Along with co-researchers from across the University, Claire White, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, is exploring ways to manufacture cement with a much lower contribution to global warming. Some of these cement substitutes completely eliminate the need to burn limestone at high temperature, a critical step in standard cement production that accounts for much of the CO2 emissions. 

Tracking mobile phone data is often associated with privacy issues, but these vast datasets could be the key to understanding how infectious diseases are spread seasonally, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

FSI is a seven-week summer program that allows a cohort of entering students the chance to experience the intellectual, co-curricular, and social life at Princeton prior to the beginning of the fall semester.  During the program, our Freshman Scholars have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the intellectually vibrant culture at Princeton through seminar-style courses and/or laboratory research experiences, to engage with their fellow scholars in a variety of co-curricular, community-building activities, and to work closely with faculty members from a range of academic disciplines and fields.  

This was the fourth year that the Keller Center has held its Demo Day, the culmination of the center’s eLab student startup accelerator. The summer-long program provides work space, instruction and support for student teams who compete for admission. The program also provides up to $20,000 in funding without taking any equity in the fledgling ventures. Team members are matched with veteran entrepreneurs who serve as mentors, and they attend workshops and coaching sessions that concentrate on different aspects of launching a startup.

Yu Xie, the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 University Professor of Sociology and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), has been named the inaugural director of the Center on Contemporary China at Princeton University.

John Storey, Princeton University’s William R. Harman ’63 and Mary-Love Harman Professor in Genomics and professor in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, has received the 2015 COPSS Presidents’ Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to statistics by a researcher aged 40 or younger. Presented by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS), the award is one of the most prestigious in the field.

The Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), a tuition-free academic and cultural enrichment program, has been helping prepare high-achieving, low-income high school students for college success for nearly 15 years.

Princeton University researchers will join 14 academic institutions and partners nationwide on a $12 million project to address the challenges that threaten urban water systems in the United States and globally. Funded by the National Science Foundation and led by Colorado State University, the collaboration will establish the Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN), which will create technological, institutional and management solutions that help communities increase the resilience of their water systems and better respond to water crises.

The brain is the ultimate big-data problem. Its billions of neurons give rise to numerous abilities, such as making decisions, interpreting color and even recognizing your best friend.Jonathan Pillow, a Princeton University assistant professor of psychology and thePrinceton Neuroscience Institute, aims to understand the brain by using math and statistics to make sense of the reams of information collected by brain-imaging studies.

The projects at the Ando lab aim to push the limits of using X-ray-based methods in structural enzymology, which is the study of the structure of enzymes such as those responsible for cellular metabolism and DNA replication. Unraveling the structure of these incredibly complex molecules helps scientists understand how the enzymes operate in these biological processes.

A $5.6 million gift from investor William H. Janeway, a member of Princeton’s Class of 1965, has established a fund that will support collaborative teaching and research in finance and other fields of economics at Princeton University.

Around 30 high school students are conducting research on campus this summer with Princeton’s Laboratory Learning Program. The program provides motivated students with the opportunity to learn firsthand what it is like to participate in university-level research. 

A $5 million gift from investment executive John P. Birkelund, a member of Princeton’s Class of 1952, has established the Program in History and the Practice of Diplomacy at the University. The new undergraduate certificate program, available to students beginning in the 2015–16 academic year, will provide preparation for careers in governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that preserve stability and improve lives around the world.  

Dr. Jonathan Pletcher, whose career has focused on adolescent and young adult medicine, will become the next director of medical services for Princeton University Health Services (UHS). His appointment is effective Sept. 14.

This summer, Princeton undergraduate students are gaining new perspectives and opportunities through internships in a variety of fields in more than 50 countries through the University’s International Internship Program (IIP).