Campus News

Podcast: Berkeley Talks: What is understanding? Berkeley scholars discuss

September 9, 2024

Four people sitting in chairs, talking in front of a black backgroundIn Berkeley Talks episode 208, three UC Berkeley professors from a wide range of disciplines — psychology, biology and ethnic studies — broach a deep question: What is understanding?

“When I think about it through the lens of being a psychologist, I really think about understanding as a demonstration of, say, knowledge that we have...

Berkeley Talks: The science behind the emotions in 'Inside Out 2'

August 9, 2024

 Dacher Keltner, Lisa Damour, Allison Briscoe-Smith and Maurissa Horwitz

There’s a scene toward the end of the new Pixar film Inside Out 2 where the main character, 13-year-old Riley, is having a panic attack in the penalty box at a hockey match.

She’s just been reprimanded for tripping an opponent in frustration. On the outside, she’s seen sitting in the small space while grasping at her chest and neck, breathing in...

Four new faculty hires are a quantum leap for experimental physics

August 1, 2024

Headshots of four professors against a blue and yellow graphic background

Already known as a leader in quantum science and a testbed for quantum computing, the University of California, Berkeley, is expanding its footprint with the hiring of four early-career experimental physicists who use quantum systems to explore new frontiers in physics.

The new assistant professors of physics will augment a wide range of quantum research...

As the Olympics begin, Berkeley marks 50 years of excavating the Games’ origins in Greece

July 23, 2024

In Greece, and about 2,000 miles from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, UC Berkeley is celebrating 100 years of archaeological excavation at a site of the ancient Panhellenic Games, a religious and athletic event that inspired the modern Olympics.

Berkeley’s Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology in Ancient Nemea, Greece, also is marking the campus’s 50th year there. The 45-acre site opened in 1924, but Berkeley arrived in the early...

Richard Harland named interim dean for the Division of Biological Sciences

June 27, 2024

The following message was shared with the UC Berkeley community on June 27, 2024.

Dear Colleagues,

The search for the next dean of the Division of Biological Sciences is ongoing; we remain optimistic that we will be able to share news regarding the dean search in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we are grateful to Senior Associate Dean Richard M. Harland, who has graciously agreed to step into the dean role on an interim basis effective July 1, 2024.

Senior Associate Dean Harland has an...

New course teaches about democracy in the real world

June 24, 2024

In his spare time between classes, fourth-year student Gabriel Alexander Juarez ’24 plays guitar in two punk bands. The political science major started one
Gabriel Alexander Juarez performing at 924 Gilman of his bands, Raccoon Hospital, with his UC Berkeley classmates. When it was time to choose his civic engagement project for his class, Professor Darren C. Zook’s “...

Retiring University Carillonist Jeff Davis reflects on ‘the coolest job in the world’

June 10, 2024

Jeff Davis’ workspace is rare: It’s UC Berkeley’s iconic Campanile, one of the world’s tallest clock-and-bell towers and home to 20 tons of ancient fossils, a famous falcon family and its centerpiece — a 61-bell grand carillon.

But Davis’ position as university carillonist and the teaching program he’s built on campus are just as rare. Davis, who is retiring July 1 at the age of 80, is one of only six full-time paid university carillonists in North America. And...

Seven UC Berkeley scientists elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 24, 2024

Seven UC Berkeley scientists — including a chemist, a psychologist, an engineer, two biologists and two physicists — are among 250 new members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences today.

The Academy recognizes excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and to work together to cultivate art and science.

“We honor these artists, scholars, scientists, and leaders in the public,...

Far from toxic, lactate rivals glucose as body's major fuel after a carbohydrate meal

May 15, 2024

As a student competing in track and field at his Parlier high school, Robert Leija was obsessed with how to improve his performance and, in particular, prevent the buildup of lactic acid in his muscles during training. Like many athletes, he blamed it for the performance fatigue and muscle soreness he experienced after intense workouts.

But as a kinesiology student at Fresno State, he was handed an out-of-print textbook that told him he had it all wrong. Lactate wasn't a danger sign that athletes had depleted their body's supply of oxygen, but likely a normal product of the...

Tutoring at San Quentin helped UC Berkeley's top senior define his future

May 7, 2024

Growing up in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood, Christopher Ying had vague plans to become a lawyer and began prepping by joining the speech, debate and mock trial teams at Lowell High School.

But he credits the University of California, Berkeley, and the opportunities it provided — in particular, to report and edit for the Daily Californian and to tutor inmates at the former San Quentin State Prison — with helping him find his true passion in the legal field: giving a voice to marginalized members of society.

Those only-at-Berkeley experiences — plus a 3.981 grade...