Congrats to biochemistry alum Larry Millstein, '87, on being elected an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow. Larry is the president and program director of the Philosophical Society of Washington and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Heising-Simons Foundation Announces Tenth Class of 51 Pegasi b Fellows The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program is pleased to announce the 2026 class of the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship

We're excited to host our first Heising-Simons Foundation 51 Pegasi b Fellow, Rayna Rampalli. Rayna studies how the history of the Milky Way shapes the star-planet systems that form within it, treating stars both as planet hosts and as tracers of Galactic evolution. https://bit.ly/3Ofg2s5

25 Years of Courage and Curiosity: Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies Celebrating 25 years, Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego inspires students, educators, and families with hands-on STEAM programs that spark curiosity and confidence.

Barrier-busting astronaut Sally Ride devoted nearly 20 years to teaching physics at UC San Diego, forming a deep bond with the university's mission and spirit. Now, Sally Ride Science is celebrating its 25th year of bringing #STEMEducation to students from diverse backgrounds. https://bit.ly/4c1YQ2q

Twisters aren't just for the movies. Scientists at our Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes do their own stunts monitoring and modeling extreme weather events. Hear them speak as part of the "Science on Screen" series at the Comic-Con Museum. April 11, tix here >> https://bit.ly/4vkq7Vf

Congratulations to UCSD chemistry alumna Lucia Cancelada on being named a 2026 Schmidt Science Fellow. As a fellow, Lucia will explore how tiny ocean microbes help lock away carbon for centuries. Read more about this year's cohort: https://bit.ly/4e9oXFP

Seth Cohen to become new dean of UC Irvine's School of Physical Sciences Renowned leader in advanced chemistry research will assume new role Aug. 1

🎉Congratulations🎉 to Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Seth Cohen, who has been appointed the new dean of physical sciences at UC Irvine. https://bit.ly/489J0jA

Congratulations to UC San Diego Professor of Chemistry Vicki Grassian on being named the John Dove Isaacs Endowed Chair in Natural Philosophy for Physical Sciences! 🎉

Brain-inspired Device Could Lead to Faster, More Energy-efficient AI Hardware A brain-inspired hardware platform could lead to the development of compact, low-power AI hardware. By mimicking how the brain processes information, the platform improved the speed, accuracy and energy efficiency of simulated tasks such as spoken-digit recognition and early seizure detection.

A team, led by UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the Department of Energy research center Q-MEEN-C, has developed a new brain-inspired hardware platform that could help computer hardware keep pace with the explosive growth of #ArtificialIntelligence. https://bit.ly/41djBBO

🎆Congratulations🎆 Fleur!

Curing the Bystander Effect: A New Base Editing Tool Minimizes Unwanted Edits to DNA Base editing is still a new technology. Alexis Komor is working to improve its efficiency, while lowering unwanted bystander edits. This occurs when a base editor not only edits the desired nucleobase, but edits surrounding bases as well. Komor’s lab has developed a way to minimize bystander edits.

#BaseEditing is still a relatively new #biotechnology. Researchers are working to improve its efficiency, while lowering the incidence of unwanted bystander edits. Alexis Komor’s lab has developed a new tool to do this. Their work appears in Nature Biotechnology https://bit.ly/47IKYHB

Nobel Laureate and UC San Diego Alumnus Fred Ramsdell ’83 to Address Class of 2026 Nobel laureate and UC San Diego alumnus Fred Ramsdell ’83 will serve as the keynote speaker at our 2026 All Campus Commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 13.

We're thrilled to announce this year's All Campus Commencement speaker is biochemistry alumnus Fred Ramsdell. Last year, Fred was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking contributions to immunology. Commencement takes place June 13. bit.ly/4dqN6Hy

Blink and You’ll Miss It: Haiwang Yong’s Research Happens in a Fraction of a Second If you think “instantaneous” happens in a second, you should meet Haiwang Yong. An assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California San Diego, Yong uses ultrafast spectroscopy to observe the motion of atoms and electrons in femtoseconds, equal to 10-15 of a second.

Haiwang Yong lives life in the ultrafast lane. He uses #UltrafastSpectroscopy to observe the motion of atoms and electrons in femtoseconds. Last year, Yong received a Department of Energy award and a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to support his work. https://bit.ly/4seZLlu

Happy #PiDay to all who celebrate!

The Tijuana River Sewage Crisis is One of America’s Longest-Lasting Public Health Calamities Political gridlock has allowed the situation to worsen for decades

The headline says it all: The Tijuana River Sewage Crisis is One of America’s Longest-Lasting Public Health Calamities. UC San Diego researchers including atmospheric chemist Kimberly Prather PhD are working hard to heal our coast. Reporting from Wendee Nicole / Sierra Club https://bit.ly/3MQC0ky

Phil Low, Purdue drug discovery scholar and impactful innovator whose discoveries saved lives, dies at 78 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University drug discovery scholar and faculty member, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Philip Low, whose life’s work turned laboratory discoveries into therapies that…

Remembering Purdue Chemistry Distinguished Professor Philip Low. An innovative scholar, his research led to the development of life-saving cancer therapies. Low said "I believe that I have an obligation to do whatever I can to relieve pain and suffering.”

https://bit.ly/3N8SMez

New commentary from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explains the importance of the latest research from UC San Diego physics professor David Kleinfeld's lab: "deciphering how cerebral blood flow is controlled is central to understanding healthy brain function." https://bit.ly/3NeYVWH

Researchers, incl. Kimberly Prather PhD, have found a direct link between polluted water and the air, potentially exposing entire communities to toxic gases and other pollutants, even if residents don’t come in direct contact with the water itself. https://bit.ly/4aYhg27 #AlwaysUCSanDiego

From Rett and Pitt-Hopkins to ALS: 5 Rare Diseases UC San Diego Researchers are Tackling in the Lab This Rare Disease Day (February 28, 2026), read on to learn more about five orphan conditions, the people they affect and the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute researchers fanning the flames of hope for patients around the globe.

.Sanford Stem Cell Institute UC San Diego is working to find cures for rare diseases, including #ALS and #RettSyndrome. Chemistry professor Alexis Komor's work in base editing is already healing sick children. https://bit.ly/4ufC2Dt #RareDiseaseDay #GeneTherapy

We asked scientists what they think we'll learn from the government's UFO files. Here's what they said. Documents might help scientists shed light on unexplained phenomena and government secrets, experts said.

The U.S. government may soon release a trove of files related to #UFOs and #ExtraterrestrialLife, which may excite the conspiracy theorists among us, but how do scientists feel? UC San Diego astrophysicist Shelley Wright gives her opinion to CBS. https://bit.ly/4qYYVIl

A molecule has its own unmistakable tone, but the voices of individual molecules are so faint that traditional infrared spectroscopy can't detect them. UC San Diego Professor Chemistry Shaowei Li has found a way to hear a single molecule sing, using an approach called IRiSTM. https://bit.ly/46RiTgP

💥Congratulations💥 to astronomy graduate students Devontae Baxter and Ilyse Clark on being named Bouchet Scholars! The Bouchet Society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievements and promotes excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate. https://bit.ly/4rVE3lY

💥Congrats💥 to the entire UC San Diego SMASH team. Last month they hosted the UCSD SMASH & NSF HDR ML Challenge Hackathon with student hackers working on challenges ranging from climate prediction to monkey motor neuron behavior. Several teams even made it into the top 10 on the global leaderboards!

Four UC San Diego Faculty Earn Prestigious 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships UC San Diego faculty members Valentina Di Santo, Fleur Ferguson, Mattia Serra and Hao Zhang have been named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows. The four scientists represent UC San Diego’s Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), the School of Physical Sciences and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Congrats to UC San Diego's four newest Sloan Research Fellows, including Mattia Serra and Fleur Ferguson. The fellowships acknowledge researchers whose innovation and research accomplishments set them apart as the next generation of leaders. https://bit.ly/4rgWsK8 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Congratulations to Professor of Chemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou on being appointed the inaugural Kurt and Beatrice Shuler Chair in Theoretical Chemical Physics. Learn more about Joel in this Q&A: https://bit.ly/48kpIsL

#FacultySpotlight
#TheoreticalPhysics

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💘 Hope you find someone with the right chemistry.

#ValentinesDay
#ScienceHumor

CalTeach Program Director (Academic Coordinator II) University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!

UC San Diego’s CalTeach Program is hiring a Program Director. This 100% academic coordinator appointment will lead the CalTeach undergraduate program, which prepares STEM majors to become secondary math and science teachers. Apply today for full consideration: https://bit.ly/405ErCy

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💘 Wishing you a day full of positive energy and strong connections!

#ValentinesDay
#ScienceHumor
#PhysicsFun

Brain blood vessels are highly interconnected yet the way it regulates flow is not well-studied. To learn more, UCSD physics professor David Kleinfeld formulated a mathematical model to predict the impact of a change in a single vessel on the flow through the other vessels. https://bit.ly/4trYgl6

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💗 Our love for science—and for you—is truly irrational.

#ValentinesDay
#MathHumor
#ScienceValentine

The largest #GasGiants blur the line between planets and brown dwarfs. How do these large objects form? A team of researchers, led by the UC San Diego, used spectral data from #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope to find a surprising answer to this longstanding astronomical question. https://bit.ly/3Oe31OY