firm founded by researchers from KU’s School of Engineering, aim to make clean hydrogen more affordable.
An assortment of KU faculty and students in university research settings against a backdrop of a geological formation in Kansas.
The University of Kansas ranked 37th among public institutions in the Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents in 2024, a list published by the National Academy of Inventors. The list showcases universities that play a pivotal role in advancing the innovation ecosystem and driving economic growth in the United States. KU ranked 59th among all universities.

Student experience and achievement



Amrit Gautam, a KU graduate student in the physics doctoral program, was among just 62 doctoral students nationwide selected for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellowship. Gautam spent the fellowship conducting his thesis research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The KU RocketStars, a team of Indigenous STEM scholars from the University of Kansas and members of the KU American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) chapter, won two awards at the 16th Annual First Nations Launch (FNL) High-Powered Rocketry Competition, hosted by NASA’s Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.
Flags flying atop Fraser Hall.
Twenty students have been selected to receive the merit-based University of Kansas Madison and Lila Self Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year, awarded to outstanding Jayhawks who will be transitioning into their first year of a master’s or doctoral program at KU.

Campus news



The University of Kansas has selected David Dietz as the next dean of the School of Pharmacy. Dietz is currently a faculty member and associate dean of research strategy at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. He will begin his new role Aug. 1.
A conversation between former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and longtime Wall Street Journal journalist Jerry Seib will open a University of Kansas conference April 30-May 1 that seeks to understand China’s long-term geopolitical objectives and how they affect U.S. national security.
Tulips blooming in front of Joseph R. Pearson Hall, home to the KU School of Education & Human Sciences.
The University of Kansas School of Education & Human Sciences will honor alumnus Jason Booker, deputy athletics director for external affairs at Kansas Athletics, with one of its top awards this spring.

Latest news

A young elementary aged girl with long brown hair is seated at a desk and intently reading a book.

KU researchers conducting statewide assessment to inform literacy improvement among Kansas students

KU researchers are working to address literacy challenges and needs in Kansas schools by visiting teachers and families across the state this spring as part of the Blueprint for Literacy.
Artist's rendering of ruined building, surrounded by lighted panels with image of Emmett Till, as visitors pass.

Scholar inspires more plans to memorialize site of Emmett Till tragedy

Over the past decade, Dave Tell has become one of the nation’s leading academic experts on the commemoration of the 1955 lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Now, one of his scholarly articles has inspired a new collaboration titled “Artist’s Project: Memorializing a Site of Sensitivity in Mississippi: Redemption and Reconciliation in the Shadows of Emmett Till.”
Teachers work at a table.

Expanded mini tests from KU assessment center will offer Kansas teachers more flexibility

Assessment & Technology Solutions (ATS), a center within KU’s Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI), has expanded its Kite Suite mini tests — giving Kansas teachers more tools and students more support in the classroom.
Flags flying atop Fraser Hall.

KU announces new 2025-2026 Self Memorial Scholars

Twenty students have been selected to receive the merit-based University of Kansas Madison and Lila Self Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year, awarded to outstanding Jayhawks who will be transitioning into their first year of a master’s or doctoral program at KU.