Research


Featured research news

Photo of the ALICE experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider
University of Kansas experimental nuclear physicist Daniel Tapia Takaki and his team for the first time report suggestions of gluonic quantum fluctuations at the subnucleon level in heavy nuclei. The findings boost understanding of quantum fields that control interaction of particles at the tiniest scales.

Science and Technology



University of Kansas experimental nuclear physicist Daniel Tapia Takaki and his team for the first time report suggestions of gluonic quantum fluctuations at the subnucleon level in heavy nuclei. The findings boost understanding of quantum fields that control interaction of particles at the tiniest scales.
Elisabeth Mills is a co-investigator on a proposal for a far-infrared mission that over the next year will receive $5 million to flesh out the plans and prototypes for a new class of astrophysics observatories.
Photo of hands holding an Avium electrolyzer stack prototype
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.

Health and Well-Being



The woods can be a place of adventure and beauty, a peaceful escape for a walk. But among the leaves and grass, the threat of ticks can turn a hike into a health-altering encounter with Lyme disease. A recent $3 million Small Business Innovation Research award will fund the research and development of a vaccine to stop Lyme disease in its tracks.
New research from the University of Kansas Life Span Institute highlights a key vulnerability to misinformation generated by artificial intelligence and a potential model to combat it.
Silhouettes of individuals crossing a window overlooking the city in a workspace.
In a new paper, Elizabeth Embry, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Kansas, offers a theory linking health effects of trauma to performance outcomes at work, suggesting how managerial awareness of trauma manifestations is a necessary step toward workplaces becoming supportive or healing.

Teaching, Learning and Behavior



A research team at the University of Kansas has published a new edition of a book that collects the latest research on education for people with disabilities, including perspectives of individuals with lived experience through an inclusive lens.
Researchers have secured two grants to help make PBS Newshour Classroom materials more accessible in teaching students with disabilities and to use AI to help teachers expand an existing writing instruction program, also with a focus on students with disabilities.
An image of United States Marines at the annexation of Hawaii in 1898.
Stephen Jackson conducted a study in which he analyzed influential Texas world history textbooks. They clearly labeled American actions in the 19th century as imperialist, contradicting the long-standing ideal of American exceptionalism. The study unpacks that seeming contradiction.

Arts, Architecture and Humanities



Rana Esfandiary, assistant professor in the University of Kansas Department of Theatre & Dance, researched the jazz age to create a set for "Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill," opening Oct. 8 at KCRep.
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.
Buffalo graze in a pasture with snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Rebekka Schlichting, KU assistant professor of the practice in journalism & mass communications, is producing two documentary films that chronicle Indigenous work to reclaim traditions and boost Natives working in film industry.

Business, Economics and Innovation



In a new paper, Murali Mantrala, the Ned Fleming Professor of Marketing at the University of Kansas, finds that crowdsourced forecasts from ordinary customers are more accurate than those of expert fashion buyers. The research also determines an ideal crowd size and composition for predicting demand for fashion items in retail buying decisions.
Streetcar systems that prioritized taking people to highly desired locations tended to outperform those whose goals were economic development, a new University of Kansas study shows. Understanding this goal tension can help future systems meet public needs.
Silhouettes of individuals crossing a window overlooking the city in a workspace.
In a new paper, Elizabeth Embry, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Kansas, offers a theory linking health effects of trauma to performance outcomes at work, suggesting how managerial awareness of trauma manifestations is a necessary step toward workplaces becoming supportive or healing.

Law, Politics and Society



In a new paper, Margaret Kelley, KU professor of American studies, finds that adults who believe they know a “compromised” gun owner (for example, dangerous, mentally ill or suffering dementia) tend to be much more supportive of “red flag” laws, regardless of political underpinnings.
In a new paper, Jack Zhang, assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas, finds that heightened political risks from the U.S.-China trade war increased firm exits by 34%. His study highlights the collateral damage tariffs can cause in an age of global value chains.
A photo illustration of the blind justice statue near water.
“Water Law: Concepts and Insights, 2nd Edition” provides an overview of case law, understanding of where water law is currently, including an analysis of the emerging trend of access to water in the United States as a human right.