Rice climbs 9 spots in Times Higher Education global rankings, places among world’s top universities
Rice continues its upward momentum in global higher education, rising nine spots to No. 103 worldwide and No. 37 in the United States in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Rice’s Baker Institute appoints Russell as senior fellow and director of Center for Health Policy
Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy has named Dr. Heidi Russell as the director of the Center for Health Policy. She is also appointed as the L.E. and Virginia Simmons Senior Fellow in Health Policy and the Huffington Fellow in Child Health Policy. She will step into these roles at the Baker Institute Oct. 13.
A new Kinder Institute for Urban Research report found that despite some impressive gains for some students, it has failed to close the achievement gap for economically disadvantaged students.
Materials scientist Hautier named fellow of American Physical Society
Rice materials scientist Geoffroy Hautier has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society for his work in high-throughput computational materials design and discovery.
Rice’s Jo receives Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators award
Gyu-Boong Jo has been selected for the 2025 cohort of the Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative.
Top university programs announced at Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers conference
The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), headquartered at the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, brought leading programs together to celebrate creativity and innovation in university-based entrepreneurship education for its annual conference Oct. 2-4 and announced the top programs in higher education.
Flash Joule heating lights up lithium extraction from ores
Researchers led by James Tour have developed a new way to extract lithium from salty water.
Rice announces second cohort of Chevron Energy Graduate Fellows
Rice has named 10 graduate students as recipients of the 2025-26 Chevron Energy Graduate Fellowships, a program created through a partnership between the Rice Sustainability Institute and Chevron.
One year in, Momentous strategic plan accelerates Rice’s path toward bold future
One year after launching its ambitious 10-year strategic plan, Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact, Rice is already seeing the transformative results of its bold vision.
Rice leads breakthrough in eco-friendly removal of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ from water
Rice researchers, in collaboration with international partners, have developed the first eco-friendly technology to rapidly capture and destroy toxic “forever chemicals” in water.
Protecting public health: Rice’s Stadler honored by The Water Research Foundation
The Water Research Foundation recently presented Lauren Stadler, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice, with the 2025 Paul L. Busch Award at the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago.
OpenStax surpasses $3B in student savings, grows beyond textbooks
OpenStax, an educational initiative of Rice, announced that it has surpassed $3 billion in cumulative student savings since 2012 — nearly tripling the amount from just four years ago. The milestone underscores the organization’s continued impact on educational access and the growing demand for adaptable, high-quality learning materials.
Rice quantum scientist Hanyu Zhu is available to discuss chiral phonons, a rapidly-evolving research field with implications for electronic and quantum technologies, energy transport, advanced sensing and more.
New membrane extracts lithium from brines with greater speed, less waste
A team of researchers at Rice has developed a new membrane that selectively filters out lithium from brines, offering a faster, cleaner way to produce the element at the heart of nearly every rechargeable battery.
Rice Global India names first in-country director
Based in Bengaluru, Rice Global India is the university’s incubator for developing research and innovation partnerships and advancing educational exchange with industries and academic communities throughout India.
