Vice Chancellor and Provost Paul Alivisatos annouces that after serving in senior administrative roles within the College of Letters and Science (L&S) for a decade, Carla Hesse will return to her full-time faculty position after the completion of her terms next summer. A talented and versatile leader with a fervent belief in the power of a liberal arts education, Carla has served as executive dean of L&S since 2014 and as dean of its Division of Social Sciences since 2009.
September 18, 2018
September 12, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Campus leaders gathered this week to dedicate UC Berkeley’s newest residence hall to David Blackwell, the first black professor to receive tenure at Berkeley and a preeminent statistician who died in 2010. Blackwell Hall opened to more than 750 students in August and features study centers, a gym and plenty of ping-pong and pool tables.
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
"While bacteria that produce electricity have been found in exotic environments like mines and the bottoms of lakes, scientists have missed a source closer to home: the human gut." Read more...
September 11, 2018
The Letters & Science Advising Office recently put out a Survival Guide and Newsletter. Check it out!
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Semyon Dyatlov, who received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 2013, is joining the faculty as an assistant professor of mathematics.
September 10, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Artificial intelligence is invading many fields. Recently, researchers at Breakthrough Listen, a SETI project led by the University of California, Berkeley, used machine learning to discover 72 new fast radio bursts from a mysterious source some 3 billion light years from Earth.
September 6, 2018
Letters & Science Ph.D. graduate students are now serving as mentors to undergrads by offering workshops and office hours. Visit https://lsmentors.wixsite.com/home to view more information about upcoming workshops and mentors' office hours.
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
The number of Americans quitting their jobs for better opportunities is reportedly the highest it’s been since 2001, and surveys show that more than half cite the need for more stimulation, meaningful work, engagement and recognition. But what if employers and employees were to make those improvements in their existing workplaces? UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center is working on that.
September 4, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
CRISPR-Cas9 inventor Jennifer Doudna, a UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology, was awarded the 2018 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience today in Norway during a gala ceremony hosted by King Harald V.
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Ever wonder why conspiracy theorists stick to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary? New findings from UC Berkeley psychologists suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people’s sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong.
August 30, 2018
UC Berkeley's prestigious Biology Scholars Program has a revamped website. Check it out!
August 29, 2018
The Daily Californian
Gregory Devine, a senior neurobiology and music double major, worked through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program to study music as a form of emotion regulation with an eye to developing new forms of therapy. Devine was one of two recipients of a fellowship sponsored by the Leadership Fund, a donor-supported resource also responsible for student services such as Big Ideas courses and the On the Same Page program for incoming freshmen.
August 28, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Berkeley News sat down with Margaret Atwood for a few minutes before her appearance on campus last week to discuss the recent revival of interest in The Handmaid's Tale, which was selected for this year's On The Same Page program. The program, which is funded by L&S, gave all 8,800 incoming students a copy of the novel to read over the summer, and its themes will be incorporated into this semester's coursework.
August 27, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
California today issued its latest assessment of the many challenges the state faces from climate change — including wildfires like those still raging throughout the state – and highlighted for the first time the regional impacts with nine deep-dive reports spearheaded by University of California scientists. Read more...
August 22, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Intended global studies major Desmarie Jackson was among the 27 students who are the first recipients of the new African American Initiative Scholarship, made possible by an anonymous $1 million donation. Through the scholarships, administered by the San Francisco Foundation, each student will receive $8,000 annually. “It built the bridge that made going to Berkeley possible,” Desmarie said.
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
New rankings from the financial publication Forbes again place Berkeley at the very top of the list of public universities in the United States. Berkeley is also one of only two public universities among the top 25 schools overall, where it placed 14th. Forbes bases its evaluations of 650 U.S. campuses on alumni salaries, debt after graduation, retention and graduation rates, debt load upon graduation and signs of individual success including academic and career accolades, according to its website.
August 21, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
For three weeks in July and August, 30 undergraduates took a summer course to learn how to use the revolutionary gene-editing technology in preparation for jumping into the research lab while still students. Read more...
August 20, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
It’s a shiny new school year at UC Berkeley, and Chancellor Carol Christ said Monday the fall semester arrives with many reasons for celebration. Efforts to close the budget deficit are ahead of schedule, a strategic planning process is mapping out a path for growth deep into the 21st century, new housing will ease the burden on students and efforts to promote diversity will let the student, staff and faculty thrive.
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
Read profiles of some of Berkeley's diverse 8,800 incoming students — including intended psychology, music, and history majors.
August 16, 2018
UC Berkeley NewsCenter
The 2018 Academic Rankings of World Universities, an assessment of 500 top institutions around the globe by the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, places UC Berkeley at the pinnacle of public universities on the U.S. and fifth overall in the world. Among 54 subject areas, Berkeley ranked second in physics and statistics, third in biotechnology and economics, fourth in sociology, and fifth in computer science.