Category: Features

Splice of life: Merging RNA biology and medicine
UC Santa Cruz researchers are using their deep expertise in the structure and function of RNA molecules to tackle diseases from hemophilia to cancer.

Let’s ChatGPT
Artificial intelligence chatbots are all over the news these days, but what exactly are they, and what do they mean for the future of education—and humanity? UCSC experts weigh in.

State of the art
UCSC’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences has just opened a new climate-controlled gallery on Santa Cruz’s Westside—the first dedicated space for the institute, and a bridge between the university’s arts community and the greater Santa Cruz arts scene.

Monsters among us
The Center for Monster Studies at UC Santa Cruz may have a fanciful name—but its leaders say serious study of these frightful fictional beings shows how much they have to teach us.

A journey through Egypt’s past and present
Two UCSC professors took a group of history students to Egypt on a first-of-its-kind trip in December, making classroom lessons come alive in a life-changing experience

Waves of resilience
UCSC’s emerging Center for Coastal Climate Resilience is applying scientific research to develop policy around climate change and coastal sustainability, while incorporating the campus’s ideals of social justice and collaboration.

Raising the bars
UC Santa Cruz’s Gateways Project provides tech-training programs in Santa Cruz jails and San Quentin State Prison, supporting incarcerated voices and aiming to reduce recidivism

Flight pattern
Robotics student Liam Asayag had never even thought of making a drone before—until he witnessed the war zone in Ukraine and made a low-cost prototype in a lab on campus for use by aid groups on the front lines

Humanizing the metaverse
A Humanities Institute fellowship brings trained humanists into high-tech companies, providing firms with creative and fluid thinkers while also giving scholars a view into how their expertise can be used in different positions.