Year: 2025

Vanderbilt (VU and VUMC, collaboratively) may nominate one candidate for the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award Program. Read More

Vanderbilt University may nominate one candidate for the 2026 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars Fellowship Award. Read More

Unrealistic messages about working motherhood are pervasive, creating relentless pressure to meet high expectations. However, this pressure is ultimately self-imposed. By consciously recalibrating your expectations from “perfect” to “good enough,” you can begin to alleviate stress and find a more balanced approach to life. Implementing practical strategies can help structure your daily routine into something less stressful and more manageable.   Read More

The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt has awarded nearly $80,000 over the past academic year to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff pursuing community-facing arts-based projects. This is triple the impact of previous iterations of this program, spurred by new application procedures, outreach and project development methods. Creative Inquiry Grants, named for the Curb Center’s goal of elevating art as a mode of inquiry, award up to $2,500 per applicant and the use of Curb Center space and resources to the stewards of a variety of important projects. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers have received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a smart microscope system that uses artificial intelligence to help scientists better understand how cells behave, particularly in diseases like cancer. Read More

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Ganesh Sitaraman, New York Alumni Chancellor’s Chair in Law, professor of law, director of the Program in Law and Government, and director of the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to explore why businesses that provide essential services—like energy, transportation, communication and banking—should be governed differently than small businesses. Read More

The influence of Vanderbilt University writers on acclaimed author Flannery O’Connor—and the extensive reach of O’Connor’s work on literature and beyond—are the subjects of a new Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries exhibit. Read More

As the fall semester begins, Vanderbilt welcomes a new class of students ready to engage with ideas, explore identity and build community. One of the university’s signature efforts to support this journey is Dialogue Vanderbilt—a campus-wide initiative that advances the university’s enduring commitment to constructive dialogue and civil discourse, rooted in our core beliefs of free expression and institutional neutrality. It equips the Vanderbilt community with the tools and opportunities to engage in respectful, thoughtful conversations—across differences and on any topic. Read More

This past academic year, seven graduate students and one undergraduate student participated in the 2025 Merck Compound Challenge. Created in 2018, the competition gives teams from around the world 48 hours to create a proposed route of chemical steps from a commercial chemical they believe will make the final compound. Read More

Pet parrots often outlive their owners, and Vanderbilt researchers want to know why—because uncovering the biological mechanisms behind exceptional longevity could one day help safely extend the lives of humans. With the support of a new $1.3 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, Vanderbilt biologist Gianni Castiglione is taking a bold approach to aging research: reverse-engineering how birds live three to four times longer than similarly sized mammals to identify safe, effective genetic targets for human aging therapies. Read More

In late June, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier traveled to Washington, D.C., for a day of congressional meetings and to headline Vanderbilt University’s congressional reception. His visit, organized by Vanderbilt’s Office of Federal Relations, came at a pivotal moment as Congress considers sweeping budget and tax legislation.  Read More

Since 2020, educators, policymakers, and families have grappled with the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on student learning and well-being. While pandemic recovery efforts are ongoing, one of the most persistent challenges has been chronic absenteeism. Nashville PEER hopes to understand this issue at its roots with a new… Read More

Just like electrical stimulation of heart muscles can restore a regular heartbeat, new research led by Thilo Womelsdorf suggests that "electroceutical" intervention in the brain can improve memory and other cognitive functions wrought by behavioral health disorders and diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Womelsdorf, professor of psychology and biomedical engineering at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, said, “For these cognitive disabilities, brain-computer interfaces promise to become next-generation electroceutical treatment options.” Read More

A collaboration among VUMC, the College of Arts and Science, the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering has led to some higher-order “hitchhikers” that can make immunotherapy cancer treatments more effective. Associate Professor John Wilson’s lab devised a way to piggyback cancer-fighting nanobodies onto molecules that naturally accumulate around tumors—getting the treatment where it needs to go. Read More

Quynh Anh Nguyen, assistant professor of pharmacology, is the first Vanderbilt faculty member to be awarded the highly competitive Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience since 1985. Her research aims to unravel the mysteries of epilepsy by focusing on how specific cells in the brain contribute to or suppress the hyperexcitability in neural circuits that are thought to be involved in the disorder’s spontaneous seizures. Read More

Building on the success of her first term, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver is realigning her leadership team to enhance the university’s efforts in research excellence, student opportunities and global impact. Read More

On July 1, the Wond’ry was integrated into the School of Engineering, expanding access to valuable innovation resources. As part of this realignment, entrepreneurship efforts have transitioned to the Owen School, where a dedicated team is set to bring those innovations to market. Read More

This year’s event will be titled “Vanderbilt University Presents: The Southern Festival of Books, a program of Humanities Tennessee,” marking a new chapter in the life of this storied public event and reflecting Vanderbilt’s deepening investment in the cultural, civic and intellectual fabric of the region. The continuation of the festival is a testament to the power of community. After months of uncertainty following the termination of federal funding, Tennesseans will have the opportunity to celebrate the return of this free event that connects authors and readers at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum and the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Staff-Letics 3v3 Basketball League returns for a high-stakes, winner-take-all, single-elimination tournament. This is your chance to play basketball while bonding with colleagues and staying active.   Read More

Vanderbilt’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program is seeking Friendship Families for the 2025–26 academic year. The Humphrey Fellowship Program at Vanderbilt brings accomplished mid–career educational leaders from developing nations and emerging democracies to the United States for an academic year for leadership and professional development as well as fostering mutual exchange. Humphrey Fellows for the 2025-2026 year are expected to come from at least nine different countries. Read More