News

$Headshot of UC Santa Barbara student Xiaohan Zhang, who placed 15th in the Putnam Math Competition.$

Mathematics team ranks 14th in North America at 86th Putnam Competition

2026-03-10

UC Santa Barbara undergraduates demonstrated exceptional mathematical problem-solving skills, securing 14th place nationally and 3rd regionally in Southern California at the prestigious 86th annual Putnam Math Competition.

Seasonal arrangement of fruits and tubers including persimmons, grapes and apples atop autumn leaves.

Liz Carlisle identifies perennial farming as vital key to climate resilience

2026-03-09

Environmental Studies professor Liz Carlisle showcases how Indigenous knowledge and perennial crops offer ecological and social solutions to food insecurity.

Weather station instrumentation against a blue, cloudy sky.

Chris Funk leads initiative to deploy 3D-printed weather stations in Africa

2026-03-05

Climate Hazards Center director Chris Funk is rebuilding meteorological networks to strengthen agricultural resilience and predict food security crises.

Stethoscope, family history medical intake form and a red awareness ribbon.

Frank Davenport and colleagues map heightened climate risks for patients living with HIV

2026-03-03

Geographers linked four decades of climate hazard data to a multi-national cohort of 2.2 million people to protect treatments from flood and drought disruptions.

A split-screen image showing a thermal camera view on the left and a standard video view on the right. In both panels, a small vial of water is vigorously boiling and bubbling, heated solely by the activation of the solar thermal liquid.

Bottling the sun: UCSB chemists create ‘rechargeable battery’ for sunlight capable of boiling water

2026-02-12

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have engineered a liquid material that stores solar energy and releases it as heat hot enough to boil water. Published in Science, the study details a bio-inspired molecule with an energy density double that of lithium-ion batteries, offering a new path for renewable heating and energy storage.

Woman wearing a lab coat, glasses and blue gloves drips liquid into a test tube

Campus leads nation in physical science research influence

2026-02-09

Bibliometric data from the Netherlands reveals the campus holds a premier position worldwide for citation frequency across technical and physical disciplines.

Assistant Professor Yang Hai, Emeritus Professor Stanley Parsons, and Assistant Professor Lior Sepunaru standing together on a walkway at the UC Santa Barbara campus.

More than an award: How a legacy gift became a lifeline for scientific discovery

2026-01-26

A legacy gift from Emeritus Professor Stanley Parsons became a critical lifeline for UCSB chemistry researchers, bridging funding gaps and fueling high-risk discoveries in antibiotic development and the origins of life.

Abstract scientific illustration of blue spherical molecules connected by bonds, floating against a light blue, soft-focus background.

Designing better catalysts for cleaner, more efficient chemistry

2026-01-14

Susannah Scott, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry & Biochemistry, leads a National Science Foundation study on "mobile ions" in solid catalysts. Using high-energy X-rays, her team aims to improve the lifespan and energy efficiency of materials critical to industrial chemical manufacturing.

All News

Mathematics team ranks 14th in North America at 86th Putnam Competition

Liz Carlisle identifies perennial farming as vital key to climate resilience

Chris Funk leads initiative to deploy 3D-printed weather stations in Africa

Frank Davenport and colleagues map heightened climate risks for patients living with HIV

Bottling the sun: UCSB chemists create ‘rechargeable battery’ for sunlight capable of boiling water

Campus leads nation in physical science research influence

More than an award: How a legacy gift became a lifeline for scientific discovery

Designing better catalysts for cleaner, more efficient chemistry

Connect

Links and Resources