News

The Physics “Class of 1966” Finds Cohesion in Diaspora
After they graduated, they dispersed across the globe. Yet over the past five decades, they have remained in touch, even during the pandemic. An update on the Physics Class of ’66…

The Division of Physical Sciences Announces Inaugural EDI Excellence Awardees
The division is excited to announce the recipients of its inaugural EDI Excellence Awards: Alex Frañó, Megan Li, Stephanie Mora Garcia, Jeanette Starpine and SACNAS. Their work provides invaluable support to EDI initiatives in the division and across campus.

Three UC San Diego Math Professors Win Simons Fellowships
Congratulations to three UC San Diego mathematics faculty – Adrian Ioana, Melvin Leok and Rayan Saab – on being named 2022 Simons Fellows. The fellowship will provide them additional support to focus on research and intellectual stimulation.

Shelley Wright Named 2022 SETI Institute Drake Award Recipient
Associate Professor of Physics Shelley Wright will receive this year's Drake Award from the SETI Institute for her work on SETI instrumentation and using infrared wavelengths to detect extraterrestrial communications.

Unstable Molecule Clicks with Synthetic Strategy
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Josh Figueroa and postdoc Shuai Wang have discovered a new way to stabilize diphosphorus using a single metal ion, reinforcing the diagonal relationship between phosphorus and carbon, and providing a new tool in synthetic chemistry.

2022 George W. and Carol A. Lattimer Faculty Research Fellows Announced
Congratulations to the latest recipients of the division’s Lattimer Faculty Research Fellowship –  Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Galia Debelouchina and Professor of Physics Olga Dudko.

Bridging a Gap in the Theory of Synaptic Transmission
Professor of Physics Olga Dudko and physics Ph.D. student Bin Wang have discovered a universal theory of synaptic transmission. The discovery revealed that synapses with strikingly different properties still exhibit similar patterns and behaviors.

Franklin Garrett Receives Inclusive Excellence Award
Congratulations to Franklin Garrett on receiving the 2021 Inclusive Excellence Award for his work supporting the campus’ equity, diversity and inclusion goals. Read our Q&A to learn more about his work, his thesis research and what he loves about UC San Diego.

Three UC San Diego faculty members receive 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship
UC San Diego celebrates three new Sloan Fellows, including Assistant Professor of Mathematics Frederick Manners. These are one of the most competitive and prestigious awards available to early career researchers.

Massimiliano Di Ventra Named an IEEE Fellow
Physics Professor Massimiliano Di Ventra has been named an IEEE Fellow for his work on quantum transport in nanoscale systems and “in-memory computing.” Di Ventra is the university’s only 2022 IEEE fellow.

Undergraduate Megan Li Receives Prestigious USRA Award
Congratulations to Megan Li on being named a USRA Distinguished Undergraduate. Read our Q&A to learn more about her studies, her plans for the future and why she wants to look for alien life.

COVID Gets Airborne
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Rommie Amaro has, along with partners across the U.S. and around the world, modeled the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 inside an aerosol for the first time. These models provide an up-close look at how the virus travels and thrives in the air.

Physics, Computation Experts Help Earn $15M to Advance AI, Data Analysis
Assistant Physics Professor Javier Duarte will help lead the new Accelerated AI Algorithms for Data-Driven Discovery (A3D3) Institute, a $15 million NSF-funded effort with a mission to leverage AI algorithms for analyses of large scientific data sets.

Students, faculty and staff assemble Do-It-Yourself Air Filtration Boxes that Fight COVID-19 Spread
Continuing to ramp up Return to Learn strategies to make UC San Diego as safe as possible, campus scientists and student volunteers assembled low-cost, easy-to-produce boxed air filters that can be deployed in school settings to filter air to minimize aerosol transmission of COVID-19.

Michael Alves Awarded NSF Fellowship to Broaden Diversity in Chemistry
First-generation PhD student Michael Alves is working to expand mentoring and paid school-year research for underrepresented minority students. “The (NSF) MPS-Ascend fellowship seems to be one of the first steps made to bring EDI work beyond PhD programs on a large scale.”

Physicists Simulate Artificial Brain Networks with New Quantum Materials
As bandwidth demands on today’s computers reach their limit, scientists are developing systems with new materials that can match the speed and precision of animal nervous systems. UC San Diego physicists have now simulated the foundation of new types of computing devices that mimic brain functions.

Researchers trained mice to control seemingly random bursts of dopamine in their brains, challenging theories of reward and learning
Biophysicist David Kleinfeld authors a Research Brief in The Conversation that describes recent work in his laboratory on dopamine, the “feel good” neurological messenger related to reward and pleasure. Kleinfeld and his colleagues recently published research in which they we were able to train mice to voluntarily increase the size and frequency of seemingly random dopamine impulses in their brains. The findings challenge theories of reward and learning behaviors.

It’s Not Just SARS-COV-2: Most Respiratory Viruses Spread by Aerosols
Publishing in Science, Kim Prather and international colleagues analyzed superspreading events during the COVID pandemic and found that airborne transmission is the most likely transmission route, as well as the means of spread for many other respiratory viruses, rather than surface contacts or contact with large droplets.

Here’s how cool a star can be and still achieve lasting success
Science News features astrophysicists Dino Hsu and Adam Burgasser in an article about their new research on the boundary between red and brown dwarfs. New research by Hsu, Burgasser and their colleagues describes the dividing line between the two types by exploiting how they move through space.

Researchers Discover Hidden SARS-CoV-2 ‘Gate’ That Opens to Allow COVID Infection
New visualizations of SARS-CoV-2 have allowed researchers to discover how the virus enters and infects healthy human cells. They found that glycan sugar molecules act as infection “gates” to our cell’s receptors.