News
UCSC alumnus at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Ukraine
November 16, 2023
UC Santa Cruz alumnus Peter Gelpi is at the forefront of efforts to feed Ukrainians displaced by the war against Russia.
Brain-inspired AI code library passes major milestone, new paper offers perspective on future of field
November 16, 2023
UCSC Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jason Eshraghian's open source code library for brain-inspired deep learning, called “snnTorch,” has surpassed 100,000 downloads and is used in a wide variety of projects. A new paper details the code and offers a perspective on the future of the field.
Multidisciplinary team will develop advanced rhizosphere carbon imaging for climate change research with support of major DOE grant
October 30, 2023
A team of researchers at UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University are leading a new project in which they aim to use dynamic imaging and modeling of carbon in the rhizosphere to answer longstanding questions about how carbon moves through the soil and plant root interface.
Bacteria can enhance host insect’s fertility with implications for disease control
October 24, 2023
New research led at UC Santa Cruz reveals how the bacteria strain Wolbachia pipientis enhances the fertility of the insects it infects, an insight that could help scientists increase the populations of mosquitoes that do not carry human disease.
Rebates can offer solutions to California’s groundwater woes
October 18, 2023
Many aquifers in California and around the world are being drained of their groundwater because of the combined impacts of excess pumping, shifts in land use, and climate change. However, a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley, published on Oct.18 in Nature Water, may offer a solution - it describes the development and operation of a novel incentive program that uses water rebates to pay for some of the costs of getting stormwater runoff into the ground. The program is called recharge net metering (ReNeM).
Three climate resilience projects supported by 2023 CITRIS Interdisciplinary Innovation Program
October 10, 2023
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute and the Innovation & Business Engagement Hub collaborated to fund three projects focused on climate resilience and that align with developing solutions that address some of the California's most pressing climate challenges.
Cal-Bridge awarded $4 million to diversify STEM
October 9, 2023
The Cal-Bridge program, which supports students from historically underserved backgrounds in STEM, was recently awarded $4 million in the 2023-2024 California state budget. The funding will provide scholarships, mentorship and professional development opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students around the state in physics and astronomy, computer science, and math.
UCSC iGEM 2023 addressing harmful algal blooms through synthetic biology
October 4, 2023
A team of UCSC undergraduate students is designing and assembling a plasmid that targets the toxic genes of a type of freshwater bacteria responsible for harmful algal blooms.
Biotech founder and hero of the Human Genome Project joins UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute as Executive Director
October 2, 2023
The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute has selected scientist, entrepreneur, and executive Lauren Linton as their new Executive Director.
Genome study reveals 30 years of Darwin’s finch evolution
October 2, 2023
A study led by UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral scholar of Genomics & Bioinformatics Erik Enbody paints a dynamic picture of how species adapt to changing environments.
UCSC’s David Deamer and Mark Akeson honored for invention of nanopore sequencing
September 27, 2023
UCSC's David Deamer and Mark Akeson won the AAAS Golden Goose award for the invention of nanopore sequencing, a transformational technology for reading DNA and RNA.
National Postdoc Appreciation Week: Featuring Priya Crosby and Will DeRocco
September 20, 2023
National Postdoc Appreciation Week, organized by the National Postdoc Association (NPA) since 2009, takes place this year from September 18-22. This year, the UC Santa Cruz Science Division is highlighting the work of two outstanding postdocs: Priya Crosby and Will DeRocco.
Innovation Catalyst Grants help early-stage innovators with resources, training, and financial support
September 19, 2023
Two UC Santa Cruz research teams that can make impactful advancements in drug discovery and human health outcomes have been chosen as recipients of the university’s inaugural Innovation Catalyst Grants program. These new grants, administered by the Innovation & Business Engagement Hub, are designed to support and propel early-stage technology innovations developed by UCSC researchers.
Valère Lambert is the 2023 Keiiti Aki Early Career Award Recipient
September 13, 2023
Valère Lambert was announced as AGU’s 2023 Keiiti Aki Early Career Award recipient. The Aki Award is among the highest honors made to an early career seismologist.
2023 ARCS Foundation scholarships support UCSC graduate students in the sciences and engineering
September 11, 2023
Sixteen UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $175,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation for the 2023-24 academic year.
Empowering dreams
September 7, 2023
Alumna Birong Hu’s generous gift to Girls in Engineering paves the way for a new era of engineers, unlocking boundless opportunities and transforming futures.
Novel device combines nanopores with electronic signals for disease detection
September 6, 2023
Research led by UC Santa Cruz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Marco Rolandi shows the power of bioprotonic nanopores for disease detection.
GREAT program creates new opportunities for students to participate in research
September 1, 2023
This summer, the “Genome Research Experiences to Attract Talented Undergraduates into the Genomics Field to Enhance Diversity” (GREAT) programmed welcomed six students from California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to an intensive eight-week research program at UC Santa Cruz.
New blood test for noncoding RNA significantly improves cancer detection
August 31, 2023
Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Daniel Kim and his lab are developing more accurate and powerful liquid biopsy technologies that take advantage of signals from RNA “dark matter,” an understudied area of the genome.
Seismologists use deep learning to forecast earthquakes
August 31, 2023
A team of researchers at UC Santa Cruz and the Technical University of Munich created a new model that uses deep learning to forecast aftershocks.
Five UC Santa Cruz projects win California Climate Action Grant funding
August 31, 2023
Millions of dollars in new funding will support UC Santa Cruz and partners in tackling some of California's toughest climate change challenges through innovative research and community engagement.
10 mysteries of the Y chromosome
August 23, 2023
Researchers have just completed the first full sequence of a Y chromosome — what will we learn?
Koerner Family Foundation provides funds for five UCSC graduate students
August 23, 2023
Five UC Santa Cruz doctoral candidates in Baskin Engineering were awarded a fellowship that covered nearly one-third of their tuition and fees in the 2022-2023 academic year.
Scientists release the first complete sequence of a human Y chromosome
August 23, 2023
Scientists have completed the first full sequence of a human Y chromosome, completing the set of end-to-end human chromosomes and helping researchers to better understand human reproduction, evolution, and population change.
Nearly $1 million in USDA grants will support 3 UCSC-led agricultural technology projects
August 17, 2023
Three UC Santa Cruz research teams led by engineering faculty will pursue innovative agriculture technology projects with the support of seed grants from the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
Alumnus goes to great depths to sustain the study of oceans
August 4, 2023
After earning his Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz, James Hein became world-renowned for his deep-ocean research. He has left an indelible mark in his field and is now leaving a legacy in Earth and Planetary Sciences at UCSC by establishing an endowment that will help prepare the next generation of geoscience oceanographers.
Engineering faculty take on innovative climate resilience projects
July 28, 2023
Engineering professors are leading three major projects to address climate crisis issues with funding from UCSC’s newly launched Center for Coastal Climate Resilience.
NSF graduate fellowship winner reflects on successes at UC Santa Cruz
July 26, 2023
Graduating senior and NSF-GRFP recipient Valery Ortiz shares about her experience at UC Santa Cruz, her involvement with STEM Diversity, and what she hopes for the future.
UCSC’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience awards over $4.6 million to support California coastal projects
June 28, 2023
The UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience has awarded over $4.6 million in funding to 23 UC Santa Cruz research groups for pilot projects and implementation projects supporting efforts to fight climate change in coastal communities across California and beyond. Funds for these grant programs came from the California State Budget Act of 2022-23.
Chemist Timothy Johnstone wins funding from Beckman Young Investigator Program
June 26, 2023
The award funds a project to explore new chemical bonding motifs with novel reactivity to help develop sustainable chemical processes.
Paul Koch stepping down after 12 years as dean of physical and biological sciences
June 20, 2023
The Division of Physical and Biological Sciences has made exceptional strides in key areas under Dean Koch’s leadership.
Interdisciplinary team wins Small Farm prize in first-ever Farm Robotics Challenge
June 15, 2023
An interdisciplinary team of students and researchers created an autonomous weeder which was recently recognized with the Small Farm prize at the inaugural Farm Robotics Challenge.
Novel deep learning-based software detects and tracks individual cells with high precision
June 13, 2023
Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Ali Shariati and doctoral student Abolfazl Zarageri together with several student researchers in the Shariati lab have developed and released a new deep learning model called “DeepSea,” one of the only tools with the ability to segment cells, track them and detect their division to follow lineages of cells.
UC Santa Cruz now offers graduate degrees in materials science and engineering
June 1, 2023
The interdisciplinary program will serve students interested in developing new materials for next-generation technologies.
Associate Teaching Professor Alegra Eroy-Reveles receives Distinguished Teaching Award
May 30, 2023
Alegra Eroy-Reveles, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was honored for the positive impact she has had on her students, colleagues, and department.
Karen Miga named 2023 Searle Scholar to study uncharted regions of the human genome
May 18, 2023
Karen Miga, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at UC Santa Cruz, has been named a 2023 Searle Scholar.
Study reveals key molecular interaction that sets the timing of our biological clocks
May 18, 2023
New findings point toward a promising target for the development of therapies for sleep disorders, jet lag, and other effects of clock disruption.
Comb jellies proven to be the sibling group to all other animals
May 17, 2023
New research proves comb jellies are a unique lineage or “sibling group” whose ancestors diverged before the common ancestor of all other animals.
UCSC ranked number two on Wall Street Journal list for top public colleges for high-paying jobs in engineering
May 16, 2023
New rankings from the Wall Street Journal place UC Santa Cruz as the number two public school for high-paying jobs in engineering, just behind UC Berkeley, and the number nine public school for high-paying jobs in data science and software.
Physical and Biological Sciences Division honors three prominent alumni
May 16, 2023
The Division of Physical and Biological Sciences is honoring three stellar alumni—atmospheric scientist Cora E. Randall, pediatrician Ramon Resa, and marine scientist Colleen Reichmuth—with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Awards.
Excellence in Action: Celebrating UCSC’s 2023 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award Recipients
May 16, 2023
Now in its seventh year, the Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award welcomes its 2023 cohort.
Human pangenome reference will enable more complete and equitable understanding of genomic diversity
May 10, 2023
UC Santa Cruz scientists, along with a consortium of researchers, have released a draft of the first human pangenome—a new, usable reference for genomics that combines the genetic information of 47 individuals from different ancestral backgrounds to allow for a deeper, more accurate understanding of worldwide genomic diversity.
UC Santa Cruz to lead data collection center for major federal project on genetic underpinnings of neurological conditions
May 9, 2023
The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute will run the Data Coordination Center for the Scalable and Systematic Neurobiology of Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Disorder Risk Genes (SSPsyGene) Consortium.
Ed Green named QB3-Santa Cruz Scientific Director
May 3, 2023
Richard (Ed) Green, professor of biomolecular engineering, has been selected to serve as the next director of the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at UC Santa Cruz.
Geoscientist Emily Brodsky elected to the National Academy of Sciences
May 3, 2023
Emily Brodsky, professor of Earth and planetary sciences, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Deep neural network provides robust detection of disease biomarkers in real time
May 2, 2023
Holger Schmidt's lab has developed a deep neural network that improves the accuracy of their unique devices for detecting pathogen biomarkers.
Genome of famed sled dog Balto reveals genetic adaptations of working dogs
April 27, 2023
Still a good boy nearly 100 years after historic sled run, Balto has now helped scientists explore the genetics of working dogs and demonstrate the power of comparative genomics.
As the California sea lion population got bigger, so did male sea lions
April 27, 2023
Unlike other marine mammals, male California sea lions have gotten bigger over the past 50 years as their population has grown.
UCSC Chemical Screening Center symposium features drug discovery talks
April 26, 2023
The center will hold a Grand Reopening Celebration and Research Symposium on Friday, May 5, marking a major upgrade with new state-of-the-art equipment.
Electrical engineer wins award to support improvement of efficient, low-cost agricultural soil sensor systems
April 24, 2023
UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Colleen Josephson is a recipient of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) 2022 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award.
Elephant seals drift off to sleep while diving far below the ocean surface
April 20, 2023
Brainwave patterns show elephant seals take short naps while holding their breath on deep dives, averaging just 2 hours of sleep per day while at sea.
UC chemistry departments gather at UCSC to discuss DEI issues
April 20, 2023
The first UC-wide conference on diversity, equity, and inclusion in chemistry, held April 15 at UCSC, brought together chemistry faculty and students from across the UC system to discuss challenges and share ideas.
Naming system for transfer RNA fragments will increase research productivity, standardization
April 12, 2023
UC Santa Cruz Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Todd Lowe and his group created a new naming scheme for tRNA fragments aimed at standardizing research.
Undergrad Samantha Contreras wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
April 12, 2023
Samantha Contreras, a junior majoring in physics at UC Santa Cruz, has been named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.
Two major stem cell research projects supported with more than $2.6 million in funding
April 6, 2023
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will provide more than $2.6 million in total funding for two major stem cell research projects led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz, the organization announced.
Grad student Huazhi Ge wins postdoctoral fellowship for planetary science research
March 30, 2023
Huazhi Ge, a doctoral candidate in planetary science at UC Santa Cruz, has won a prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship from the Heising-Simons Foundation to support his postdoctoral research.
New program advises UCSC Ph.D. students on their path to entrepreneurship and venture capital
March 30, 2023
Many student-led innovations never make it out of the lab. A new program at UC Santa Cruz aims to change that by mentoring Ph.D. students in the life sciences on alternative career pathways outside academia: entrepreneurship and venture capital.
Researcher solves nearly 60-year-old game theory dilemma
March 14, 2023
Dejan Milutinovic has solved a nearly 60-year-old game theory dilemma called the wall pursuit game, with implications for better reasoning about autonomous systems such as driverless vehicles.
Planetary scientist Myriam Telus wins NSF CAREER Award
March 13, 2023
Myriam Telus, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her research on the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets.
New project will develop safer, highly accurate GPS alternative
March 9, 2023
Ricardo Sanfelice, UCSC professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his team of graduate students and researchers are designing a new and resilient Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) system.
SpikeGPT: researcher releases code for largest-ever spiking neural network for language generation
March 7, 2023
Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jason Eshraghian and two students recently released the open-sourced code for the largest language-generating spiking neural network ever, named SpikeGPT.
Graphene quantum dots show promise as novel magnetic field sensors
March 6, 2023
Physicists found that speeding electrons trapped in circular loops in graphene quantum dots are highly sensitive to external magnetic fields.
Leaf wetness sensor will enable better plant disease forecasting and management
March 2, 2023
An interdisciplinary team of researchers created a new type of sensor for more accurately measuring leaf wetness which will enable better plant disease forecasting and management.
RNA Rescue challenge invites players to solve puzzles and advance RNA therapeutics
February 21, 2023
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed a new puzzle challenge for the online game Eterna, enlisting players to help design a novel RNA drug to treat hemophilia A.
UC Santa Cruz leads DOE program to train computational high-energy physicists
February 3, 2023
The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) at UC Santa Cruz is leading a consortium of western research universities and national laboratories in a new program to train the next generation of computational high-energy physicists.
Three UCSC faculty win prestigious NSF CAREER awards
February 1, 2023
The CAREER Awards are NSF's most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
NIH grant funds research on a powerful new approach to drug development
January 30, 2023
A new NIH MIRA grant funds biochemist Scott Lokey’s efforts to develop complex, membrane-permeable molecules as next-generation therapeutic agents.
Five student teams embark on tech for social good projects
January 23, 2023
Five student teams will take on tech for social good projects with funding from the UCSC CITRIS and the Banatao Institute and the UCSC Institute for Social Transformation.
Researchers produce first-ever toolkit for RNA sequencing analysis using a ‘pantranscriptome’
January 17, 2023
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz introduce the first-ever method for analyzing RNA sequencing data genome-wide using a “pantranscriptome.”
Earth scientist James Zachos honored for climate change research
January 11, 2023
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category recognizes Zachos and fellow paleoclimatologist Ellen Thomas of Yale University.
Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age, study finds
December 26, 2022
By reconstructing the sea level history of the Bering Strait, scientists found that the strait remained flooded until around 35,700 years ago, not long before humans began migrating into the Americas.
New study presents vision of machine learning leveraged for precision medicine
December 16, 2022
In a new perspective published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics Marcella Gomez details a vision for how the field can move beyond static data to create systems that measure and monitor the real-time responses of the body to a variety of factors and use a machine learning algorithm to produce, and even in some instances carry out, a treatment plan.
UCSC Genome Browser selected to first-ever Global Core Biodata Resource List
December 15, 2022
The UCSC Genome Browser is now part of the first list of Global Core Biodata Resources—a collection of 37 resources whose long-term funding and sustainability is critical to life science and biomedical research worldwide.
Biochemist Laura Sanchez receives Allen Distinguished Investigator award
December 15, 2022
Sanchez is among 16 new Allen Distinguished Investigators awarded a total of $10 million in research funding to support cutting-edge projects in protein lifespan and nutrient sensing.
Breaking up is hard to do: Separation of Fiji and Vanuatu tied to Samoan seamounts
December 14, 2022
New analyses of volcanic rock samples collected in the 1980s link the geologic histories of these South Pacific islands to explain their current locations and character.
UC workforce innovation internship program returns summer 2023 for its second offering
December 12, 2022
The eight-week program offers UC students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on career experience in emerging fields of innovation.
UC Santa Cruz innovators among Santa Cruz Works 2022 Titans of Tech
December 6, 2022
Aviv Elor, alumnus and co-founder of Immergo Labs, and Nada Miljkovic, alumna, entrepreneur, and UCSC educator, are among the 11 Santa Cruz Works Titans of Tech finalists.
Integrated platform promises to accelerate drug discovery process
December 1, 2022
Novel approach integrates complex datasets from screening of natural products libraries, improving characterization of bioactive molecules and their mechanisms of action.
Long-standing genomic mystery about the origins of introns explained in new study
November 29, 2022
A new study led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) points to introners, one of several proposed mechanisms for the creation of introns, as an explanation for the origins of most introns across species.
Braingeneers develop novel method to automate the growth of brain tissue organoids on a chip
November 28, 2022
A team of engineers and scientists at UC Santa Cruz has developed a new method for remote automation of the growth of cerebral organoids – miniature, three-dimensional models of brain tissue grown from stem cells.
UCSC's 2022 iGEM team brings home gold medal, earns nomination for best therapeutics project
November 18, 2022
This year's UCSC iGEM team engineered a yeast-based Type 2 diabetes therapeutic.