News Archive

February 16, 2016 — The University of California, San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities is "CRASSHing" the Conference for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), sponsored by campus Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP), Feb. 19, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Institute for the Americas auditorium. To help AEP assert recognition of undergraduate student research, Dean Cristina Della Coletta will deliver opening remarks, and noted cosmetic surgeon and alumnus Dr. Gregory Buford, ’90, literature, will deliver the keynote address. Alumni, faculty and students are encouraged to attend the informative, fun-filled event and to present posters, artwork and performances.

February 16, 2016 — An international team of computer scientists developed a method that greatly improves researchers’ ability to sequence the DNA of organisms that can’t be cultured in the lab, such as microbes living in the human gut or bacteria living in the depths of the ocean. They published their work in the Feb. 1 issue of Nature Methods.

February 12, 2016 — When playwright Deborah Stein and director Suli Holum began working on the musical comedy “Movers + Shakers” in 2012, it was the height of the presidential election season and they were amused by the foibles of politicians such as Sarah Palin and Anthony Weiner. Flash forward to 2016 and another election year. The players have changed, but the intersections of “sex, power and hubris” portrayed in the play, which premieres Feb. 13 at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre District at the University of California, San Diego, are just as fascinating.

February 11, 2016 — Clear images of minute packages meant to shield healthy cells from potent anti-cancer drugs have helped researchers evaluate a promising of new approach to chemotherapy.

February 11, 2016 — A single human gene can produce many different proteins. In the first large-scale study of its kind, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and McGill University report that most of these sibling proteins encoded by the same gene — known as protein isoforms — often play radically different roles within tissues and cells.

February 11, 2016 — You’re cruising along the highway and suddenly the dreaded “check engine” light blinks on your dashboard. As you rifle through your manual trying to determine the cause, steam starts rising from under the hood. What now? On Jan. 27, students at UC San Diego were invited to learn how to respond to just such roadside emergencies as part of a new Life Skills series. The workshop, hosted by the UC San Diego Women’s Center, also focused on how to find a reputable repair shop. Studies have shown that women, in particular, can be the target of higher price quotes on auto repairs.

February 11, 2016 — Timely funding from the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is giving scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography a chance to create a detailed survey of the elevations of Southern California beaches and cliffs in the midst of one of the strongest El Niño seasons of the last 60 years.

February 11, 2016 — In the northern fjords of Iceland, during the darkest days of the year, Rachel Beetz set out to capture the movement of the stars. Every night for 30 days—one moon cycle—she positioned her camera to take a long exposure photograph. The patterns of movement, or “star trails,” would become her launching point for composing a new piece of music.

February 11, 2016 — Universities have used endowed faculty chairs for more than 500 years to recognize, recruit and retain the world’s top scholars. Faculty fellowships, similarly, honor junior faculty who show capacity for great distinction in their research. Both honors provide a perpetual source of funds to support scholarly work, and they can play an important role in attracting and retaining academic leaders. To help the campus stay competitive, Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla recently launched the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Endowed Chair and Faculty Fellowship Challenge.

February 11, 2016 — UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences alumna Helen Griffith had little interest in a career in education when she came to campus as a transfer student. There was no way, she said, she would work around the clock like her mother did as a teacher and principal, but one thing stuck: a passion for reading and, hand-in-hand, libraries. She grew up loving the iconic Geisel library at UC San Diego.