Vice Chair of Undergraduate Education Professor Jorge Torres has been selected for one of UCLA’s highest teaching honors, the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award for Senate Faculty for Undergraduate Mentorship, in recognition of his unrivaled success in mentoring diverse undergraduate students toward careers in science. Torres is one of six campuswide Academic Senate-represented recipients chosen by […]

Chemical Biology Ph.D. student Glenn Nurwono (Park and Tang groups) is one of six students selected for the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award for Teaching Assistants. This award celebrates teaching assistants who demonstrate effective teaching that incorporates the best practices, aims to inspire and challenge students, and supports the success of all students. The award committee […]

Third-year organic chemistry graduate students Branden Chaffin (Doyle), Allison Clark (Garg), Alexander Maertens (Doyle/Houk), Giulianna Miseo (Garg), and Christina Rivera (Garg) have been named the 2026 Senior Foote Fellows. The Senior Foote Fellowships support our most outstanding third-year graduate students upon completion of their qualifying examination for their Ph.D. degree and the Junior Foote Fellowships […]

Professor Kendall Houk and graduate students Alexander Maertens and Qingyang Zhou collaborate with Professor Grace Han’s group at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), to design a system that captures solar energy and releases heat on demand through catalytic activation. Its reversibility makes it a promising candidate for sustainable heating applications such as water heating […]

On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry launched its Shared Instrumentation Lab Campaign. Our mission is to raise at least $50,000 in 30 days to equip our Molecular Instrumentation Center (MIC) and the Biochemistry Instrumentation Core Facility (BIF) facilities with brand-new instrumentation.  Your support will empower innovation and help equip […]

Pioneering biophysicist and genomic scientist Professor Carlos Bustamante (University of California, Berkeley) gave the 10th annual Carolyn and Charles Knobler Lecture on May 4. His lecture, entitled “FACT Promotes Efficient Pol II Transcription by Modulating the Topographic Features of the Nucleosomal Barrier”, was followed by a question-and-answer period and then by a reception. Select photos […]

Undergraduate senior biochemistry student Lillian Ott (Mohanty group) has been awarded the 2026 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, one of the country’s most prestigious honors for graduate students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The program, jointly sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force, supports doctoral […]

Professor Richard Kaner and researcher Maher El-Kady are part of a research team whose study demonstrates how graphene oxide, a carbon-based nanomaterial, can be incorporated into cementitious mixtures to create stronger, higher-performance concrete. From UCLA Samueli Newsroom: UCLA Researchers Refine Use of Graphene Oxide for Stronger, More Durable Concrete Findings point to practical ways of […]