Featured news at KU


Our top featured stories

Christopher Koliba smiling at presentation with slide featuring "We the People" text from the Constitution.
Populism, violence and democratic backsliding are all reasons to establish accountability standards for government administrators and public administration scholars, a KU professor writes in new work for the journal Public Administration Review.

Other featured news

A photo of a school's empty hallway.

Educational research should pinpoint anti-Black aggressions to build better policy, scholar argues

A KU scholar has published an article that argues educational research should instead study antiblack aggressions as scholars originally intended and use the approach to build more equitable policy at the individual and institutional levels.
Photo of islands in the Vona Vona Lagoon of the New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands.

Researchers parse oddity of distantly related bats in Solomon Islands that appear identical

A study of body size in leaf-nosed bats of the Solomon Islands that involved evolutionary biologists from the University of Kansas — who collected specimens, conducted genetic analysis and co-wrote research in the journal Evolution — reveals surprising genetic diversity among nearly indistinguishable species on different islands.
Students working on math problems at a chalkboard.

Intervention based on science of reading, math boosts comprehension, word problem-solving

New research from the University of Kansas has found an intervention based on the science of reading and math effectively helped English language learners boost their comprehension, visualize and synthesize information, and make connections that significantly improved their math performance.
Illustration of COVID virus

Study reports new compound halting replication of COVID by targeting ‘Mac-1’ protein in cell models

Research from the University of Kansas shows for the first time SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, can be inhibited from replicating in living cell cultures using a compound that targets “Mac-1,” a protein key to defending SARS-CoV-2 against the human immune response.

Research



The “deep, existential malaise” stemming from fear of impending ecological catastrophe has permeated science fiction around the globe, a KU professor writes in a new journal article.
Links – both real and imagined – between race and disease are far older than the COVID-19 pandemic. A University of Kansas researcher says her new study of a 19th-century Cuban aqueduct project during a cholera outbreak demonstrates this.
A photo of a school's empty hallway.
A KU scholar has published an article that argues educational research should instead study antiblack aggressions as scholars originally intended and use the approach to build more equitable policy at the individual and institutional levels.

Kansas Communities



The University of Kansas School of Law is set to receive $1.6 million in federal funding for the establishment of a free legal aid clinic dedicated to serving veterans. With an estimated 194,000 veterans in Kansas, the clinic would be the first of its kind in the state.
The Kansas Geological Survey-produced map shows the type and age of rock layers found at or near the surface in the north-central Kansas county. The map identifies deposits of rocks and other materials of economic importance for building roads and construction projects.
Silhouette of cadet in front of American flag
The University of Kansas ranks fifth nationally among Tier 1 research institutions in the annual “Military Friendly Schools” survey. The ranking reflects KU’s long-standing commitment to serving veterans and other military-affiliated students.

Economic Development



An upcoming cybersecurity conference will bring together experts in the field from industry, workforce and research to KU. FBI Director Christopher Wray will be the first keynote speaker at 8:35 a.m.
KU's Institute for Sustainable Engineering has a new name —Wonderful Institute for Sustainable Engineering-KU (WISE-KU). The naming builds on the university’s deep relationship with The Wonderful Company, a global agricultural company co-founded and led by Stewart and Lynda Resnick.
Pair of scientists working in lab; supervised smiling children working with cookie cutters; individuals sitting in creek bed taking samples on partly cloudy day; medical professionals talking to seated patient with blood pressure cuff on her arm.
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.

Student experience and achievement



Twenty-two students have been selected to receive the KU Madison and Lila Self Memorial Scholarship for the 2024-2025 academic year. The merit-based scholarship is awarded to outstanding seniors from KU who will be transitioning into their first year of a graduate degree program at the university in fall 2024.
The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research has awarded $7,500 in funding this spring for student research to be conducted this year. Seven students will receive assistance through the research center’s 2024 Student Research Awards.
Rock Chalk wall at Jayhawk Welcome Center
The University Awards, among the most prestigious awards presented at KU, were established to recognize students who embody service excellence, dedication or whose academic achievements are stellar.

Campus news



Three outstanding high school teachers from Lyndon and Shawnee, Kansas, and from Webster Grove, Missouri, will be recognized with the Wolfe Teaching Excellence Award this spring. KU seniors submit the nominations.
The Lawrence campus aesthetic plays a key role in recruiting, and the KU landscaping team works to create a beautiful and welcoming environment for students, employees and visitors.
Light fog around Potter Lake in spring
This summer, Potter Lake is getting a makeover for its 113th birthday. A major project will begin in May to dredge the lake, rebuild portions of the original edge wall, and improve the spillway and sediment basin. Part of the work will be to collect turtles, frogs and reptiles and relocate them to a pond in KU’s West District.

Latest news

Colin Roust with research materials from his study of George Auric

KU expert to speak in French-British film series

Colin Roust, associate professor of musicology, is heading to London to introduce the screening of a film scored by the 20th century French composer about whom Roust wrote the first, definitive biography, “Georges Auric: A Life in Music and Politics.”
Light fog around Potter Lake in spring

University plans summer makeover for Potter Lake

This summer, Potter Lake is getting a makeover for its 113th birthday. A major project will begin in May to dredge the lake, rebuild portions of the original edge wall, and improve the spillway and sediment basin. Part of the work will be to collect turtles, frogs and reptiles and relocate them to a pond in KU’s West District.
Jayhawk statue in front of Strong Hall

Students Parnian Arafi and senior Kaitlyn Sy receive Courtwright Awards

Two KU students who earned spring 2024 Undergraduate Research Awards have also been honored with Courtwright Awards for Undergraduate Research Excellence through KU’s Center for Undergraduate Research. Parnian Arafi is a junior in biochemistry. Kaitlyn Sy is a senior in biotechnology.
Pink buds and leafy trees on Jayhawk Boulevard with Fraser Hall, Watson Library, KU bus in view.

2024 KU seniors honor high school teachers with Wolfe Teaching Excellence Awards

Three outstanding high school teachers from Lyndon and Shawnee, Kansas, and from Webster Grove, Missouri, will be recognized with the Wolfe Teaching Excellence Award this spring. KU seniors submit the nominations.