Science Matters: Eberly College Impact

Scientists across the Eberly College are studying the origins of life and the universe from a number of angles—spanning the life, mathematical, and physical sciences—utilizing cutting-edge instrumentation and supercomputing resources and leveraging the strength of Penn State’s interdisciplinary research culture. 

From the origin of cells to the evolution of lifeforms ranging from microbes to mammals, the college’s biochemists and biologists, chemists, data scientists, and others are working together to unlock the secrets of life itself, using powerful Penn State–developed and –codeveloped tools such as the Galaxy bioinformatics software platform and BLAST (basic local alignment search tool) and with the support of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences’ high-performance computing infrastructure. 

Supported by the same supercomputing resources as well as cutting-edge Penn State–developed instruments, Eberly’s astronomers and astrophysicists, cosmologists, and data scientists together are studying exoplanetary systems, dark matter and dark energy, gravitational waves, and multimessenger phenomena, while also peering back in time toward the very first moments of the universe and searching for signs of life and intelligence elsewhere in our solar system and beyond.

Black holes everywhere! Ten years of LIGO and gravitational waves
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes Penn State scientists, Virgo and KAGRA celebrate anniversary; announce verification of Stephen Hawking's black hole area theorem.

Mysterious ‘red dots’ in early universe may be ‘black hole star’ atmospheres
The objects that astronomers at Penn State dubbed ‘universe breakers’ could be an exotic black hole atmosphere, representing a missing link in the rapid growth of supermassive black holes.

Scientists across the Eberly College are creating the medicine of the future from across a range of disciplines—from the life sciences to the mathematical sciences—using world-class research facilities and supercomputing resources and leaning into Penn State’s well-established interdisciplinary culture to find insights and innovative solutions.

From genomics and neuroscience to the microbiome, the college’s biochemists and biologists, bioinformaticians and other computational scientists, chemists, geneticists, statisticians, and others are working together to decipher the human genome and uncover the causes of inherited diseases, identify potential targets for therapeutic drugs, and even develop new candidates for those drugs—using powerful Penn State–developed and –codeveloped tools such as the Galaxy bioinformatics software platform and BLAST (basic local alignment search tool), supported by the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences’ high-performance computing infrastructure, and bolstered by partnerships with the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and collaborations in the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ One Health Microbiome Center.

Genes associated with obesity shared across ancestries, researchers find
Researchers identify thirteen obesity genes shared worldwide, including five new ones

Background genetic variants influence clinical features in complex disorders
New study reveals how the complex interplay of genetic background can lead to different clinical presentations in individuals that share a primary genetic variant

Faculty from across the Eberly College of Science’s Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biology, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics are studying the brain from numerous angles—underpinned by the interdisciplinarity of the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and its Neuroscience Institute and Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, as well as collaborations with the University’s Colleges of Medicine and Health and Human Development—to understand the nervous system’s evolution and specialization, the mechanics of aging and memory, and the causes of neurodegenerative diseases.  

Can digital replicas of patients help personalize Alzheimer’s treatment?
New NSF grant supports project to build “digital twin” replicas of patients using clinical data to study disease progression and treatment options

When dreams turn dark: Neuroscientists to study nightmares and mental health
Penn State neuroscientists receive a $1.2 million grant to study the mechanism behind nightmares

Faculty from across the Eberly College of Science are working on sustainable energy- and materials-related research spanning diverse areas from plant biology to materials science and chemistry, developing potential solutions in biofuels, next-generation photovoltaics, and rare earth minerals. Notable collaborations are happening in the multi-institutional Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation and a number of other centers and research groups across the college and University. 

(Super) Positioned for Quantum Tech
How Eberly College of Science researchers are mastering the very small for very big applications

Stem cell-like approach in plants sheds light on specialized cell wall formation
New method reprograms isolated plant cells to form other cell types

Scientists in the Eberly College are working on issues related to extreme weather and food security from across a range of research disciplines—from biology and chemistry to mathematics—focusing on mitigating environmental and social impacts as well as improving crop resilience and disease monitoring and mitigation, including using artificial intelligence (AI) software algorithms.

Messenger signals that cue plants to ‘eat’ and ‘breathe’ revealed for first time
New study reveals how plants coordinate their inner metabolism with the environment

How a genetic tug-of-war decides the fate of a honey bee
Researchers uncover how a molecular tug-of-war between maternal and paternal genes determines whether a honey bee becomes a queen or a worker

Scientists across the Eberly College are studying infectious diseases, pandemics and other outbreaks, and drug resistance from a number of angles—spanning the life, mathematical, and physical sciences—utilizing cutting-edge instrumentation and laboratory facilities and leveraging the strength of Penn State’s interdisciplinary research culture.

Particularly through collaborations in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ Centers for Infectious Disease Dynamics and Mathematical Biology and partnerships with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and Gates Foundation, and supported by world-class facilities including the biosafety level 3 Eva J. Pell Laboratory for Advanced Biological Studies and the Huck Institutes’ Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, the college’s biologists and biochemists, molecular biologists and mathematicians, physicists and statisticians and working together to find the mechanisms underlying drug-resistant infections and improve disease detection and surveillance, predictive modeling, and control.

What traits matter when predicting disease emergence in new populations?
Traits of early virus spread help determine if a virus will ultimately persist in a new population, according to new research

Predicting vaccination levels without accurate or timely vaccination data
Researchers at Penn State and the World Health Organization develop method to predict measles vaccination levels using routinely collected clinical data on suspected measles cases

Scientists in the Eberly College are studying nanoscale and quantum materials from a variety of perspectives—spanning the physical and mathematical sciences—utilizing cutting-edge instrumentation and laboratory facilities and leaning into the strength of Penn State’s longstanding interdisciplinary research culture. Bolstered by collaborations across the college and University and supported by the Penn State Materials Research Institute’s Nanofabrication Laboratory and National Science Foundation–supported Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium, the college’s physicists, mathematicians, and chemists are working together to develop new materials and technologies, as well as theories that explain the innermost workings of matter at nanometer and quantum scales.

Can nanobots play follow the leader?
Researchers at Penn State demonstrate the first steps in the design of tiny particles that can perform specialized tasks, such as targeted delivery of drugs or other cargo

Gold clusters show promise as scalable options for quantum computers, sensors
New study shows how gold nanoclusters mimic key properties of the most accurate systems currently used in quantum applications and can even be tuned to improve accuracy

Faculty in the Eberly College of Science’s Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, in collaboration with researchers across the University and supported by the supercomputing capabilities of the Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, are working on issues related to data protections and privacy, big data, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as statistical tools that improve both scientific research and society—from predictive modeling to politics to personal computing.

Can digital replicas of patients help personalize Alzheimer’s treatment?
New NSF grant supports project to build “digital twin” replicas of patients using clinical data to study disease progression and treatment options

New method calculates rate of gene expression to understand cell fate
Researchers unveil the spVelo method to map cell gene-expression changes more precisely