News

A chance discovery on her first day at the University and Jepson Herbaria in 2005 changed Kelly Agnew’s life, leading her down a rabbit hole of Civil War battles and prison camps, gold rush settlements, the exploits and foibles of California’s earliest botanists, the founding of the Sierra Club and ultimately the establishment at UC Berkeley of the largest plant collection at any public university in the world.

In her four years at UC Berkeley, Lucky Simsuangco, 22, said she faced a lot of unexpected turmoil: Thick wildfire smoke canceled classes and darkened skies, regional power shut-offs interrupted classes, and a worldwide pandemic threatened serious illness and moved university life online.

But on Saturday, at Berkeley’s first commencement ceremony in historic California Memorial Stadium since 2019, Simsuangco sat with friends under clear blue skies, wearing her cap and gown and savoring the final moments of her college experience...

Undergraduate students typically start their university years expecting the greatest challenges will come in the classroom or the lab, but the Class of 2022 also had to work through a pandemic, natural disasters and historic social turmoil.

Six UC Berkeley’s faculty members were elected today to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

The six were among 120 members and 30 international members elected at the conclusion of the academy’s 159th annual meeting. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive...

As a kid growing up in Orange County, UC Berkeley biology professor Randy Schekman remembers collecting a jar of dirty pond scum from a nearby riverbed, sliding it under the lens of his toy microscope and being transfixed by the tiny, cellular world he saw.

That fascination led Schekman to an illustrious career: a Berkeley biology professorship and a 2013 Nobel Prize for groundbreaking research on cellular membranes...

UC Berkeley graduate schools and programs scored high in the 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report. The campus is among 800 institutions with graduate schools surveyed annually by the magazine, which also surveys more than 2,100 graduate programs, including programs at UC Berkeley...

ATLANTA – In a total team performance that saw the Golden Bears produce points throughout their lineup, Cal captured the NCAA Championship in men's swimming & diving Saturday, the seventh time in school history the team has stood atop the podium.

Destin Lasco got the Bears going by winning the 200-yard backstroke Saturday, and Cal consistently put up high finishes throughout the final session of the four-day meet...

In a star-studded private event Friday, March 11th, the College of Chemistry ushered in its 150th anniversary. On hand for the celebration were three Nobel laureates in Chemistry: Jennifer Doudna (2020), David MacMillan (2021), and a special guest appearance by Yuan T. Lee (1986). Jennifer and David unveiled their newly installed plaques honoring their Nobel prize in the College’s Latimer lobby...

California lawmakers on Monday voted unanimously to pass legislation that overturns court decisions that required UC Berkeley to freeze student enrollment to 2020-21 levels.

Novel partnerships unveiled today — one between UC Berkeley, the city of Berkeley and several local nonprofit organizations, and the other between the campus, the city and a local church — will support unhoused individuals who live and gather in People’s Park, where work will begin this summer on urgently-needed student housing and on an open space revitalization project...

We are extremely disheartened by today’s ruling by the Supreme Court of California, which leaves intact a lower court order that will reduce and then freeze enrollment at 2020-2021 levels and prevent thousands of students who would have been

We’re looking forward to resuming in-person instruction on Monday, Jan. 31. We’re hopeful that the worst of the omicron surge is behind us but have plans in place should we see high numbers of students, staff and faculty unable to come to campus for COVID-19 related reasons...

While the COVID-19 Omicron variant surges across the country, UC Berkeley is in position to combat the continued pandemic this semester on campus through increased access for students, staff and faculty to testing, booster vaccines and therapeutic care. Campus leaders and health experts are hopeful COVID rates will begin to drop from their recent plateau by the end of the month, and they are committed to the return of in-person classes on Jan.

With COVID-19 cases surging and positivity rates on the rise, it’s clear we’re in for a challenging January. As we navigate the omicron wave it’s important that we be especially flexible and patient with one another. In this spirit, we’re writing to share some updates to our instructional plans for the spring semester...

Xander Young was just a few weeks into his first semester at UC Berkeley in March 2020 when in-person life ended and he, and all his fellow classmates, moved classes, clubs and college comradery online...