News
Book outlines how to move beyond reliance on student surveys to evaluate, improve college teaching
“Transforming College Teaching Evaluation,” a new book from scholars at the University of Kansas and colleague institutions, outlines a project that developed new ways to more fully evaluate the value of college teaching. The book details how three institutions developed a new, more robust method of evaluation that recognizes how to fully evaluate teaching and how schools can overcome resistance to implement the methods at their campuses.
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Fri, 12/19/2025
Experiment nixes ‘sterile’ neutrino explanation of previous unexpected measurements
Experimental particle physicists working at the MicroBooNE experiment at Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory have found evidence against the existence of a “sterile” type of neutrino hypothesized to be responsible for previous experiments’ anomalous results, as detailed in a paper recently published in Nature.
Fri, 12/19/2025
Kansas Geological Survey assistant scientist receives early career award
Kansas Geological Survey assistant scientist Sam Zipper is the recipient of this year's Hydrologic Sciences Early Career Award from the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to hydrology through research, education or societal impacts.
Thu, 12/18/2025
Grant launches initiative to integrate faith perspectives into health education
The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas received a $60,000, two-year grant from the nonprofit group Interfaith America to create partnerships with community groups addressing the spiritual connection to health issues.
Wed, 12/17/2025
Grant to expand community-based research project focused on people with mobility disabilities
With new federal funding, a University of Kansas project is expanding access to exercise for people with disabilities. Life Span Institute researcher Lyndsie Koon says the community-based functional fitness program has shown strong results.
Wed, 12/17/2025
Kansas Geological Survey, state agency to measure groundwater levels in western Kansas
A crew from the Kansas Geological Survey, based at the University of Kansas, along with staff from three field offices of the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources will be in western Kansas to measure groundwater levels the first week of January 2026, weather permitting.
Wed, 12/17/2025
Book outlines how to move beyond reliance on student surveys to evaluate, improve college teaching
“Transforming College Teaching Evaluation,” a new book from scholars at the University of Kansas and colleague institutions, outlines a project that developed new ways to more fully evaluate the value of college teaching. The book details how three institutions developed a new, more robust method of evaluation that recognizes how to fully evaluate teaching and how schools can overcome resistance to implement the methods at their campuses.
Wed, 12/17/2025
KU scholar’s work comes alive as empire-building video game character
A few years ago, Amal El Haimeur could hardly find any information about the 16th century “pirate queen” of Morocco. After the University of Kansas professor published her research, Sayyida al-Hurra became a character in a leading video game.
Tue, 12/16/2025
Superman’s bygone battle with hate group provides strategy for thwarting modern conspiracy theories
In a new book chapter, Colin McRoberts, associate teaching professor of business at the University of Kansas, traces the story of Superman’s battle with the Ku Klux Klan in a 1946 radio serial and suggests it may provide strategies for thwarting the damage done by conspiracy theories.
Tue, 12/16/2025
University of Kansas Wind Ensemble releases new album ‘Midnight Sun’
The University of Kansas School of Music has announced the release of the KU Wind Ensemble’s newest album, “Midnight Sun,” recorded in spring 2024 at the Lied Center of Kansas and available across all major streaming platforms.
Mon, 12/15/2025
KU Kudos December 2025: Celebrating Jayhawk achievements
It’s time to celebrate Jayhawk colleagues’ achievements: KU News Service accepted submissions and combed websites, social media and newsletters for recent external honors and awards for current faculty and staff at the Lawrence, Edwards and Medical Center campuses and affiliates.
Mon, 12/15/2025
A clerical error caused misidentification of frog specimen that once stood for an entire species
Researchers at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum recently uncovered a slipup from decades ago: the misidentification of a poison frog specimen from Peru used as a holotype.
Fri, 12/12/2025
350th Basic Training Class graduates from Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center
Twenty graduating recruits completed 14 weeks of rigorous training with the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center and will now return to their agencies across the state to begin serving their communities.
Thu, 12/11/2025
KU scientist known for discoveries in precision medicine named to National Academy of Inventors
Steven Soper was among the 185 academic inventors named to the 2025 Class of NAI Fellows on Dec. 11. Election as an academy fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to academic inventors.
Thu, 12/11/2025
KU Engineering students extend record in AIAA awards
These wins mark the KU School of Engineering’s 105th and 106th AIAA Design Awards over the past 49 years, more than any other institution in the history of the AIAA.
Thu, 12/11/2025
New ‘History of Music in Czech Lands’ takes innovative approach
A University of Kansas professor of music co-wrote and co-edited a new book that takes a contemporary approach to the multilayered and tangled ethnolinguistic history of the Czech Republic.
Wed, 12/10/2025
Transforming law enforcement training: KLETC author outlines commitment to Kansas communities
The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, a division of the University of Kansas, is continuing to evolve its curriculum to meet the needs of modern policing through innovative, competency-based instruction.
Wed, 12/10/2025
New book examines how educational reforms have attempted to fix past problems instead of inventing the future
In "Fix the Past or Invent the Future," education expert Yong Zhao explores how countless attempts and millions of dollars of investment have attempted to fix problems of the past in education instead of finding a new way forward for American schools, and more importantly, each individual.
Wed, 12/10/2025
Resistance to Spanish tribute in colonial Panama reflective of early Black community mobilization
In a new article, Robert Schwaller, a professor of history at the University of Kansas, details the tireless efforts and legal proceedings of the free Black community in 16th century Panama to challenge the tribute imposed by King Philip II of Spain.
Tue, 12/09/2025
Lack of competition leads to more efficient and effective auditing, study finds
In a new working paper, Will Ciconte, assistant professor of finance at the University of Kansas, investigates the relation between audit competition, quality and labor hours, finding that auditors who appear to be operating in less competitive markets are more efficient and more effective.
Tue, 12/09/2025
Modern mixmasters have nothing on Poverty Row movie music mavens
For the first time, a University of Kansas musicologist has traced the sources and remixing of 16,000 musical fragments used to score all 66 serials produced by Republic Pictures.
Mon, 12/08/2025
Study measures behavioral markers of alliance in support groups, viability of machine learning in mental health
A study from the University of Kansas and University of Southern California measured which nonverbal behaviors indicate that people are forming connections in a support group, particularly in virtual groups. The researchers also examined the feasibility of using machine learning in support groups.
Fri, 12/05/2025
International Collections Travel Grants now available through KU Libraries
A new travel grant program will support the use of KU Libraries International Collections and in-person consultation with librarians, with researchers from across the United States and around the globe encouraged to apply online through March 1, 2026.
Thu, 12/04/2025
New elevation maps from Kansas Geological Survey illustrate state’s varied topography
Two new maps from the Kansas Geological Survey tell the story of how geology and other natural features interact to form the unique and varied landscapes found across Kansas and offer a visual illustration that the state is not as flat as people believe.
Wed, 12/03/2025
Four faculty members awarded Research-Intensive Course Grants for Fall 2025
In an effort to supply research opportunities to more students, four University of Kansas faculty members will be working alongside the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships this fall and into the spring. While working with the center, they can redesign portions of their courses to include a larger research or creative component.
Tue, 12/02/2025
KU part of collaborative grant to prepare new generation of special education leaders
The University of Kansas is part of the Collaborative Approaches to Impactful Special Education Leadership program, designed to enroll scholars with teaching experience who want to progress to leadership roles in research, teaching and serving students with disabilities.
Mon, 12/01/2025
KU debaters are top-ranked team in the country
The University of Kansas debate team of Rose Larson, Milwaukee, and Luna Schultz, Houston, ended the fall semester as the top-ranked team in the country, according to the 2025-26 College Policy Debate Rankings.
Mon, 12/01/2025
Bales Choral Society will host public concert
The Bales Choral Society at the University of Kansas will present its fall semester concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at St. Lawrence Catholic Center. John Rutter’s “Gloria” highlights the program, which also features Rutter’s “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol” and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto 3rd movement.
Mon, 12/01/2025
NIH grant supports KU study of DNA-protein cross-links
Identifying toxic DNA-protein cross-links (DPCs) and the cellular pathways to repair them are the goals of research underway by University of Kansas researcher Luke Erber, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry, and his lab team. The research is being funded by a $1.8 million grant recently announced by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a unit of the National Institutes of Health.
Mon, 12/01/2025
School of Pharmacy researcher publishes work on social isolation, drug abuse
School of Pharmacy researcher and associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology Zijun Wang was recently published in Nature Communications. Her research delves into social isolation and how it impacts mental health and substance abuse disorders and potentially discovering drug therapies to intervene.
Tue, 11/25/2025
Military aircraft to fly over Lawrence prior to Nov. 28 football game
Military aircraft will fly over Lawrence prior to the Friday, Nov. 28, football game between the University of Kansas and the University of Utah. This is Senior Day for the Jayhawks at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.