The Living Lab

A Penn State education goes far beyond mastering classroom material. The University's 30 million square feet of facilities provide a "living laboratory" for academic enhancement, research partnerships, and student engagement.

The Living Lab is where Finance & Business (F&B) helps Penn State students, faculty, and staff use on-campus buildings, grounds, and expertise as resources for learning. Many departments within Penn State's Office of Physical Plant (OPP) have already identified and developed partnerships with student, academic, and research groups throughout Penn State.

Email [email protected] for more information.

Fill out a Collaboration Application to start a conversation.

Visit Career Services for student internships.

Objectives of the Living Lab

  • Enhance the student experience.
  • Create an educational framework for students and faculty to address University and community challenges.
  • Expand current and create new partnerships that align OPP’s expertise with the University’s teaching, research, and service.
  • Leverage existing resources across the University to increase the value of OPP’s services and improve operational effectiveness.
  • Contribute substantively to the Council on Engaged Scholarship, Sustainable Communities Collaborative, and Reinvention Fund.

Project Types

Living Lab projects exist within all three of the University’s focus areas of teaching, research, and service. Some projects may exist in more than one of the three categories of academic enhancement, research partnerships, and student engagement.