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Innovation

How social science can lead the way toward better disaster preparation and recovery

About two-thirds of Puerto Rico’s population had already lost power during Hurricane Irma when Hurricane Maria landed in September of 2017, shutting down power across the rest of the island.

Seeing the devastation caused by the storm and the conditions resulting from loss of electricity, Fernando Tormos-Aponte, an assistant professor of sociology in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, knew he had to act.

A Pitt-led team plans to automate quantum computing research with a Department of Energy grant

A new University of Pittsburgh-led research project aims to automate the scientific process, using a team of AI agents to harness a promising new type of quantum computing that could enable discoveries in chemistry and materials science. Led by School of Computing and Information Professor Youtao Zhang, the project is supported by the U.S.

Pitt ranks No. 24 among the nation’s public universities, says U.S. News & World Report

The University of Pittsburgh moved up to No. 24 among public universities nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings, released Tuesday. Pitt sits at No. 59 among all national universities — a 10-spot jump from last year’s list, making the University the biggest mover among publics in the top 100.

Pitt’s resident Cathedral expert studies how the landmark shaped campus and the city

The curious architect stands at the base of the tower, looking up. Tall and magnificent, the structure looms above him, leaving him amazed and captivated. 

It is March 2005, his first visit to Pittsburgh. He is here to interview for a faculty post and to check off items on a very specific architectural bucket list.

He’s been downtown, standing before the more-than-a- century-old Allegheny County Courthouse, a masterwork of civic architecture. He’s traveled through Pennsylvania’s woods to Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic home suspended over a rushing stream.

This art installation turns a century of Nationality Rooms history into poetry and pattern

Before reaching Hillman Library’s front doors, passersby can look through the windows and see a phrase in bold blue letters running the length of the grand staircase inside. It reads: “I am made to leave I am made again to return.”

Kornelia Tancheva, director of Pitt’s University Library System (ULS), reads the line through her own experience as an immigrant from Bulgaria.

“Your past is always part of you, and you change all the time, but you don’t forget where you come from,” Tancheva said.

With decades of Pitt researchers’ input, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope preps for launch