$1.45M NSF grant to fund new research into how grasses thrive in dry climates
A new $1.45 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow Penn State researchers, including undergraduate students, to explore how pores on plant surfaces work and might be engineered to enhance photosynthesis and efficient water use.
Renaissance Fund honors Barbara and Edgar Farmer, raises funds for scholarships
Penn State’s 47th annual Renaissance Fund celebration on Nov. 1 honored local community leaders and education pioneers Barbara and Edgar Farmer. The event hosted more than 300 attendees and helped to raise $193,364 for endowed scholarships to benefit students with financial need.
World Campus celebrates science and technology programs
Penn State World Campus is highlighting its science and technology programs during its 25th anniversary.
Penn Staters invited to compete to find bias in generative AI tools
Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence will host “Bias-a-thon,” a competition to expose biases in current-day AI tools. The virtual event will take place from Monday, Nov. 13, to Thursday, Nov. 16, and is open to anyone with an active Penn State email address.
Most websites do not publish privacy policies, researchers say
Penn State researchers crawled millions of websites and found that only one-third of online organizations made their privacy policy available for review. They received the Best Student Paper award at the 23rd Association for Computing Machinery Symposium on Document Engineering, also known as DocEngr'23, for their work.
Trustees committee discusses AI and its implications for higher education
Artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities far outweigh the challenges for use at universities, according to Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz. He led a panel discussion on AI and its implications for higher education at the Board of Trustees’ Committee on Academic Affairs, Research and Student Life meeting on Oct.
Penn State partners with Gov. Shapiro to shape AI governance and strategy
Penn State has partnered with Gov. Josh Shapiro to provide expert guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) strategies and governance. This partnership aims to leverage Penn State's AI expertise and resources to help shape responsible AI standards for state agencies, aligning with the growing importance of AI technology in governance.
IST researchers earn best paper award at natural language generation conference
A paper authored by students and faculty from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology received the Best Long Paper award at the 16th International Natural Language Generation Conference.
Media Mention: ‘Can You Hide a Child’s Face From A.I.?’
Where: The New York Times, “Can You Hide a Child’s Face From A.I.?”
Human body movements may enable automated emotion recognition, researchers say
Penn State researchers combined computing, psychology and performing arts to develop an annotated human movement dataset that may improve the ability of artificial intelligence to recognize the emotions expressed through body language. Their work was featured on the cover of the journal Patterns.
Tenured, promoted faculty honored through books at Oct. 2 recognition program
Recently tenured and promoted Penn State faculty across the University were honored Oct. 2 through Penn State’s Promotion and Tenure Recognition Program, now in its 21st year, during a private event held in the Paterno Family Humanities Reading Room on the second floor of Pattee Library at the University Park campus.
Media Mention: “Chat GPT for Software Security — How it Assists Attackers & Security Analysis”
Where: Cyber Security News, “ChatGPT for Software Security: How It Assists Attackers & Security Analysts”
Media Mention: “Going Phishing on Campus”
Where: Inside Higher Ed, “Going Phishing on Campus”
Who: Shomir Wilson, assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST)
Stuckeman symposium to highlight issues surrounding displacement in architecture
The Stuckeman School will host a research symposium Nov. 13-14 to examine the relationship between refugee displacement, climate and architecture.
Center for Socially Responsible AI invites seed funding proposals
The Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence invites short proposals for its annual seed funding program. Penn State faculty are can submit proposals for research that advance the center's mission of promoting, practicing and studying socially responsible ways of using, building and deploying AI technology.
IST researcher among recipients of $29 million fusion energy sciences grant
Romit Maulik, assistant professor in the Penn State College of IST, is one of 19 recipients funded with this U.S. Department of Energy grant and will explore machine learning for improved nuclear fusion disruption mitigation.
Human abstractness may make smart contracts smarter, researchers report
Smart contracts, or computer programs that automatically execute certain agreed-upon actions when agreed-upon conditions are met, are considered safer for online transactions than traditional contracts, but they are not error-proof.
New filtering approach may improve online health information experience
A Penn State research team has proposed a new information-filtering approach for predicting future health information needs of online community participants as they move through different stages in their illness. They published their approach in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.
College of Information Sciences and Technology welcomes nine new faculty members
The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology has welcomed nine new faculty members in 2023.
New course examines opportunities, challenges, concerns around generative AI
“Emerging Technologies in Popular Culture,” a new course offered by the Penn State College of Information Systems and Technology, invites undergraduates to explore the questions, opportunities and challenges related to generative artificial intelligence.
Media Mention: ‘AI Will Heighten Cybersecurity Risks for RIA’s’
Where: WealthManagement.com, “AI Will Heighten Cybersecurity Risks for RIAs”
Penn State security center announces 2023 grant recipients
The Penn State Center for Security Research and Education has awarded $152,500 in funding to six Penn State faculty through its 2023 grant program.
More engagement in tech design can improve children’s online privacy, security
Researchers led by the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology reviewed a body of research to better understand the problems and solutions of designing technology with children’s privacy and security in mind. They are presenting their findings at the Association for Computing Machinery Interaction Design and Children Conference
Penn State announces tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2023
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Penn State News. Faculty members from the College of Information Sciences and Technology were mentioned.
Penn State announces non-tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2023
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Penn State News.
Center for Socially Responsible AI awards Big Ideas Grants to five projects
The Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence awarded more than $212,000 to advance five interdisciplinary research projects as part of its Big Ideas Grant program. Awarded projects feature researchers from six departments across four colleges and institutes.
College of IST names first associate dean for undergraduate studies
The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology has appointed Sharon Huang as its first associate dean for undergraduate studies, effective July 1.
IST graduate pursues creative business idea with help from Penn State Scranton
While still a student at Penn State Scranton, Parkston Myers, a May 2023 information sciences and technology graduate, turned a creative idea that stemmed from his passion for video games, which developed at a young age, into a $10,000 business plan.
What’s next on 'HumIn Focus'? Upcoming episode addresses questions about A.I.
A series of questions about the wide-ranging potential of artificial intelligence, as well as its limitations and myriad impacts, represents the focus of the seventh episode of "HumIn Focus," which will make its streaming debut on June 16, and its WPSU-TV premiere on June 24.
What’s next on 'HumIn Focus'? Upcoming episode addresses questions about AI
A series of questions about the wide-ranging potential of artificial intelligence, as well as its limitations and myriad impacts, represents the focus of the seventh episode of "HumIn Focus," which will make its streaming debut on June 16, and its WPSU-TV premiere on June 24.
Penn State hosts Nigerian delegation to discuss partnership
A delegation led by the former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and His Royal Majesty Saka Adelola Matemilola, the Paramount Ruler of Owu Kingdom in Nigeria, visited Penn State on May 23-24 to explore opportunities for long term and impactful partnership between Penn State and a consortium of higher education institutions in Nigeria
Perception of human emotion in movement focus of $2 million NSF grant
A Penn State-led research team received a $2 million National Science Foundation to study how machines perceive and process human body language. The research could stimulate advancements in health care applications, including the design of caregiving robots.
IST announces 2023 Dean’s Circle of Teaching Excellence members
Ten faculty members in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology were selected to join the Dean’s Circle of Teaching Excellence for 2023.
IST doctoral student receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Jeff Brozena, a second-year doctoral student in the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State, was selected as a 2023 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program awardee. With a focus on human-computer interaction for mental health, Brozena plans to use his fellowship to broaden the scope and reach of his
Positive triggering method reduces nationality bias in large text generators
Large language models that use internet files to learn how to respond to user prompts about different countries worldwide repeat biased ideas – both positive and negative – found online. Using positive trigger words, like “hopeful” and “hardworking,” when entering prompts can retrain the models and result in less biased responses
Transparent labeling of training data may boost trust in artificial intelligence
Showing users that visual data fed into artificial intelligence (AI) systems was labeled correctly might make people trust AI more, according to researchers. The findings may also pave the way to help scientists better measure the connection between labeling credibility, AI performance and trust.
IST assistant professor Shomir Wilson receives NSF CAREER Award
Shomir Wilson, assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, is the recipient of a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation in recognition of his work, “Large-Scale Exploration and Interpretation of Consumer-Oriented Legal Documents.”
What is ChatGPT and what can it be used for?
Penn State artificial intelligence experts offer perspectives on some of the most frequently asked questions.
Email scammers tailor methods to target universities
Email-based scams sent to members of a university community are more personalized and compelling and present unique risks, such as providing unauthorized access to university systems, compared to those sent to the general population, according to new research from Penn State.
AI lab for low-resource communities earns 2023 Engagement and Scholarship Award
The RAISE Lab in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, which focuses on leveraging artificial intelligence to imagine a brighter future for low-resource communities around the globe, has received the 2023 Penn State Award for Community Engagement and Scholarship.
IST assistant professor Fenglong Ma receives NSF CAREER Award
Fenglong Ma, assistant professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, is the recipient of a 2022 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation in recognition of his work, “Automated Multimodal Learning for Healthcare.”
Artificial intelligence models aim to forecast eviction, promote renter rights
Two artificial intelligence-driven models designed by researchers from the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology could help promote the rights of low-income renters in the United States when facing forced eviction.
Center now offering social responsibility consultations for AI researchers
Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is now offering social responsibility consultations to University researchers engaged in AI-related research.
WPSU examines ‘sharenting’ and how it may open a digital door to unwanted guests
In the next episode of "Conversations Live," WPSU will take a look at “sharenting” and the possible vulnerabilities and consequences of parents oversharing their children’s lives online.
College of IST awards seed grants to 8 projects
The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology recently announced eight projects that will receive funding from the college’s seed grant program.
Center issues seed grant call for 'Big Ideas' in socially responsible AI
Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence is inviting short proposals for a special off-cycle round of "Big Idea Grant" seed funding earmarked for early concepts and research that has transformational potential.
IT students at Penn State Wilkes-Barre get experience in cybersecurity lab
Cybersecurity is a growing field full of career possibilities, and students at Penn State Wilkes-Barre are able to study the field firsthand thanks to an on-campus lab. The lab allows faculty at Penn State Wilkes-Barre to apply the principles they are teaching in lecture courses to real-world examples and scenarios.
Beyond memorization: Text generators may plagiarize beyond 'copy and paste'
Language models, possibly including ChatGPT, paraphrase and reuse ideas from training data without citing the source, raising plagiarism concerns, according to a Penn State-led research team that conducted the first study to directly examine the phenomenon.