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Â鶹ÊÓƵ will celebrate innovation through student and faculty research and alumna success during Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s 2026 Research Appreciation Week, planned for April 6–10.

Research Appreciation Week spotlights the spirit of innovation and collaboration in disciplines throughout the university and recognizes the contributions that Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s original research and scholarship make to this region, the Commonwealth, and the world.

Events during Research Appreciation Week, all free and open to the community, are:

• 21st annual Women in STEM Summit, April 6, . Display of student research posters, 11:00 a.m., second floor lobby; presentation of Dr. Patricia Hilliard Robertson Memorial Scholarship, noon, 104 Kopchick Hall; keynote presentation by Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumna and president of Kuzneski Insurance Group and Â鶹ÊÓƵ Council of Trustees Vice Chair Laurie Kuzneski, 12:15 p.m., 104 Kopchick Hall.

• Third annual AI Summit (virtual and at Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s ), April 7, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• STEAMSHOP Satellite Open House, April 7, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 102.

• Scholars Forum, April 8, 9:00 a.m. to noon, .

• Three-Minute Thesis finals, April 8, 11:00 a.m., Toretti Auditorium, Kovalchick Complex.

• “From Stacks to Synthesis: How the Library Powers Your Literature Review,” April 9, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., Stapleton Library 113 and virtual (especially designed for researchers).

• “Choosing an Appropriate Statistical Test,” April 9, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., virtual (especially designed for researchers).

• “Introduction to Fulbright,” 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., April 10, Stapleton Library 113 and virtual.

• Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) demonstration, April 10, 11:00 a.m. to noon, Stapleton Library 113 and virtual (especially designed for researchers).

View the complete schedule for Research Appreciation Week.

“Research Appreciation Week is my favorite week of the year—it highlights the diversity, impact, and collaborative spirit of research at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, and reminds us how much we can learn when curiosity brings us together,” Â鶹ÊÓƵ Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Hilliary Creely said.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) organization has taken a lead role in developing the Women in STEM program on April 6.

“The Women in STEAM group exemplified leadership in organizing the April 6 program,” Creely said. “Events like this matter because they elevate women’s contributions to STEM and give students the opportunity to see—and imagine themselves as—the next generation of STEM and STEAM leaders. We are thrilled to have alumna Laurie Kuznekski with us this year to share her expertise and experience with our students, faculty, and community members.”

Laurie Kuzneski

Â鶹ÊÓƵ STEM Women’s Summit Featuring Alumna Laurie Kuzneski

Kuzneski Insurance Group is an employee benefits, insurance, and human resources consulting firm started by Kuzneksi’s father-in-law in 1966. The firm has a long-standing history in Indiana County and in western and central Pennsylvania.

In 2013, Kuzneski and her husband, Andy, took ownership of Kuzneski Insurance Group. Beyond managing the marketing for KIG, she is responsible for developing the culture of the organization. As an owner, she has held numerous positions, including HR, operations, finance, and business development. In February 2024, she succeeded her husband in the role of president of KIG.

A 1993 Â鶹ÊÓƵ Journalism and Public Relations graduate, Kuzneski started her career in marketing and public relations at First Commonwealth. In 2002, she followed her passion and started Miss Laurie’s Gourmet Kitchen, a home-based business that began with a family recipe for peanut brittle and evolved into a cooking school for children and an opportunity to help women return to the workforce. Miss Laurie hung up her apron in 2018 after teaching more than 2,000 children how to cook and seeing a handful graduate from culinary school. Her work with Miss Laurie’s Gourmet Kitchen also raised awareness and thousands of dollars in donations for the community to address food insecurity.

She has extensive leadership, fund-raising, and board experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She has raised millions of dollars for organizations such as the United Way of Indiana County, the YMCA of Indiana County, and the International Myeloma Foundation, based in Los Angeles. She and her husband are cochairs of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s $150 million Impact 150 comprehensive fundraising campaign, launched in August 2025 in celebration of the university’s sesquicentennial. As of December 2025, the campaign has raised more than $102 million.

Kuzneski is the first woman chair of the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce. She is vice-chair of the Board of Directors for the Indiana Regional Medical Center and Mountains Health Network (IRMC, Punxsutawney Area Hospital, and Armstrong County Memorial Hospital), is a board member for the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board and the Indiana County Development Corporation, and is a member of many committees for these organizations. 

Kuzneski is passionate about investing in and mentoring start-up companies, especially women-led companies. She is a member of The Rising Tide Fund and The Next Act Fund, which invest in companies founded and led by women, and the Fem Tech Fund, which invests in women’s healthcare. She has been a featured speaker for many organizations regionally and nationally.

Kuzneski was selected as Indiana County’s 2025 ATHENA Leadership Award recipient and serves on the Indiana County ATHENA recipients committee. She is the 2018 Indiana County Female Civic Leader Award recipient.

A native of Waterford, Kuzneski is a long-time Indiana resident. She and her husband are the parents of three children, including Andrew IV, who is a 2025 graduate of Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

The Hilliard Robertson scholarship was established as a living legacy for Dr. Patricia Hilliard Robertson, a 1985 graduate of Â鶹ÊÓƵ from Homer City, who died May 24, 2001, in Houston. Hilliard Robertson had been assigned as a crew-support astronaut for the Expedition Two crew that was preparing for service aboard the International Space Station in 2001. Hilliard Robertson received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2000. The scholarship award is presented by family members of the late Dr. Hilliard Robertson.

A total of 45 presentations, to be presented at the April 6 event or at the April 8 Scholars Forum, are Women in STEM research projects.

Artificial Intelligence Summit

This is the third year for Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s AI Summit, hosted and organized by the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Center for Scholarly Communication in Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Research and Innovation. Additional sponsors include the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Libraries, Research and Innovation, the AI Summit Planning Committee, and the Center for Teaching Excellence. The luncheon is sponsored by the KSA Group and the Office of the Provost (luncheon reservations are required).

Dana Driscoll is the founding director of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Center for Scholarly Communication, which has as its mission to serve as a catalyst for advancing publication and presentation at Â鶹ÊÓƵ for all members of our campus community.

“Artificial intelligence is transforming how we discover, evaluate, and create knowledge,” Associate Vice Provost for Libraries and Research Support Services Kelly Heider said. “The AI Summit provides a space for our campus community to engage thoughtfully with these tools—exploring not only their potential, but also the ethical and scholarly responsibilities that come with them.”

The summit will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s and via Zoom, with sessions at 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. Persons can attend the entire day or just selected programs. View the full AI Summit schedule.

Summit programming is divided into four tracks, with the AI in Business and Industry Track new this year:

AI in Business and Industry Track

Topics to be addressed include “Cybersecurity in the Age of AI,” “Synthetic Intelligence: Architecting the Organizational Mind,” “AI in Project Management: Case Studies and Insights,” “The Intelligent Enterprise: AI’s Impact on Modern Business Disciplines,” and “From Data to Decisions: How AI is Transforming Profitability Analysis in Business.”

The AI Exploration Track

Geared toward Â鶹ÊÓƵ students, this track provides an interactive space for discovering and engaging with AI technologies. Presentations are “AI Prompt Engineering,” “Writing as Infrastructure: Context Engineering Across Disciplines,” “Tips for Using Â鶹ÊÓƵ-Approved AI Tools to Streamline and Simplify Your Work,” “From Topic to Sources: Exploring AI-Assisted Research Discovery with Keenious,” and “AI Sandbox: Hands-on Exploration of AI Tools and Technology.” This final session will include a poster and tool demonstration with computer science students.

AI Pedagogy Track

Designed for current faculty, future educators (undergraduate and graduate students), and educational support staff, this track focuses on the role of AI in teaching and learning. Topics include: “AI Policy Panel: Developing AI Policies for Educators,” “Considerations and Characteristics in GenAI Policy Construction,” AI in the Academy: How Should Students Use AI—Responsibly and Well?” “When Cognitive Offloading Replaces Deliberate Practice: GenAI’s Impact on Learning and Expertise,” “Critical Digital Pedagogy in the Age of AI,” and “Teaching Teachers AI Instruction.”

AI Research, Tools, and Ethics Track

“Considering AI Welfare,” “Jumping off the Cliff: Embracing AI Research Tools with Joy and Trepidation,” panel discussion: “Research on Human-AI Co-Authorship and GenAI Tools,” “Reflect, Reframe, Recover: Using AI to Address Burnout and Imposter Feelings,” and “Applications of AI in Science and Industry.”

Scholars Forum

The twenty-second annual Scholars Forum, featuring more than 100 Â鶹ÊÓƵ undergraduate and graduate students and 54 high school students from Blacklick Valley Junior-Senior High School, Indiana Area High School, and West Shamokin High School, will be held from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the .

“The Scholars Forum is one of the most visible expressions of Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s commitment to student success and academic excellence,” Heider said. “It’s inspiring to see students from so many disciplines sharing original research, asking meaningful questions, and contributing to the broader scholarly conversation.”

A total of 84 research posters will be presented in the Ed Fry Arena, with 24 individual in-depth research podium presentations by Â鶹ÊÓƵ students in KCAC conference rooms 7, 8, and 9. Posters and podium presentations include a diverse array of topics, representing student work from every academic college at Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

Concurrent podium presentation sessions will be presented at 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m., featuring in-depth talks by students about work in multiple disciplines including anthropology, geospatial and Earth sciences, biology, criminology, communications media, English, finance, economics, education, history, math, computer science, music, and psychology during breakout sessions at the Kovalchick Complex.

A number of Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumni are returning to campus to volunteer as judges for this year’s event, joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty and staff who are scoring the student research presentations. Awards are sponsored by the academic deans, Applied Research Laboratory, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Libraries, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Research Institute, and the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

The Three Minute Thesis finals will be held during the Scholars Forum at 11:00 a.m. in the KCAC Toretti Auditorium. Students will have exactly three minutes to present their original scholarship with the aid of one PowerPoint slide. This event is hosted by the Office of Research and Innovation.

The research topics and the finalists are “The Culture of Resetting Lives,” by Lamia Dawood, Administration and Leadership Studies doctoral program; “Brown’s Farm: A 19th and 20th Century African American Farmstead,” by Abdul Jones, Applied Archaeology master’s program; and “College Students’ Expectations from Their Instructors in Today’s Classroom,” by Amar Mmoud, Curriculum and Instruction doctoral program.

In 2022, Â鶹ÊÓƵ was designated as a Doctoral University-High Research Activity (R2) by the National Center for Postsecondary Research’s Carnegie Classification in recognition of its commitment to research and student success; this ranking was reaffirmed in February 2025.  

Â鶹ÊÓƵ is one of only two public universities in Pennsylvania and one of only 97 public universities with this ranking in the United States. More than 3,900 colleges and universities are included in the ranking system.

Since its founding in 1875, Â鶹ÊÓƵ has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As Â鶹ÊÓƵ celebrates its 150th anniversary during the 2025–26 academic year and through the Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking to its next 150 years of student success, innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.