UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences

Four UC San Diego Faculty Earn Prestigious 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships UC San Diego faculty members Valentina Di Santo, Fleur Ferguson, Mattia Serra and Hao Zhang have been named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows. The four scientists represent UC San Diego’s Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), the School of Physical Sciences and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Congrats to UC San Diego's four newest Sloan Research Fellows, including Mattia Serra and Fleur Ferguson. The fellowships acknowledge researchers whose innovation and research accomplishments set them apart as the next generation of leaders. https://bit.ly/4rgWsK8 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Congratulations to Professor of Chemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou on being appointed the inaugural Kurt and Beatrice Shuler Chair in Theoretical Chemical Physics. Learn more about Joel in this Q&A: https://bit.ly/48kpIsL

#FacultySpotlight
#TheoreticalPhysics

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💘 Hope you find someone with the right chemistry.

#ValentinesDay
#ScienceHumor

CalTeach Program Director (Academic Coordinator II) University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!

UC San Diego’s CalTeach Program is hiring a Program Director. This 100% academic coordinator appointment will lead the CalTeach undergraduate program, which prepares STEM majors to become secondary math and science teachers. Apply today for full consideration: https://bit.ly/405ErCy

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💘 Wishing you a day full of positive energy and strong connections!

#ValentinesDay
#ScienceHumor
#PhysicsFun

Brain blood vessels are highly interconnected yet the way it regulates flow is not well-studied. To learn more, UCSD physics professor David Kleinfeld formulated a mathematical model to predict the impact of a change in a single vessel on the flow through the other vessels. https://bit.ly/4trYgl6

Happy Valentine’s Day from UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences! 💗 Our love for science—and for you—is truly irrational.

#ValentinesDay
#MathHumor
#ScienceValentine

The largest #GasGiants blur the line between planets and brown dwarfs. How do these large objects form? A team of researchers, led by the UC San Diego, used spectral data from #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope to find a surprising answer to this longstanding astronomical question. https://bit.ly/3Oe31OY

From Cytoplasm to Nucleus: a New Workflow to Improve Gene Therapy Odds Gene therapy holds the promise of curing disease; however, to be effective, the new gene must make it into a cell’s nucleus—a difficult task. UC San Diego Professor of Biochemistry Neal Devaraj’s lab has unveiled a new method that increases the efficacy of gene delivery while minimizing side effects

#GeneTherapy holds the promise of curing disease; however, to work, the new gene must make it into a cell’s nucleus—a difficult task. Neal Devaraj’s lab at UC San Diego has unveiled a method that increases the efficacy of gene delivery while minimizing side effects. https://bit.ly/4r8GkKU

Blueprints for Designing T Cells that Kill By mapping the varied states of our body's immune cells, UC San Diego researchers are working to empower the next generation of cancer immunotherapies.

A study led by UC San Diego researchers, incl. Wei Wang, have mapped the genetic programs that determine the behavior of powerful white blood cells, called CD8 killer T cells, which are critical for controlling infections and fighting cancer. Their work appears in Nature https://bit.ly/4tnQyZo

Congratulations to UC San Diego Professor of Physics Suckjoon Jun on being named a Pew Innovation Fund Investigator! 🎉

Join UC San Diego's School of Physical Sciences on Feb. 25 for a virtual coffee chat showcasing the breadth and depth of our chemistry department, from atmospheric chemistry and chemical biology to quantum science and materials chemistry--we do it all! Register today: https://bit.ly/3ZtBsUt

Plastic Pollution Promotes Hazardous Water Conditions, New Study Finds A new UC San Diego study reveals that fossil fuel-based plastic pollution may be promoting toxic water conditions by removing animals that keep water at safe levels. Biologically based plastics had a much smaller impact.

A new UC San Diego study reveals that fossil fuel-based #PlasticPollution may be promoting toxic water conditions by removing animals that keep waters safe. Bio-based plastics, like those made in Michale Burkart's lab, had a much smaller impact. https://bit.ly/49RFrjD #SustainableScience

Adventures in Superconductivity: A Conversation with Brian Maple UC San Diego Professor of Physics Brian Maple is an alumnus who has been with the university since the 1960s. In this Q&A, he discusses his work in condensed matter physics, his long tenure at UC San Diego, and a rager of a conference known as the “Woodstock of Physics.”

UC San Diego Professor of Physics Brian Maple is an alumnus who has been with the university since the 1960s. In this Q&A, he discusses his work in condensed matter physics, his long tenure at UC San Diego, and a rager of a conference known as the “Woodstock of Physics.” https://bit.ly/3ZzjH5U

The Heising-Simons Foundation Astronova Fellowship supports ✨astronomy instrumentalists✨ as they begin their careers through funding, professional development and networking. This year, UC San Diego is proud to be one of six host institutions. More about the fellowship here: https://bit.ly/49RGQpa

Congratulations to UC San Diego astronomy professor Adam Burgasser on being named a fellow of American Astronomical Society (AAS). Adam was recognized for his work on understanding the nature of brown dwarfs and for his extensive leadership roles in the astronomy community. https://bit.ly/3NmCjDy

💥Congrats💥 to postdoc Steffani Grondin, selected as the 2026 American Astronomical Society (AAS) Shapley Lecturer. The Shapley Lecture is a prestigious program that brings distinguished astronomers to schools and communities to inspire broader engagement with science. https://bit.ly/4qlNgnx

Congratulations to UC San Diego Professor of Physics Alex Fraño for being a part of the inaugural  Scialog: Quantum Matter and Information cohort! Alex's work will focus on Quantum Differential Spectroscopy: Mapping Entanglement in Solids. https://bit.ly/4qe1LcY

Join us for the NSF HDR & UCSD SMASH Hackathon January 17-18! Apply #MachineLearning to scientific benchmarks in data modeling. Refine your #DataScience skills, network with scientists and have fun! All experience levels welcome, registration is free ➡️ https://bit.ly/49BCO5b

Alexis Komor, Expanding the Gene Editing Toolbox - Advanced Science News Editing DNA may still sound like the stuff of science fiction but, for Alexis Komor, this is business as usual.

UC San Diego chemistry professor Alexis Komor is an Advanced Science Young Innovator awardee. Read about her work developing base-editing methods that are already curing patients and what the future of #Genomics looks like. https://bit.ly/4jofbjI #GeneEditing #MedicalInnovation

As we look ahead to the new scientific discoveries of 2026, we're taking time to look back at 2025 and all we accomplished to make the world a better place for all. https://bit.ly/3KH7RDf

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season.

#FridayFunnies #ScienceDadJokes

Degree Plus Priority Application Deadline: December 10, 2025 <br> Regular Application Deadline: January 2, 2026 <br><br> Please contact us for any questions at degreeplus@ucsd.edu.

Degree Plus launches Winter 2026. Earn a free, skills-based certificate and gain real-world experience through an optional paid internship while finishing your UC San Diego degree. Courses include project management, lean six sigma and more. Applications due soon! https://bit.ly/4rJwiQN.

Congratulations to graduate student teaching scholar Johnny Jingze Li and Professor of Mathematics Bo Li on their 2025 Summer Graduate Training Scholars and Mentorship Awards for upholding our mission of teaching and learning excellence! 🎉

Congratulations to Mattia Serra on receiving the Interdisciplinary Early Career Science Prize from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics! 🎉 Mattia has made groundbreaking advances in using #FluidDynamics to better understand developmental biology.

Nobel Prize-Winning Metal-Organic Frameworks Are the Jungle Gyms of Chemistry UC San Diego chemistry professor Seth Cohen has made a career out of studying and developing metal-organic frameworks. Currently, his lab is working to develop modified MOFs with new characteristics and capabilities. Here he explains what MOFs are, how they work and the great promise they hold.

#MetalOrganicFrameworks hold great promise from extracting water from air to degrading toxic chemicals. They are so fantastic, their development won this year's #NobelPrize2025. UC San Diego chemistry prof Seth Cohen answers everyone's burning question: what are they exactly? https://bit.ly/4rObRT9

Science Today for a Healthier Tomorrow In a series of videos, graduate students and researchers in biochemistry professor Alexis Komor's lab share what they're working on and the importance of federal funding.

Alexis Komor's lab at UC San Diego is at the cutting edge of curing #GeneticDisorders like sickle cell anemia. Her team is working to develop the most precise, efficient base-editing tools. And none of it would be possible without federal research funding. https://bit.ly/4p2RaRw #FundScience

Math is having a moment. The Quantum Computing club brings the thrill of "scientific gambling" with probabilities to UC San Diego.

A look back at the career of Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Ed Dennis, who received this year's Revelle Medal, the highest honor awarded by UC San Diego to recognize faculty members for sustained, distinguished and extraordinary service to the campus. https://bit.ly/3K77dyu