Harvard scientists have unraveled the inner architecture of bacterial genomes in a breakthrough discovery that may shed light on how chromosomes organize within a cell.

Students and professors alike say that the image of the computer scientist has changed along with the growing popularity of the field.

In the four years since SEAS became its own school within the University, Harvard has come a long way towards addressing that “incomplete” on its report card.

Economist and Princeton professor Cecilia E. Rouse ’86 wanted to become an engineer when she first came to Harvard, but her academic path took a quick turn when she enrolled in the popular freshman course Social Analysis 10, better known as “Ec 10.”

Materials science professor Joanna Aizenberg has been appointed the new director of the interdisciplinary Kavli Institute for Bionanoscience and Technology, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences announced last Tuesday.

Faculty, staff and students in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences joined SEAS Dean Cherry A. Murray for this semester’s All Hands meeting to highlight the renewed emphasis on teaching labs at SEAS as well as goals for future investment across the School.

Though it remains a field that is predominantly male, computer science at Harvard has made important strides towards addressing the gender divide.

Harvard’s experimental laboratories are planning to strengthen lab safety practices following the death of Yale senior Michele Dufault in a chemistry lab machine shop.

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences plans to petition for a new concentration in Electrical Engineering—projected to be offered in fall 2012—in response to student desire for a more focused curriculum in the engineering sciences. The concentration would have 20 required half-courses and give students a Bachelor of Sciences degree.

Harvard’s leave policy—which allows students to return and complete their degree after an indefinite time of absence—is a boon for contemporary tech entrepreneurs following in Gates’ footsteps. For them, attending Harvard full-time while simultaneously building a company is an impossible balance.