Spotlight on…

Aggies give thanksPhoto: UC Davis student Madi Brawer

What are you thankful for this holiday season? We asked several Aggies that question recently at the MU and, in a nutshell, they cited family, community, coffee and crew. We hope this sweet Thanksgiving video will help put you all in the proper mood for the days and weeks ahead. [ Video… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

More stories at Dateline UC Davis and UC Davis News and Information

Claire Pomeroy to step down in June

The vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine announced that she will leave the university at the end of the academic year. "It has been a tremendous privilege to serve the health system, and to work with so many extraordinarily talented and dedicated faculty, staff and students," she said. A recruitment advisory committee will be established shortly to begin the search for Pomeroy's replacement. [ More… ]

Templeton Foundation awards grant for meditation research

The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a grant of $2.3 million over three years to continue and extend the Shamatha Project, the most comprehensive investigation yet conducted into the effects of intensive meditation training on mind and body. The project is led by Clifford Saron, associate research scientist at the Center for Mind and Brain and MIND Institute. [ More, with video… ]

Egghead blog: Dark matter experiment fills up, BGI president speaks

In an abandoned gold mine deep under the Black Hills of South Dakota, UC Davis physicists are putting the final touches to the LUX experiment to search for dark matter particles. Above ground and on the UC Davis campus, Henry (Huanming) Yang, president and co-founder of BGI, the world's largest genome sequencing institute, recently spoke about the future of genomics and the importance of collaboration in a new century of life sciences. [ More… ]

Researchers discover likely basis of birth defect causing premature skull closure

An international team of investigators led by Simeon Boyadjiev, professor of pediatrics and genetics, has identified two areas of the human genome associated with the most common form of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis — premature closure of the bony plates of the skull. [ More… ]

On the RISE: Research proposals to be presented

Some have names that make acronyms, like I-CAN SZ, cCRETE, ANSWER, iWHW and RAPID-NEED. All have themes worthy of a great research institution like UC Davis: among them, healthy crops and global food security, nanoparticle synthesis, cybersecurity, models for neuroimmune-based schizophrenia, protecting the fragile intestine and transforming consumer energy use, to name a few. They are the inaugural recipients of the campus's Research Investments in Science and Engineering, or RISE program — 13 awards for 13 proposals, all of which are due to be presented at the RISE Symposium on Friday, Nov. 30. [ More… ]

Shakespeare: From the classroom to the Mondavi Center

First the Mondavi Center's Globe Education Academy trains the teachers. Then the teachers work with their students in their classrooms. Then the students come to the center with their teachers, for a day of Shakespearean theater. Read all about it in the center's Off Stage blog. [ More… ]

Police Department announces Citizens Academy

Want to learn more about police work? The UC Davis Police Department is holding its next Citizens Academy program in the winter quarter. … Also, the Police Department invites the campus community to a town hall with the final candidates for the open lieutenant recruitment posting. [ More… ]

NEWS BRIEFS: Mail Services brings in record 1,408 pounds of food

Congratulations to the Davis campus community for donating more food than ever in the Mail Services drive, and to the men and women who deliver and pick up your mail — for doing all the heavy lifting. And we mean heavy: 1,408 pounds. … Associate Professor Michael Rios plans a talk next week on "The Changing Landscape of Latino Communities in California and Beyond," drawing on his role as co-editor of a new book of essays. … The Aggie win in the Causeway Classic over the weekend made up for a loss in the Causeway Classic blood drive. It wasn't much of a loss, though, what with the UC Davis community donating more than 1,000 pints of blood. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Holiday safety, police town hall, grad student teaching award

Holiday decorating rules include a requirement for flame-retardant certification for all yuletide trees, real or artificial. … The Police Department plans a town hall with the final candidates for the open lieutenant recruitment posting. … Nominations are being taken for the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award. [ More… ]

EVENTS

WorkLife and Wellness Brown Bag: 'Apps and Mobile Devices'

Thursday, Nov. 29, noon, MU II, Memorial Union

Join Stewart Savage from Abaton Consulting for a look into applications for both Apple and Android mobile devices and find the apps that make your life more enjoyable, healthier and fun. Pre-enrollment is not required. [ More… ]

Euripides' The Bacchae, with a rock God, cheerleaders and humor

Nov. 29-Dec. 8, Main Theatre, Wright Hall

"I wanted to make this Greek tragedy accessible and enjoyable for today's audiences," says the director, Granada Artist-in-Residence Barry McGovern. … Plus, the Concert Band (Nov. 28), Baroque Ensemble (Nov. 29), Percussion Ensemble Davis (Dec. 1), the Gamelan Ensemble (Dec. 6), and the University Chorus with the Symphony Orchestra (Dec. 7). … And a holiday wreaths class at the Craft Center. [ More… ]

Chancellor's Colloquium: UCLA's Kumar Patel, physicist, electrical engineer

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 4 p.m. Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Patel, who served as UCLA's vice chancellor for research through 1999, invented the carbon dioxide laser and has been nominated for a Nobel Prize multiple times. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…