A UCLA research team led by Professor Xiangfeng Duan, with postdoctoral fellows Dr. Laiyuan Wan and Dr. Boxuan Zhou, has discovered a way to dramatically improve how electrical current enters perovskite semiconductors, an emerging class of materials with significant potential for next-generation electronics. From UCLA Newsroom (By Nicole Wilkins): How UCLA researchers cleared the nanoscale […]

The Graduate Biochemistry Student Association (gBSA) recently hosted a Wine and Paint Night, an evening of creativity and connection enjoyed by Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate students and post-docs. Held in Boyer Hall 159, the event provided a welcoming space for attendees to unwind, socialize, and express themselves artistically. Photos below – Teams showing progress of […]

On Tuesday, February 17, 2026, members of the UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry community gathered at UCLA Carnesale Commons to celebrate the installation of 13 endowed chairs in the department. Donors, faculty, students, alumni, friends, and family members gathered for a reception before moving to the Palisades Ballroom for dinner and the ceremony, where chairholders and […]

Ninety-seven years ago today, Chemistry 1A became the first class ever taught on UCLA’s Westwood campus. After a mysterious fire reduced the university’s chemistry laboratories to ashes in 1929, a group of students unknowingly inaugurated UCLA’s future home in Westwood. The 125 students enrolled in Professor Hosmer W. Stone’s Chemistry 1A course were in a […]

Fifth-year chemistry graduate student Aleksandras “Alek” Lotuzas (Harran group) was one of 10 finalists in the 2026 UCLA Grad Slam competition, held March 11. Lotuzas’ three-minute presentation, “Harnessing Green Tea to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease”, can be viewed as part of the winning videos here. His presentation begins at 1:14:50. As a finalist, Lotuzas will receive […]

A research team co-led by Professor Abigail Doyle, postdoctoral fellow Dr. Simone Gallarati, and graduate student Erin Bucci, together with Professor Matthew S. Sigman at the University of Utah, has used machine learning to build a smarter prediction system that could speed up the drug discovery process at a fraction of the cost. Their study […]

Distinguished Research Professor Ken Houk was the featured guest for Pomona College’s 62nd Robbins Lecture Series, “Computational Organic and Biological Chemistry,” where he delivered four talks from February 24-27. “I had a wonderful visit meeting everyone—from about 80 high school students who attended my first lecture and asked thoughtful questions about both my science and my career, to […]

Michael Jung, Distinguished Professor and UCLA’s Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in Medicinal Drug Discovery, has been selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Medicinal Chemistry (MEDI) to receive the 2026 Gertrude Elion Medicinal Chemistry Award in recognition of his impact on medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. The award honors Gertrude Elion, the […]