Sciences Division
‘Less Exciting and Less Fun’: Undergraduates Voice Frustrations with Science Lab Renovations
Ongoing renovations in Harvard’s Science Center have disrupted numerous science courses by closing off first and second floor teaching laboratories, eliciting frustration from undergraduates.
Harvard Quantum Initiative Construction Set to be Completed in the Spring
Construction on 60 Oxford Street — the new home of the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering (HQI) — is set to be completed this Spring, in accordance with its expected timeline.
‘Closure of a Circle’: Harvard Professor Haim Sompolinsky Wins Brain Prize for Neuroscience Research
Harvard professor Haim Sompolinsky was named a 2024 recipient of the Brain Prize — the world’s most prestigious honor for neuroscience research — by the Lundbeck Foundation on March 5.
‘Science on Display’: Renovations to Teaching Labs Continue in Science Center
Harvard began renovations to the Science Center teaching laboratories in December 2023, closing off much of the first and second floors of the building. The ongoing construction is part of a longer renovation of the Science Center expected to end in the summer of 2025.
Luxury Brands Will Fund Harvard Lab’s Medicinal Plant Research in 3-Year Agreement
Luxury giants LVMH and Christian Dior will fund the Harvard Davis Lab’s research on the genetic barcoding of nearly 2,000 edible and medicinal plants.
Harvard Team Celebrates Launch of Methane-Detecting Satellite at SEC Event
Dozens of Harvard affiliates gathered at a Friday reception at the Science and Engineering Complex to celebrate the launch of MethaneSAT, one of the world’s most advanced methane-detecting satellites.
Harvard Science Dean Christopher Stubbs Reflects on Tenure, Gives Advice to Successor
Harvard Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs discussed his decision to step down and urged his successor to beware of slow institutional change in a Thursday interview with The Crimson.
‘The Wave is Waving’: Harvard Astronomers Discover Radcliffe Wave’s Oscillation
An international group of astronomers led by a Harvard PhD student reported their discovery that the Radcliffe Wave — a nine-thousand-light-year-long gaseous structure in the Milky Way — moves in an oscillating pattern in a paper published in Nature Tuesday morning.
Hoekstra Likely to Pick Arts and Humanities, Science Deans In ‘Next Few Months’
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra hopes to select two new divisional deans — in Science and in Arts and Humanities — within “the next few months,” she said in a Wednesday interview.
Ten Stories That Shaped 2023
In 2023, Harvard had a tumultuous year. Claudine Gay’s first semester ended amid a leadership crisis as she came under fire for her response to tensions on a campus divided by the Israel-Hamas war and faced allegations of plagiarism. Harvard’s legacy and donor preferences in admissions also faced national scrutiny following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling striking down the University’s affirmative action policy. Across campus, scandal after scandal hit parts of the University. Here, The Crimson looks back at the 10 stories that shaped 2023 at Harvard.
Harvard Dean of Science Christopher Stubbs to Step Down at End of Academic Year
Harvard’s Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs is stepping down at the end of the academic year, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced at a faculty meeting Tuesday.
Harvard Sciences Dean Stubbs Says Generative AI is ‘Top of the List’ of Challenges
Harvard Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs said that incorporating generative AI was “top of the list” of his challenges in an interview with The Crimson last Wednesday.
‘The Total Package’: Harvard Faculty Hail Hoekstra’s Selection as Next FAS Dean
From the sciences to the humanities, Harvard professors are praising Hopi E. Hoekstra, a professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology who was announced Monday as the University’s next dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
‘Capable of Change and Evolution’: The Debut of Harvard’s Undergraduate Science Center
Today, having a class in the Science Center is a staple of the Harvard College experience. But when the Class of 1973 arrived at Harvard, construction had not even begun on what is now an iconic feature of the University.
Who the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Want as Harvard’s Most Powerful Dean
As Claudine Gay prepares to move from her station in University Hall to the president’s office across Harvard Yard, one of her most important tasks will be to select her own successor as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. With the search now in motion, several FAS professors spoke with The Crimson about their hopes for the successor to Harvard’s most powerful dean.
Harvard Sciences Dean Stubbs Offers No Comment on Interest in FAS Dean Vacancy
Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs declined to comment on whether he is interested in succeeding University President-elect Claudine Gay as the next Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean, calling the position a very “demanding” role.
Quantum Physicist Mikhail Lukin Appointed University Professor
Quantum physicist Mikhail Lukin has been appointed a University Professor, Harvard’s highest faculty rank, the University announced Tuesday.
Yoshito Kishi, Organic Chemist Who Climbed ‘Mount Everest’ of Synthesis, Dies at 85
Yoshito Kishi, a Harvard emeritus chemistry professor known for his contributions to breast cancer treatment, died on Jan. 9.
Harvard Researchers Receive Grant to Develop New Treatments for Neurodegenerative Diseases
A team of Harvard researchers received a grant from the Vranos Family Foundation for a five-year project seeking to find new methods to treat neurodegenerative diseases, according to a December press release.
Harvard Researchers Receive NIH Funding for Biomedical, Behavioral, and Social Sciences Research
Nine Harvard researchers are set to receive a total of more than $200 million in grants over the next five years through a National Institutes of Health program that funds “high-risk, high-reward” research.
Following Harvard Report on ‘Unsustainable’ Faculty Workload, FAS Dean Gay Solicits Professors’ Feedback
After a report found that Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences faces an “increasing and unsustainable” amount of non-research work, the school is holding discussions to collect feedback on the report’s recommendations.
Harvard Study Identifies Key Role of Soil Moisture on Crop Yields
A new research study by Harvard faculty is shedding light on the significant influence of water supply on global crop yields and its connection to climate change.
Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb Set to Explore Pacific Ocean for Potential ‘Alien’ Meteor Fragments
Harvard professor and astrophysicist Abraham “Avi” Loeb is preparing to search the Pacific Ocean floor for fragments of an interstellar meteor and potential alien technology.
'An Open Secret’: Harvard Graduate Students Decry Harassment, Neglect from Faculty
In the wake of the Comaroff controversy, graduate students say power-based abuse by faculty pervades advising relations.
Seventy-Three Students Awarded 2022 Hoopes Prize
Seventy-three students undergraduates learned Thursday that they had won the Hoopes Prize, an award that recognizes outstanding scholarly work each year.