The Rock Ethics Institute brings together scholars and students from across Penn State and beyond to explore the ethical dimensions of some of society’s most pressing challenges. From artificial intelligence and climate change to immigration, public safety, food systems and human relationships, our work crosses academic disciplines to examine questions that affect people’s lives.

Through research funding, fellowships, student opportunities and public programs, we foster collaboration, encourage new ideas, and connect academic scholarship with real-world concerns. Our goal is to make ethical inquiry an essential part of how we understand complex challenges and make decisions about our shared future.