News Releases

Schooling status during pandemic predicted parents’ resilience

A new study suggests parents accustomed to home schooling felt more resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic than those whose public-school children were suddenly housebound, especially when the latter parents did not meet recommendations for physical activity.

Immigration, diplomacy with Mexico focus of Baker Institute event

The president of El Colegio de México will speak on challenges testing the United States-Mexico relationship at a June 15 Baker Institute for Public Policy event.

New members elected to Baker Institute Board of Advisors

The Baker Institute Board of Advisors added five new members in April, with expertise ranging from business and health to energy, finance and software. The new members are Greg Armstrong, Paul Hobby, Rob Kaplan, Arshad Matin and Wade Rakes.

Bumps could smooth quantum investigations

Rice University materials theorists model a contoured surface overlaid with 2D materials and find it possible to control their electronic and magnetic properties. The discovery could simplify research into many-body effects, including quantum systems.

Grain boundaries go with the flow

Rice engineers mimic atom-scale grain boundaries with magnetic particles to see how shear stress influences their movement.

Bacteria-killing drills get an upgrade

Rice scientists have created light-activated molecular drills that can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Rice U. research: Disbanding police departments doesn’t affect crime levels

Disbanding city police departments and shifting law enforcement responsibilities to county governments appears to have no affect on overall crime rates and leads to fewer police-related deaths, according to new Rice University research. But the same study indicates those communities may be less likely to report their crime statistics to the FBI.

Gun violence prevention, policies to be examined in Baker Institute health and biosciences event

Preventing firearm-related injury and death will be the topic of a June 21 event from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Leading US diplomat David Satterfield named director of Rice’s Baker Institute

Ambassador David M. Satterfield, who has over four decades of diplomatic service and policy and management leadership experience in the United States and overseas in the Near East and Europe, has been named the new director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Rice Alliance seeks entrepreneurs for energy transition program

Entrepreneurs who are interested in running a startup that can impact the energy transition can apply to be matched with a novel technology in a new Chevron Studio program through Rice Alliance.

Mental health of Black and Hispanic veterans improved after Obama election, study finds

The mental health of Black and Hispanic veterans improved when Barack Obama was elected president, according to new research from Rice University.

Schneider selected to direct Religion and Public Life Program

​​​​​​​Rachel Schneider has been named the new director of the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP), which will now be housed in Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance .

Top hospitals blatantly violating price-transparency mandate, says Baker Institute report

Many of the nation’s most prominent hospitals are blatantly violating federal mandates requiring transparency in pricing, and all too often patients are being kept in the dark about dramatic differences between publicly reported prices for services and their actual cost, according to a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Cars could get a ‘flashy’ upgrade

Rice University chemists, working with the Ford Motor Company, processes waste plastic from end-of-life trucks into graphene for composite materials in new vehicles.

Sociologist Ecklund named director of Boniuk Institute

Elaine Howard Ecklund, an internationally acclaimed sociologist of religion, is the new director of the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance at Rice University.