Penn State Partners

The Rock Ethics Institute

The mission of the Rock Ethics Institute is to promote ethical awareness and inquiry in the University and in the public and professional sectors by supporting curricular innovations designed to improve moral literacy across the University curriculum, building collaborative research projects around ethically based initiatives, and encouraging public dialogue on ethical issues.

The Jimirro Center for the Study of Media Influence

The Jimirro Center is an academic research organization dedicated to collecting credible, objective opinion research examining the influence of the news media on the public. The center serves the public interest through the dissemination of timely research reports informing the public about the role of news media influence in society. Current facilities include a survey research laboratory with 19 telephone/computer stations.

The Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment

For more than a decade, the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment has been a leader in education, research and outreach concerning the fundamental rights of free expression and free press in the United States. Founded in 1992, the Center has continuously provided educational programs, sponsored speakers, published books and articles in the popular and academic press, and served as a media resource on a wide array of First Amendment topics.

The Institute for Information Policy

The Institute for Information Policy (IIP) has conducted sponsored research and self-funded programs on the social implications of information technology, with an emphasis on the potential of information technologies for improving democratic discourse, social responsibility, and quality of life. IIP joined with the School of Information Sciences and Technology and is now co-directed by a faculty member from each unit.

The Media Effects Research Laboratory

The Media Effects Research Laboratory is a facility dedicated to conducting empirical research on the psychological effects of media content, form, and technology. Several experimental studies involving hundreds of subjects have been conducted in the lab since its opening in 1997. Experiments are executed by faculty as well as undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in communication theory, media effects, and research methods courses. Independent projects and theses may also contain data collected at the research lab.

Smeal College of Business

There are six major research centers, institutes and laboratories in the Smeal College of Business to which Smeal faculty and some faculty at other universities attach themselves. In addition to these centers, there are five other centers and seven academic departments where extensive research takes place.

Penn State Institutes for Energy and the Environment

PSIEE is the central coordinating structure for energy and environmental research at Penn State. Bringing together more than 500 extraordinary faculty, staff and students, the Institutes work to advance the energy and environmental missions of the University.