Research

Embarking on a new research project often brings unexpected discoveries—some intriguing, some novel, but rarely a find of a lifetime. Such a remarkable discovery occurred when university archivist and associate director Kathy Smith stumbled upon a pile... Read More

Research projects investigating the history of evolution at Vanderbilt University led to the rediscovery of a long-lost Crampton’s Plesiosaur Cast from the 1870s. Read More

Hear from some of the newest faculty on why they're excited to work at Vanderbilt. Read More

Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Provost C. Cybele Raver and Faculty Senate Chair Alissa Hare, who is assistant dean of the College of Arts and Science, presented awards at this year’s Fall Faculty Assembly to 10 faculty members who have made significant c... Read More

Since 2020, Vanderbilt archaeologist Michelle Young has directed the Cinnabar Roads Project, which explores ancient exchange routes used to transport cinnabar, a powdery mineral made of mercury and sulfur that was extracted and processed for pigment. Y... Read More

By Ann Marie Deer Owens When Vanderbilt archaeologist Michelle Young travels to the Peruvian Andes to study  ancient Indigenous societies, her itinerary is filled with much more than field surveys and excavations. “I put a priority on forging local partnerships based on communication and mutual respect with… Read More

By Jenna Somers Metro Nashville Public School students enrolled in programs offered by the Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development experienced a summer of learning that sowed the se... Read More

See how students in a special Immersion Vanderbilt project are partnering with a new national security institute to prevent cybersecurity attacks. Read More

By Nick McCoy, Evolutionary Studies undergraduate communications assistant  Reese Martin has always been drawn to biology and exploring the behaviors of different organisms. During his childhood, he dug in anthills, and now he observes the life history traits of flower beetles and other taxa. Martin’s new first-author paper, “Pleiotropy… Read More

Sophia Koss, Class of ’26, wanted to study abroad but wasn’t sure she could commit to a full semester away. The Vanderbilt Maymester program was the perfect solution. A double major in medicine, health, and society and anthropology, Sophia recently learned about the course Above and Below the Surface:… Read More

Vanderbilt professor Alex Lupsasca plans to extend Earth's largest telescope network beyond the atmosphere with a space-based dish. It could spot part of a black hole we've never seen before – and perhaps discover new physics. Read More

Adapted from an article written by John Keenan, University of Nebraska Medical Center Ned Porter, research professor of chemistry and Stevenson Chair, emeritus Researchers at Vanderbilt, in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nemours Children’s Hospital, have suggested an explanation, and possible pathway to prevention, for… Read More

The Creanza Lab, along with alumnus Matt Wilkins, BA’06, created a birdsong identification lesson plan for middle and high school students. The game show lets participants identify which birds they can hear in various pop culture media, such as movies,... Read More

Four digital technology projects in the initial stages of development will advance at Vanderbilt, thanks to funding from the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ Digital Lab. The project proposals were evaluated for their cultural importance, global imp... Read More

Nicole Creanza, associate professor of biological sciences Since 2020, a question has nagged at Nicole Creanza: What type of bird is singing in the background of Taylor Swift and Bon Iver’s song “Exile”? Creanza, associate professor of biological sciences, is an expert in the evolution of human… Read More

Thirteen innovative projects across seven colleges and schools have been selected for the spring 2024 round of Seeding Success internal grants. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation announced the recipient list on May 31. Read More

When Jonathan Gilligan, professor of earth and environmental sciences, thinks about climate change, they think about people. Gilligan says that climate change causes a variety of weather patterns to undergo persistent changes, and those affect every aspect of peoples’ lives, as well as the workings of our… Read More

“Woven Wind,” led by Vanderbilt art professor Vesna Pavlović, is a collaborative project that honors untold stories of enslaved people through art, archival research and community engagement. Funded by significant grants including a $40,000 NEA grant a... Read More

The semiannual, statewide Vanderbilt Poll showed in its most recent survey that slightly more than half of the state’s voters support a woman’s right to an abortion, that there is significant bipartisan support of IVF procedures as well as modest gun c... Read More

A Vanderbilt scientific team has succeeded in adjusting the daily biological clock of cyanobacteria, making the blue-green algae a more prolific producer of renewable fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, like insulin. Read More