Hard Barriers and Soft Power: Study Assesses Outsider Perceptions of Border Walls

A new study from researchers Diana Mutz and Beth Simmons, published in PNAS, explores how border walls damage a country’s international image, with real soft power implications.

Communication
Political Science

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Duncan Watts elected 2021 AAAS Fellow

Duncan Watts is one of ten scholars representing five schools across the University of Pennsylvania that has been named to the 2021 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows.

Communication
Computer and Information Science
Operations Information and Decisions

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Want to reduce political polarization? Start by looking beyond politics

New research from Duncan Watts sheds light on how even hardliners can be swayed when coming in contact with opposing viewpoints. His recent study explores how the mechanisms behind intra-group receptivity can be applied to anonymous, informal political communication.

Communication
Computer and Information Science
Operations Information and Decisions

Consensus and Contagion in Society

Zack Ives named a 2021 ACM Fellow

Congratulations to Zack Ives, who has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery for contributions to data integration, sharing, and management for scientific applications. The ACM Fellows program recognizes the top 1% of ACM Members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology.

Computer and Information Science

Ubiquity of Data

Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence

Using a first-of-its-kind video-based study, Penn and Yale developmental psychologists, including Warren Center affiliate Dani Bassett, found that how parents talk to their 3-year-old during toothbrushing matters to the child’s behavior.

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

How Consumers and Retailers Can Reduce Returns

Americans return about 30% of their online purchases, costing retailers billions of dollars and creating mountains of environmental waste. Gad Allon spoke with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM about how consumers and retailers can reduce costly returns.

Operations Information and Decisions

Ubiquity of Data

Anita Allen to receive the Philip L. Quinn Prize

The American Philosophical Association (APA) has selected Anita L. Allen, Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy, as the 2021 winner of the APA’s Philip L. Quinn Prize, the greatest tribute the APA has to offer in recognition of service to philosophy and philosophers, broadly construed.

Law
Philosophy

Ubiquity of Data

Refining data into knowledge, turning knowledge into action

More data is being produced across diverse fields than ever before, and our ability to collect, store, and manipulate it grows by the day. With scientists reaping the raw materials of the digital age, there is an increasing focus on developing better strategies and techniques for refining this data into knowledge.

Bioengineering
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Ubiquity of Data

Investing in Penn’s data science ecosystem

Led by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Penn's IDEAS initiative builds upon the steadily gathering momentum of its data-centric research. The Warren Center for Network & Data Sciences has been a major catalyst for this type of work, generating foundational research on ethical algorithms and data privacy.

Computer and Information Science
Electrical and Systems Engineering
Physics and Astronomy

Ubiquity of Data

University professorship for Konrad Kording

Konrad Kording, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Bioengineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will become the Nathan Francis Mossell University Professor.

Bioengineering
Neuroscience

Evolution, Emergence and the Brain

News

Hard Barriers and Soft Power: Study Assesses Outsider Perceptions of Border Walls

Duncan Watts elected 2021 AAAS Fellow

Want to reduce political polarization? Start by looking beyond politics

Zack Ives named a 2021 ACM Fellow

Parental praise associated with longer toddler toothbrushing, a barometer of persistence

How Consumers and Retailers Can Reduce Returns

Anita Allen to receive the Philip L. Quinn Prize

Refining data into knowledge, turning knowledge into action

Investing in Penn’s data science ecosystem

University professorship for Konrad Kording