The Plan for Pitt: Engage in Research of Impact

Pitt’s Vibrant Media Lab is helping to answer complex questions of technology and culture, exploring past forms of media and experimenting with new ones in a cultural and social context. The OdysseyNow Project exemplifies the lab’s goals.

This fall's competitions awarded more than $600,000 for faculty and student researchers. In addition, mentoring opportunities in the competitions offer researchers help in commercialization, which takes products from the lab into spaces like a doctor’s office or a factory.

With support from Pitt’s Department of English and the Center for Creativity, Jeanne Marie Laskas sifted through hundreds of citizens’ letters to President Obama, resulting in an acclaimed magazine story and full-length book.