Laura Fields, an associate professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for her research studying the properties of fundamental particles called neutrinos.

Three University of Notre Dame faculty members have been named to the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. This prestigious annual list recognizes the 200 scholars whose academic work has most influenced educational practice and policy nationwide.

Ahsan Kareem, the Robert M. Moran Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences (CEEES) at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He will join the Academy’s division of Technical and Environmental Sciences.

Four faculty members were offered support for projects that will examine the history of Kurdish music and media, rethink Thomas Aquinas’ philosophical approach, unveil how the Catholic Church handled marital violence and separation in the 18th century, and further understand the cultural impact of Hurricane Maria.

The National Academy of Inventors has named Ashley Thrall, the Myron and Rosemary Noble Collegiate Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, to its 2024 class of fellows. Election as an academy fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors.

The union representing dockworkers at U.S. ports walked away from the negotiating table with port employers this week over automation concerns as the two sides face a mid-January deadline to finalize a deal and prevent the resumption of a strike. Business Analytics Professor Kaitlin Wowak discusses potential supply chain disruptions.

Global public debt may soon collectively catch up to the worldwide gross domestic product (GDP), likely matching it by 2030. New research from a Notre Dame economist suggests that this could happen even sooner, thanks to countries’ hidden debts. This misreported debt can lead to higher interest rates for borrowers and lower recovery rates for lenders, suggesting indirect adverse effects on global financial stability and consumer welfare.

Nationally recognized election law scholar Derek T. Muller, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, has joined CNN as a contributor for the 2024 election cycle to provide his perspective and context to the network’s coverage of the presidential race.

Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., professor emeritus of theology at Notre Dame and widely regarded as the “father of liberation theology,” died Tuesday (Oct. 22) in Lima, Peru. He was 96.

Honoring the legacy of legendary University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum will host “Fr. TED Talks: Ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition That We Find Inspiring,” a two-night festival on Oct. 28 and 29.

In an era of intense polarization, Democrats and Republicans have historically, and mistakenly, believed that members of the other party prioritize protecting certain types or victims of hate speech over others based on stereotypes or their affiliation with those potentially vulnerable groups. New research from the University of Notre Dame, however, revealed that partisans generally agree on what to censor when it comes to the target, source and severity of hate speech.

On Oct. 10, the Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to Han Kang, the first Asian woman writer and the first Korean writer to win the prize. According to Hayun Cho, an assistant professor of Korean literature and popular culture at the University of Notre Dame, Han’s win is moving for many, including for readers of the Korean diaspora.

Kirk Doran, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at Notre Dame, has won the 2024 Adam Smith Panmure House Prize. The prize, named after the forefather of economics, celebrates those who embody Smith’s empiricism and long-term interdisciplinary thinking in their research.

New research from Christina Bambrick, the Filip Family Assistant Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame, explores the nonconventional idea that each of us, as private citizens, may be responsible for upholding the constitutional rights of our fellow citizens. She examines constitutional politics across the globe to explore these different approaches to balancing rights and responsibilities in a democratic society.

The Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame has hired six new faculty members this year, a significant expansion of a field that is core to the University’s commitment to fighting the U.S. mental health crisis.

Cyril O’Regan, the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been selected to receive the 2024 Ratzinger Prize in Theology, widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the field. Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, will present the award to O’Regan and to sculptor Etsurō Sotoo during a ceremony at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Nov. 22. Both winners will also have an audience with Pope Francis earlier that day.

Kirk Doran, an associate professor of economics, has a research mission to identify where and how new knowledge is created. He is one of four finalists from leading global institutions for the 2024 Adam Smith Panmure House Prize.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of chronic absenteeism have nearly doubled across the nation for students in kindergarten through grade 12. This increase was tied to the mode of instruction during the early years of the pandemic. In particular, schools that employed virtual learning as the primary teaching mode during the 2020-21 school year experienced a greater increase in chronic absenteeism in the following year. That increase was significantly greater in school districts with higher levels of poverty, according to new research from William Evans, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics and co-founder of Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.