College of Chemistry

Watch Jennifer Doudna's Nobel Prize award ceremony

December 4, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

For Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, the highlight of this most extraordinary Nobel Prize Week was a socially distanced award ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 8, on her patio in Berkeley with 11 people in attendance, followed by takeout. But if the glow surronding her was any indication, she could have been receiving the medal and citation from the King of Sweden on the stage at Stockholm Concert Hall. The traditional celebration has been rescheduled for next year.

A videographer and photographer captured the intimate gathering with the highlight being the presentation of the Nobel gold...

UC Berkeley and Gladstone scientists develop new Covid-19 test

December 7, 2020
by Kara Manke | UC Berkeley Public Relations

image for lighting up covid test

In the diagnostic test, a patient sample is mixed with CRISPR Cas13 proteins (purple) and molecular probes (green) which fluoresce, or light up, when cut. When coronavirus RNA is present in the sample, it prompts the CRISPR proteins to snip the molecular probes, causing the whole sample to emit light. This fluorescence can be detected with a...

College of Chemistry announces lectureship in honor of professor William Lester

December 7, 2020
by David Villani | Daily Californian

William Lester

William Lester during his time at IBM. (photo: courtesy William Lester)

UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry established a new lectureship for research from traditionally underrepresented scholars in honor of campus graduate professor William Lester.

Lester is a longtime campus faculty...

Undergraduate students compete in national L'Oréal Brandstorm competition

May 24, 2019
by Marge d'Wylde | College of Chemistry

L'Oréal Brandstorm competition

Two talented undergraduate teams, with members from the College of Chemistry and Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, competed in this year's USA national L'Oréal Brandstorm Competition in New York City in April. Both teams made it to the final round, with a third place tie out of approximately 150 teams nationwide.

Peidong Yang and Sunjay Kumar named AAAS Fellows

November 30, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Sanjay Kurmar and Peidong Yang

Photo: Sanjay Kumar and Peidong Yang. (File photos UC Berkeley)

Congratulations to Professors Sanjay Kumar and Peidong Yang on being elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s largest scientific societies. The distinction was awarded this year to 489 scientists, engineers and innovators for...

AIChE student chapter wins Western Region title

November 19, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

2019-2020 executive board AIChE student chapter

AIChE UC Berkeley Student Chapter leadership pose during their weekly ZOOM meeting to discuss club events. Members include Jeremy Murphy-Ortega, Ashutosh Bhadouria, Julia Glasser, Stephen Chang, Esther Leem, Sancialita Sathiyamoorthy, Andrea Chen, Samantha Yang, Meagan Macavinta, Ariana Dunlap,...

Extreme ultraviolet probe aids in discovery of dark matter

November 18, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Michael Zuerch assembles a cryogenic sample holder.

Image: Michael Zuerch demonstrates the assembly of a cryogenic sample holder. (Photo: Michael Barnes)

The last decade has been marked by a series of remarkable discoveries identifying how the universe is composed. Currently it is understood that the mysterious substance dark matter makes...

The College of Chemistry celebrates Jennifer Doudna

November 12, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

The College of Chemistry was delighted to host an informal discussion with Nobel Laureate, and College faculty member, Jennifer Doudna. Hosted by Dean Douglas Clark and Chair of Chemistry Matthew Francis, Jennifer discussed a wide range of topics from what it was like finding about the award to some really great advice on how to manage your education and career. The session was moderated by graudate students Max Sosa...

Road to chiral alkylamines paved with iridium

November 12, 2020
Leigh Krietsch Boerner | C&EN

Iridium reaction

Alkylamines are one of the most useful compounds in a chemist’s bag of tricks. Pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and polymers often contain these functional groups. Ideally, chemists would like to make alkylamines from widely available feedstocks, but the existing methods for doing so don’t excel at reacting with internal alkenes....

David Schaffer named Acrivos Professional Progress Award recipient

November 12, 2020
Gordon Ellis | AIChE press release

David V. Schaffer

This fall, ChEnected is introducing readers to the recipients of AIChE’s 2020 Institute and Board of Directors’ Awards, which are AIChE’s highest honors. Recipients are nominated by the chemical engineering community and voted on by the members of AIChE’s volunteer-led Awards Committee. These awards recognize outstanding achievements and world-class contributions across a...