University of Massachusetts

10/14/2026

From designing apparel for major sports teams to helping bring one of Lowell's most creative community events to life, UMass Lowell alum Andrew Schuster '20 is putting his graphic design degree to work in some pretty remarkable ways.

As a designer for sports lifestyle brand '47, Schuster has worked on campaigns and apparel for teams like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, as well as major events including the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup.

But his creativity doesn't stop there. As volunteer creative director of the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Schuster is giving back to the community and creating opportunities for current UMass Lowell students to gain hands-on experience, just as he did during his time on campus.

Read his story: https://bit.ly/4yM3Hh7

Graphic design alum Andrew Schuster '20, second from left, encourages a Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race participant through the Maddening Mud Pit outside the Tsongas Center along with fellow Mad Marshalls in banana costumes at the 2017 event.

10/08/2026

TIME has named UMass Boston’s Katherine Dafforn among the top emerging global leaders shaping the future.

Katherine Dafforn, distinguished UMass Boston professor and director of the Stone Living Lab, has been named to the 2026 TIME100 Next list.

A leading coastal ecologist and co-founder of the global Living Seawalls project, Dafforn is advancing science-based solutions to some of the biggest climate challenges facing coastal communities worldwide.

Congratulations to Professor Dafforn on this well-deserved recognition and for showing how UMass research can make an impact here in Massachusetts and around the world.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3U6yZ2W

The annual list, which features leaders who are shaping the future, recognizes Dafforn’s role as a climate leader and a co-founder of the global Living Seawalls project.

10/07/2026

10/07/2026

Fall looks good on UMass Dartmouth ✨ 🍂

10/05/2026

11 spots higher and !

We're thrilled to share that UMass Amherst climbed 11 spots to No. 30 on The Princeton Review's 2027 Top 50 Best Value Public Colleges list, which recognizes its combination of strong academics, affordability, and career prospects for graduates.

That makes six consecutive years in the Top 50 for UMass Amherst, and it remains the only public university in Massachusetts or New England on the list. The campus also ranks No. 13 nationally among public universities for financial aid.

Read more:

Moving up to No. 30 for 2027, UMass Amherst has placed in the Top 50 Best Value Colleges for the sixth consecutive year and is the only public institution in Massachusetts—and all of New England—to make the list.

10/03/2026

Golden hour at UMass Amherst just hits different in the fall. 🍂✨

📷 Lena Sakharuk

10/01/2026

The rankings momentum continues across UMass!

UMass Dartmouth ranks among the top 10 public research universities in the nation with fewer than 10,000 students, according to an analysis of the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.

And the accolades don’t stop there: Psychology jumped 37 spots nationally, business climbed 18 spots, and nursing remains among the top 9% of programs nationwide.

Congratulations to the students, faculty and staff whose work continues to move forward!

Read more: https://bit.ly/3TuaTiu

U.S. News & World Report also recognizes psychology, nursing, business, and other undergraduate programs at UMass Dartmouth

09/30/2026

What can NASA’s new space telescope see that even James Webb can’t?

UMass Amherst astronomer Alexandra Pope is serving as Science Team Lead for PRIMA, a new NASA space telescope that will explore the far-infrared universe — a part of the spectrum Webb can’t see.

The mission will tackle some big questions: How does water find its way to forming planets? How do galaxies and supermassive black holes evolve together? And how did the universe build the more complex elements of the periodic table?

UMass students will be part of the journey, too. Pope’s lab will develop tools to analyze data from PRIMA, with undergraduate and graduate students helping lay the groundwork for the science to come.

Learn more about the UMass research helping shape our understanding of the universe: https://bit.ly/47ijZlu

NASA’s PRIMA space telescope will reveal hitherto unknown parts of the universe.

09/29/2026

At UMass Lowell's REACH Lab, cutting-edge rehabilitation research is creating hands-on opportunities for graduate students while advancing our understanding of human movement and health.

Backed by Prof. Lara Thompson’s five-year, $1 million National Science Foundation award, students are working directly with community members to tackle real-world health challenges — from preventing falls in older adults, understanding the lingering effects of concussions in student-athletes, to exploring new ways to identify speech disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.

See how UMass Lowell researchers and grad students are putting innovation into action: https://bit.ly/4AFKcrC

Graduate Researchers Use Motion Capture, Virtual Reality and Other Tech to Study Human Movement with Community Participants

09/23/2026

Let’s hear it for women in STEM!

UMass Lowell chemistry Ph.D. student Porvajja Nagarajan has been named the TOP female energy engineering student in the United States for her work advancing clean, sustainable energy.

Nagarajan earned the prestigious Ruth Whitlock Scholarship from the Association of Energy Engineers, recognizing her achievements and potential to help shape the future of energy.

Congratulations, Porvajja! We’re excited to see where your research takes you.

Read more about this recognition:

Chemistry Ph.D. student Porvajja Nagarajan was recently recognized as the top female energy engineering student in the United States for her work in advancing clean, sustainable energy.