Science & Technology
Rochester leads novel research project on how the brain interprets motion
Brain and cognitive scientists are leading an NIH-funded multi-university project that may have applications for disorders like schizophrenia and offer insights for artificial intelligence.
Photonics researchers report breakthrough in miniaturizing light-based chips
A Rochester team demonstrates a new way to control light as it moves through integrated circuits, paving a research avenue in communications, computing, and photonics research.
Experiments replicate high densities in ‘white dwarf’ star remnants
Rochester researchers help lead work to simulate pressures of white dwarf stars, work that may offer ideas for creating new materials on Earth.
Society & Culture
Watchdog report: US democratic indicators plummet amid racial justice protests and pandemic
Latest Bright Line Watch analysis finds erosion “across the board” on measures of democratic principles and how well the US is abiding by them.
In time of masking mandates, how to evaluate exemptions?
Balancing the safety of the general public while accommodating people with legitimate medical challenges is a “new frontier,” says a University health policy expert.
Corporate money in politics threatens US democracy—or does it?
In a new book, Rochester political scientist David Primo and his coauthor argue that the influence of campaign financing is misunderstood by voters, policymakers, the media, and political analysts.
The Arts
Memorial Art Gallery reopens as Finger Lakes region enters Phase Four
With masks, social distancing, and other safety measures in place, the University’s museum has reopened and is once again welcoming visitors.
This year’s Art of Science competition a welcome respite from COVID-19
A student’s dazzling image of recrystallized urea, viewed under a microscope and shot with an iPhone, takes the top prize in the annual Art of Science competition.
A lottery picks the cast each night in production of Everybody
This spring, the University of Rochester’s International Theatre Program dives into the work of Everybody, and it is certainly not your typical theatrical production, with student actors playing a different role each night.
In Photos
Instrument to detect dark energy is poised for debut
Members of a University of Rochester cosmology group who are a key part of a multi-institutional effort to create the most detailed 3-D map ever made of the universe are looking forward to the launch of the instrument later this year in Arizona.
The team—Regina Demina, professor of physics; Satya Gontcho A Gontcho, postdoctoral research associate; Segev BenZvi, assistant professor of physics; and Kelly Douglass, visiting assistant professor of physics and astronomy—are working on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project, an initiative to provide a more comprehensive look at dark energy and how it’s influencing the expansion of the universe. The instrument—including the 5,000 robotic positioners of the telescope’s focal plane (above)—will capture data from 35 million galaxies, potentially providing insight about the life cycle of galaxies and about the cosmic web that connects matter in the universe.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the lead institution on the project, announced on June 1 that DESI was complete and was moving toward its startup.
Student Life
Masked and ready, the Class of 2024 begins moving onto campus
Health and safety were the order of the day for a “slow roll to move in” for the Class of 2024 and other University students living in campus housing this fall.
Students keep busy during two-week quarantine
Undergraduates who arrived August 1 for a New York State–required quarantine are finding plenty to do while they prepare for the fall semester.
Students arrive for mandated COVID-19 quarantine
Wearing masks and following physical distancing guidelines, students from New York’s restricted travel states arrived August 1 to begin a 14-day quarantine.
Voices & Opinion
NFL owners are now willing to support players’ protests
“[T]he National Football League’s newfound appreciation for its players’ civil rights gestures is likely to be tested by the election season and by fans’ spending power,” says political scientist Bethany Lacina.
Déjà vu: What happens to America when one candidate wins the popular vote but not the Electoral College?
Political scientists explore how the November election will be viewed if there’s a split between the popular vote and the Electoral College count.
Voting by mail limits the spread of COVID-19. But is the ballot really secret?
While voting by mail would allow tens of millions of people to participate safely in this fall’s election, it carries its own risk to the integrity of the voting, say the authors of a forthcoming book on secret balloting.
University News
Col Raimond named first AS&E staff ombudsperson
In the newly created position, Raimond focuses on providing impartial, confidential assistance to Arts, Sciences & Engineering staff in resolving University-related issues or concerns.
University expands support for low-income, first-generation college students
The University will significantly expand the support services offered to low-income, first-generation college students as a result of a major federal grant administered by the Kearns Center.
University recognized for commitment to diversity and inclusion
National award honors the University’s efforts to weave diversity and inclusion “into the work being done every day” across campus.
The University of Rochester has received the 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.