Arts And Science

Widespread trust in vaccines often leads to higher vaccination rates, but vaccine shortages can deter even those with confidence in vaccines. Furthermore, while vaccine mandates can create an appearance of universal vaccination, people may remain hesitant, resulting in lower compliance than anticipated. Read More

Grace Kirtley, a law, history and society major with a minor in Arabic, served in the key leadership role of platoon sergeant during an intensive training mission. Read More

Robert Talisse’s Open Inquiry Award recognizes his work on effective argumentation—an increasingly relevant topic for today’s polarized campuses and public squares. His work provides astute observations about the current climate and offers invaluable solutions to decrease polarization and improve constructive discourse. Read More

Mechanical engineering Professor Nilanjan Sarkar, Frist Center Director Keivan Stassun and collaborators receive $1M to develop an integrated AI and behavioral science-based driving training system to improve transportation independence for neurodiverse individuals. Read More

The Discovery Vanderbilt center welcomed adolescent and young adult health expert Stephen Russell to share evidence for strategies that create supportive communities, reduce mental health risk and promote well-being for LGBTQ+ youth. Read More

The grant will help biomedical scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in launching a research platform devoted to molecular underpinnings of early-childhood determinants of health. The project, called ELVIS, or, less connotatively, the ECHO Laboratory core at Vanderbilt for Integrated Sample biobanking and processing, is part of an expansion of the NIH’s multi-center Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes program Read More

For his “eclectic but refined, musical, talky and witty” poetry, renowned poet Major Jackson, professor of English, director of creative writing and holder of the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities, has been awarded the 2023 Academy of American Poets Fellowship. Read More

Assistant Professor of Physics and Mathematics Alex Lupsasca has won a 2024 New Horizons in Physics Prize for his theoretical work on the interpretation of black hole images and his proposal of a new method for using super-powered telescopes to look closely at black holes and their invisible fingerprints called photon rings. Read More

The Center for the Mechanical Control of Chemistry received a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support its expansion to 11 partner institutions, including Vanderbilt University. Read More

Philosophy scholar David Thorstad’s mathematical modeling approach may spark counterintuitive discussions about existential risk and how to mitigate it. He concludes that we must rethink recent arguments in favor of prioritizing existential risk over other pressing problems. Read More

Vanderbilt's motto, crescere aude, is Latin for “dare to grow.” Meet some of Vanderbilt's newest faculty as they share what ‘dare to grow’ means to them. Read More

A $350,000 grant to develop next-generation archaeological mapping technology will let a Vanderbilt-led research team reveal information about the ancient civilizations of the central Andes. Read More

Supported by Discovery Vanderbilt and a collaboration between the College of Arts and Science and the School of Nursing, the center will deepen society’s understanding of the causes and consequences of health-related inequalities. An event marking the center’s launch will take place on Monday, Sept. 18. Read More

JaHyne “JJ” Johnson, BA’23, came to Vanderbilt as a QuestBridge Scholar, ready to “do the work” and come out with a solid career path. What the chemistry major didn’t realize then was that the opportunities he pursued through classes, activities and Immersion Vanderbilt would allow him to write poetry, conduct research, dance in a ballet, launch a podcast and more. Read More

New research experience will expose undergraduates to diverse career paths and provide graduate-level training, mentoring and professional networking in the social sciences. This is the first year of a three-year program in the Department of Political Science. Read More

Dan Margalit has joined the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science as professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics. Margalit is a highly accomplished mathematician whose research expertise lies at the intersection of low-dimensional topology and geometric group theory, with a particular focus on mapping class groups of surfaces. Read More

Jonathan Gilligan has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for the 2023–24 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Read More

Vanderbilt rising senior Induja “Indu” Kumar has been selected as a 2023 Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholar. The scholarship program focuses on dedication to issues affecting Indigenous lands and people and the stewardship of nations’ land and natural resources. Read More

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding two Vanderbilt early-career nuclear physicists’ exploration of the universe’s properties and composition. Raghav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli and Jean-François Paquet, assistant professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and members of the multidisciplinary Vanderbilt Initiative for Gravity, Waves and Fluids, have been identified as among the nation’s most exceptional researchers. Read More

The fellowship program is intended to serve as a pathway and source of mentorship for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars across the Southeastern Conference to prepare them for tenured faculty positions.  This cohort of Vanderbilt scholars will attend the upcoming 2023-24 SEC Emerging Scholars conference Oct. 1–4 at the University of Arkansas.   Read More