News Releases

Rice’s Office of Innovation awards inaugural One Small Step Grants

The Office of Innovation at Rice announced four awardees of the inaugural One Small Step Grants, marking a significant milestone in accelerating the transition from lab to market for Rice-developed technologies. Launched in September 2023 the grant aims to support lab-stage projects across Rice, providing crucial capital for projects to spin out of the university and successfully attract investment from angel investors and venture capital.

Study suggests anti-Black racism may account for conservatives’ negative reactions to jobs requiring DEI statements

According to new research from Rice University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, conservative-leaning job applicants indicate being less likely to pursue positions that require personal statements on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and those negative reactions are not independent of anti-Black racism.

Rice OpenStax and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to host inaugural Open Nursing Education (ONE) Summit

To address nursing staff shortages, OpenStax, a nonprofit educational initiative of Rice University, in partnership with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), is creating the first Open Nursing Education (ONE) Summit. The two organizations are building upon their shared goal of addressing staffing shortages by reducing financial barriers for nursing students while facilitating discourse around important issues faced by the field.

Rice to host groundbreaking for new visual arts building Sarofim Hall

Rice University will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall, a new home for the Department of Art, at 3 p.m. Feb. 29. The building will be named for Susan and Fayez Sarofim, the lead donors for the project.

Rice joins federal consortium on AI safety

Rice has joined the nation’s leading artificial intelligence stakeholders to participate in a Department of Commerce initiative to support the development and deployment of trustworthy and safe AI.

Houston-based organizations join forces for inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024

Greentown Labs, Halliburton Labs and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship are joining forces to launch the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024. 

Old bones come alive at Rice archaeology workshop

Old bones from long-dead animals came alive at the Zooarcheology and Osteology Academy, a hands-on archaeology workshop held Feb. 10-11 at Rice University — just days before World Anthropology Day Feb. 15.

Condoleezza Rice to speak at Rice Feb. 15, event available on livestream

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak with David Satterfield, U.S. special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues and director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, on Rice’s campus Feb. 15 about leadership in the U.S. and the world.

Rice sports finance expert examines ‘the Taylor Swift effect’ at Super Bowl LVIII and how the NFL is targeting women

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are all anyone is talking about heading into Super Bowl weekend, but how is the pop superstar affecting the National Football League ’s bottom line as legions of ‘Swifties’ become football fans?

Houstonians who need opioid overdose help may still struggle to access medication, Baker Institute report shows

Though opioid overdose remedies are approved for over-the-counter usage, many Houston pharmacies have not made the lifesaving medication available, according to a report from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

New Rice report offers options to improve ERCOT reliability

The reliability of electricity service in ERCOT has come under increased scrutiny since Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. Increasing demand will create issues, but there are several available “insurance” actions that will likely need to be called upon to ensure long-term reliability, according to a new report from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Rice’s Santiago Segarra wins NSF CAREER Award

Rice’s Santiago Segarra has won an NSF CAREER Award for his research on leveraging the structural properties of real-world data in order to boost AI effectiveness and utility.

Rice’s James Tour named to National Academy of Engineering

Rice chemist James Tour was named to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions accorded “in recognition of distinguished contributions” to the field.

US election system must be a national priority, urge Carter Center, Rice’s Baker Institute

As U.S. democratic principles are being tested, The Carter Center and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy have proposed guiding principles to ensure that elections are conducted in ways that give Americans greater confidence in their outcomes.

Rice research unveils key dynamics of 2D nanomaterials with view to larger-scale production

A team of Rice researchers mapped out how flecks of 2D materials move in liquid ⎯ knowledge that could help scientists assemble macroscopic-scale materials with the same useful properties as their 2D counterparts.