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The Penn State faculty-led program in San José, Costa Rica, engaged students in cross-cultural psychology through classroom learning, community engagement and homestay experiences over three weeks.

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Penn State Liberal Arts students traveled to Spain and Italy in May to gain hands-on experience with different cultures.

Over the course of eight years, Penn State students enrolled in the “Bicycling Culture and Urban Design” study abroad course have spent two weeks during the summer navigating Copenhagen. This year students also explored the biking culture in Berlin.

Project ECHO at Penn State has partnered with the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance. Together, they have launched a new 14-session telementoring program: “Comprehensive Care at the Primary Care Level: Prevention and Management of Cardiometabolic and Renal Diseases.”

A semester in France helped Jenna Guarrera combine her studies in French and advertising while building professional connections that led to a summer internship.

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 19 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.

Ketan Dighe, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering at Penn State, was recently awarded a two-year predoctoral fellowship in translational medicine by the PhRMA Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports innovative biopharmaceutical research. The award will support Dighe’s research on developing an affordable rapid companion diagnostic test for gonorrhea, which would help patients get matched to the therapies that are most likely to benefit them.

On July 1, Penn State’s Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering, and Design with Africa will host a joint symposium with the African-led Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) to strengthen and expand the Penn State-PASET partnership and collaboration.

Penn State is tied at No. 23 in the U.S. out of 184 nationally ranked institutions in the 2027 QS World University Rankings. Penn State also tied at No. 7 among U.S. public institutions, and at No. 5 among Big Ten universities, and is once again the top-ranked public university in Pennsylvania. Internationally, Penn State is tied at No. 92, placing the University in the top 6% worldwide among the 1,504 institutions ranked overall by QS.

Penn State Global and the Chinese Language Club jointly held “Chinese Language Night” in April at Penn State Abington. Organizers invited Joe Sam, president of the Zhengdao Chinese Language Association (ZDCLA), along with Chinese calligraphy artists and instructors, to lead a cultural program featuring traditional philosophy, live calligraphy demonstrations and interactive workshops designed to deepen intercultural understanding on campus.

Sarah M. Assmann, Waller Professor of Biology at Penn State, is working to better understand how plants respond to environmental signals — and is applying that understanding to develop crops more resilient to environmental stress. In this Q&A, Assmann discussed how plants cope with environmental stress, as well as how more resilient crops could not only increase agricultural food security but also help cool the warming climate.

Additional details are now available for the transition to a new platform for Penn State’s Global Safety Network by the start of the fall 2026 semester. The GSN is a required step in the international travel process for all Penn State students, faculty, staff or authorized volunteers (except for those traveling on Education Abroad programs).

Penn State Extension webinars on animal health and dairy production now are available in Ukrainian, opening a new channel for agricultural education in a country where war has made travel and in-person training increasingly difficult.

Penn State materials science and engineering student Matias Moreno earned two of the nation's most competitive undergraduate scholarships — the Astronaut Scholarship and the Udall Scholarship — recognizing both his excellence in STEM research and his commitment to sustainability.

Six Penn Staters have received awards in the 2026-27 Fulbright U.S. Student Program — five finalists and an alternate.

Payton Smith will travel to Senegal to immerse herself in the French language and culture of the region with the support of a Boren Fellowship.

In this Q&A, Nita Bharti, associate professor of biology at Penn State, and postdoctoral scholar Kelsee Baranowski discuss what Ebola is, how it affects people and why this outbreak matters to people around the world.

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 20 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.

Sabine Klahr, vice provost for Global at Penn State, has announced her transition to a phased retirement from the University, beginning July 1. During her phased retirement, Klahr will serve as special adviser in the Office of the Provost, supporting the advancement of key international initiatives and supporting the transition of leadership in Penn State Global.

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences welcomed a delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, to University Park last week to mark the first anniversary of the World Food Forum Youth Food Lab North America at Penn State partnership and to explore opportunities to deepen collaboration on global agrifood systems, innovation and education.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming global health and infectious disease science, bringing new opportunities but could also exacerbate existing disparities, according to Matt Ferrari, professor of biology. In this Q&A, Ferrari spoke about the promises and pitfalls of AI and large language models in infectious disease modeling, and how intentional collaboration could reshape the future of infectious disease science.

Due to ongoing construction projects in Boucke Building on the University Park campus, Penn State Global staff normally assigned to the Boucke Building will be relocating for the summer. This will impact students, faculty and staff who are planning in-person interactions with the office throughout the summer. The relocation will last from May 11 through Aug. 14.

Penn State Altoona held its annual Student Awards Ceremony on Monday, April 27, in the Wolf Kuhn Theatre of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. The event concluded with the presentation of the Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker Award to senior psychology student Layna Henry.

Every child can recall their first trip to a museum and the sense of wonder and excitement that comes from laying eyes on the real-life remnants of a dinosaur or the preserved artifacts of our ancestors. For a group of students taking a course on the impacts of colonization on science museums, that spark was ignited by all the work that went into the completion of those museum exhibits.

Penn State University and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea continue to strengthen their long‑standing strategic partnership through an impactful staff exchange program that emphasizes professional development, global engagement, the sharing of best practices in international education and championing institutional partnerships.

Vinciya Pandian, associate dean of graduate education and professor in Penn State’s Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, has been named a 2026 International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame inductee by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Penn State students traveled to Italy over spring break for the SC 475N: Anatomy in Italy and IT 175: Italian Language and Culture embedded program, where they explored anatomy through a blend of science, history and culture.

Penn State Global is announcing that the Global Safety Network, or GSN, will transition to a new platform by the fall 2026 semester. The upgrade is intended to streamline the travel documentation process for Penn State-affiliated travelers while also improving the efficiency of internal review and processing.

Alexandra Persiko, director for global partnerships in Penn State Global, was recently awarded the DAAD Alumni Association Mid-Career Professional Award. The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) recognizes exceptional contributions to advancing international exchange between Germany and the United States.

Jody Pritt, associate vice provost for Penn State Global, recently completed a Fulbright International Education Administrator experience in Taiwan. While there, she engaged with higher education leaders, visited academic institutions and explored opportunities for international collaboration.

A multi-university collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is producing a new documentary film to bring attention to the life and legacy of Polish pediatrician, author, playwright, radio broadcaster and educator Janusz Korczak, whose ideas in the late 1800s-early 1900s about children’s rights were considered revolutionary for their time.

Through an embedded program in Greece, students brought classroom learning to life, gaining hands-on experience with ancient sites while expanding their academic and personal perspectives.

The May arrival of 13 Penn State students to the Italian hilltop community of Todi will mark the 40th summer of a partnership between Penn State and the town. To mark the anniversary, Penn State faculty members Jason Laine, associate teaching professor of Italian, and Giuseppe Bruno-Chomin, assistant professor of Italian, have planned reunion celebrations in Florence and Todi this summer, inviting previous students, professors, host families and local friends to join in these events.

Penn State undergraduates and graduate students taking a marine biogeochemistry course that explores the ways life influences and is influenced by chemical, physical and geological processes in the ocean, spent spring break visiting San Salvador Island in the Bahamas.

The Penn State Fox Graduate School Alumni Society has announced the recipients of its 2026 alumni awards, recognizing three graduates whose achievements exemplify the values of leadership, service and professional excellence.

Over spring break, Penn State students traveled to Germany to Munich for a Liberal Arts embedded program.

Over spring break, Penn State Liberal Arts students traveled to Belize and Guatemala to visit ancient Maya archaeological sites and learn about local cultures.

To learn more about beef production abroad, nine students from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences spent their spring break in Brazil.

Recent News

Penn State students explore cross-cultural psychology through Costa Rica program

Students dive into Spanish, Italian language and culture via embedded program

Study abroad course expands to explore biking culture in Berlin

Penn State's Project ECHO, Dominican Republic partner to improve disease care

Student turns education abroad experience into internship opportunity

Let's give a 'We Are!' to these Penn Staters — June 22

Biomedical engineering grad student receives PhRMA Foundation fellowship

July 1 symposium to strengthen and expand partnership with African universities

Penn State ranks 23rd in US, 92nd globally in 2027 QS World University Rankings

Language club brings relaxation to students with Chinese calligraphy

Q&A: Can plants help reverse climate change?

Additional details available on upcoming platform change for Global Safety Network

Penn State Extension webinars reach new audiences through Ukrainian translation