Research

Featured research news

The Smiley Draw sandstone with the field crew on site collecting fossils.

Fossils from Wyoming’s Smiley Draw deepen understanding of early primate evolution

A photo of a foggy window with "#MeToo" written on the window.

Research finds rhetoric around #MeToo often focused on punishment, not causes of violence

Laura Moriarty

New novel ‘Sunlight Finds You’ explores how a first love can affect one’s entire life

In a new novel, Laura Moriarty, a professor of English at the University of Kansas, crafts a coming-of-age tale set in 1950s Florida. It has been selected as a featured book for “The Today Show.” Moriarty will give talks at several events across Kansas this month.

Science and Technology

Fossils from Wyoming’s Smiley Draw deepen understanding of early primate evolution

A new study from the University of Kansas complicates the picture of primates living in North America some 55 million years ago during the Eocene. The research was published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

KU Engineering researcher receives NSF CAREER award for work on reliable healthcare AI

Zijun Yao, assistant professor of electrical engineering & computer science at the University of Kansas, earned a National Science Foundation CAREER award for a project that tackles a major hurdle in healthcare technology: teaching AI to understand a patient’s full medical history without losing sight of human clinical judgment.
More Science and Technology
Compact Muon Solenoid at Large Hadron Collider

With new Department of Energy award, KU-Fermilab team builds next-generation detectors for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider

A University of Kansas project to design and build two cutting-edge particle detectors for the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has been approved for funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or DOE EPSCoR.
More Science and Technology

Health and Well-Being

W.M. Keck Foundation awards $1.2 million to KU team pursuing new theory of Alzheimer’s disease

Michael Wolfe, interim department chair and Mathias P. Mertes Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, will lead a project exploring stalled enzymes in Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers develop velocity-based training guidelines for football, tailored for specific positions

Researchers at KU’s Jayhawk Athletic Performance Lab have published guidelines for using velocity-based training in college football. The approach measures the speed of a barbell during weightlifting and can be used to develop different types of strength and power. The guidelines help develop training regimens for specific athletes and by position group, based on the unique needs of each.
More Health and Well-Being
Two young women holding their hands together to form a heart in the foreground as their faces are out of focus in the background.

Research shows people aren’t lonelier — they’re changing how they spend their time

University of Kansas researcher Jeffrey Hall and American Friendship Project colleagues have conducted studies on how and why people spend time with their friends. As National Friendship Day approaches, the researchers can discuss why people are spending less time in person with friends.
More Health and Well-Being

Teaching, Learning and Behavior

Study finds effective method to help teachers address gap between finding a good practice and getting started

Researchers at the University of Kansas have documented an approach that helps educators address the “know-do gap.” The gap is when teachers and schools know a practice will benefit the students but it is difficult to get started for any number of reasons. The practice helps anticipate obstacles, plan for them and deliver new practices for students.

Study reveals what people really see when they read lips

New research from the University of Kansas uses network science to determine why people make mistakes when lip reading. The research could improve lip-reading training as well as help the advancement of automatic transcription. The results appear in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
More Teaching, Learning and Behavior
Jennifer Bessolo stands behind a table and presents to the Kansas State Board of Education with individuals standing, seated in the background of the conference space..

KU one of two universities selected to present to Kansas State Board of Education on preparing school leaders

KU’s Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies presented to the Kansas State Board of Education on July 14 in Topeka, one of two Regents universities selected to speak on how the state trains school and district leaders.
More Teaching, Learning and Behavior

Arts, Architecture and Humanities

‘Unsettled Lawrence’ exhibit will reveal history of city’s unhoused, encamped population

In a new exhibition, a University of Kansas researcher focuses on how unhoused and encamped individuals in Lawrence’s past and present have formed a diverse community. “Unsettled Lawrence” opens Aug. 7 at the Watkins Museum of History.

KU to host THATCamp 2026, a day of hands-on digital humanities collaboration

The Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Kansas will host THATCamp 2026 on Aug. 28. The free event, open to all KU faculty, staff, students and community members, encourages exploration at the intersection of technology and humanities.
More Arts, Architecture and Humanities
Laura Moriarty

New novel ‘Sunlight Finds You’ explores how a first love can affect one’s entire life

In a new novel, Laura Moriarty, a professor of English at the University of Kansas, crafts a coming-of-age tale set in 1950s Florida. It has been selected as a featured book for “The Today Show.” Moriarty will give talks at several events across Kansas this month.
More Arts, Architecture and Humanities

Business, Economics and Innovation

Entrepreneurs need partners unless solo founder has broad and deep experience, study finds

In a new scholarly article published in the Strategic Management Journal, a University of Kansas business scholar explored whether entrepreneurs need co-founders, finding disadvantages partially diminished when a solo founder has broad and/or deep experience.

Research shows AI advertising can deliver relevant content without spying on users' internet behaviors

Four experiments conducted by a University of Kansas researcher have shown that AI-derived ads can deliver effective, relevant advertising for users without tracking their internet behavior. The findings counter prevailing attitudes that online surveillance is necessary for effective advertising at a time when the future of online privacy is at stake, according to the study author.
More Business, Economics and Innovation
A businessperson touches a green seedling on a stack of growing coins.

Startups’ co-innovation outcomes depend on venture capitalist type, study finds

Independent venture capitalists tend to trigger more frequent, less impactful but more novel co-inventing outcomes by their portfolio startups, new research finds. KU business researcher Kaushik Gala also found that corporate venture capitalists tend to trigger less frequent, more impactful but less novel inventive outcomes.
More Business, Economics and Innovation

Law, Politics and Society

Research finds rhetoric around #MeToo often focused on punishment, not causes of violence

Meggie Mapes, a communication studies researcher at the University of Kansas, has found in a new study that rhetoric around the #MeToo movement often focused on punishment and "carceral feminism" instead of causes of gender-based violence. The work shows how punishment is a common part of communication in society, the author argues.

Official newspaper of China has reduced foreign news coverage during President Xi Jinping’s administration, study finds

In a new article, Jack Zhang, associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas, finds that the People’s Daily newspaper has reduced foreign news coverage during President Xi Jinping’s administration, suggesting such coverage is influenced more by domestic politics than by China’s growing international interests.
More Law, Politics and Society
A portait of famed playwright William Shakspeare

KU law professor examines the rule of law through the Bard’s ‘Measure for Measure’

Raj Bhala, University Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas, has published a new scholarly analysis examining how the rule of law is defined in Shakespeare's “Measure for Measure.” Developed during a sabbatical at three universities in England, the paper is part of a series exhibiting how Shakespeare can illuminate several legal matters, according to Bhala.
More Law, Politics and Society