Events

Community Day: Free Admission at the Arboretum
2025-05-06 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The first Tuesday of each month, the Arboretum is open without charge to visitors. See dates and times UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden is open. NOTE: Due to limited parking at the Arboretum and the popularity of Community Day, we greatly encourage visitors to carpool, bike, walk or use public transportation as much as possible.

Younger Lagoon Reserve Tours
2025-05-24 10:30 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Take a tour of Younger Lagoon Reserve! This 90-minute, behind-the-scenes hiking tour takes visitors into the 25-acre lagoon and beach area. Come and see what scientists are doing to track local mammals, restore native habitats, and learn about the workings of one of California’s rare coastal lagoons.
Younger Lagoon Reserve Beach Tours are free and open to the public. Space is limited to 18 participants. Call 831-459-3800 or book online
Younger Lagoon Reserve also offers a virtual tour in both English and Spanish.

"All the Pages Are My Days": Print and Visual Culture of the Grateful Dead in Context
2025-05-28 00:00 | McHenry Library, 1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
This exhibition celebrates the art and print material generated by the Grateful Dead and their fans in the context of the printing explosion of the 1960s and ‘70s. As the Dead came into popularity and an anti-establishment counterculture spread throughout the nation, democratic print technologies were concomitantly adopted into widespread use. In the Bay Area and beyond, activists, experimental poets, and psychedelic artists took advantage of spirit duplicators, mimeographs, and other accessible technologies to create and disseminate works of self-expression and political action. This exhibition focuses on the social life of printed materials, placing the Dead’s print culture in cultural and political situ.
In the 1960s, a new generation of young people–products of the post-war baby boom who by then formed a sizable segment of the overall U.S. population–were bristling against convention and finding their voice. As the civil rights and worldwide independence movements achieved momentum and the “New Left” found ideological purchase, activists identified new means of sharing vital information through the creation of alternative publications and an underground press. The mainstream–or “overground”–press took notice:
The information officers of the New American Left have rediscovered an ancient political ally: print power. All over the country, radical and "movement" organizations have spawned their own print shops run by their own pressmen to churn out an increasing number of posters, pamphlets, handbills, and flyers. Whether it's to mobilize a march on Washington, explain the advantages of "Free Speech" for GIs, or advertise courses at an alternative university, the rebel presses are rolling. By the thousands, their folded-and-stapled brochures, decorated with crude graphics, are being given away at hastily set up campus tables or sold in the standard subculture outlets (Associated Press 1970).
Radical print shops popped up in the Bay Area and spread internationally, circulating a wide network of print material engaged with politics, art and literature, and prodigious social change. As revolutionary ideas spread, artists experimented with the expressive capacities of emergent print technologies, collectively crafting an unconventional and acrobatically imaginative graphic identity.
The exploratory, democratic, and liberatory attitude expressed in the print culture of the period was reflected across genres of artmaking, and was to be found, acutely and enduringly, in the music of and visual culture surrounding the Grateful Dead. This exhibition also features artifacts reflective of the band’s visual vernacular, born from the psychedelic vocabulary of the ‘60s and ‘70s and transformed, over time, into a distinctive brand and cultural touchstone. The band was formed at a moment of optimism amid radical upheaval in the Bay Area, and their visual language has transmitted the spirit of the period to new and nostalgic audiences across the decades that followed.

Summer Session Dates and Deadlines
2025-06-24 00:00
The summer quarter has accelerated deadlines for students to add/swap, drop, or request a W grade. Check the summer academic calendar to make sure you do not miss a deadline!

Dong, Q. (STAT) - Prevalence Mapping and Model Evaluation for Binary and Categorical Outcomes from Household Surveys
2025-07-03 13:00
Reliable subnational estimates of health and demographic indicators from household surveys are crucial for understanding public health progress, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where vital registration data are limited, and household surveys serve as the primary source of information. We develop a principled workflow for prevalence mapping using household survey data, addressing all stages of analysis. We then propose a generalizable model comparison framework for prevalence mapping in the absence of ground truth. Specifically, we develop cross-validation schemes for small area estimation (SAE), preserving stratification and clustering structures from the complex survey design. We introduce error metrics that enable the evaluation of models based on their accuracy in estimating finite-population prevalence at the target level of inference. Through simulation studies, we demonstrate that conventional practices such as leave-one-area-out (LOAO) cross-validation or comparisons based on aggregated estimates can lead to misleading conclusions. In contrast, our proposed frameworks can more accurately rank SAE models. Finally, we extend the prevalence mapping framework to accommodate categorical and ordinal outcomes. For area-level models, we apply continuation-ratio logit transformations to design-based direct estimates and model the transformed outcomes using a multivariate Fay–Herriot model. We explore modeling the dependence structures between spatial regions and outcome categories through structured random effects. We also explore extending similar random effect construction to unit-level models, where we directly model cluster-level categorical response.
Event Host: Qianyu Dong, Ph.D. Student, Statistical Science
Advisor: Zehang Richard Li

Records Disposition Day
2025-07-08 00:00
The Records and Information Management (RIM) office invites your unit to participate in Records Disposition Day on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Disposition Day is an annual event that encourages the safe, secure destruction of inactive, confidential university records and the transfer of historical records to the University Archives while promoting the UCSC Records Management Program and policies.
Sign up no later than July 1, 2025, through this Google Form. Shred bins will be delivered to your office by our certified, confidential shredding company, on Tuesday, July 8, and picked up on Thursday, July 10. Please note that someone will need to be in your office on both days. We strongly encourage the use of our same-day-turnaround option on July 10 for those who are prepared to fill the bin and have it taken away all at one time.
Important Procedures for Records Disposition:

Familiarize yourself with retention timelines for email, messaging apps, and other quick communication platforms.
Collect your inactive records for pick-up (confidential, non-records, past retention) in accordance with the UC Records Retention Schedule.
Inactive records of historical value should be reviewed in consultation with the University Archivist for possible transfer to the University Archives. See http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/UARCtransfer or contact the University Archivist for guidance in assessing the historical value of your records.
For each paper record purged, the corresponding electronic record must be purged as well.
Never put confidential, personally identifiable information (PII), or information that could be inappropriately used into an open public recycle container. Use the locked shred bins that are delivered to your office before Dispo Day and store them within a locked office until they are picked up. CD’s and DVD’s should be collected in a separate box for pickup; please don’t put them in the shred bin.
DO NOT destroy records that are under a Public Records request, pending or foreseeable litigation or investigation activity, or under audit.
Enjoy a more spacious and clutter-free work area knowing that you have complied with the UC Records Retention Schedule!

Please contact Diane Lallemand at diane@ucsc.edu for more information.

Research Lunch & Learn - Federal research policy updates
2025-07-09 12:00
The administration transition has created a whirlwind of federal agency and policy changes, much of which has significant impacts on universities and research. Join John MacMillan, Vice Chancellor for Research, and Csilla Csaplár, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, on July 9, 12-1 p.m. for an interactive discussion about current hot topics in the federal policy world.

Move More at Work: Promoting Health and Longevity in the Office
2025-07-10 12:00
Thursday, July 10, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
If you spend your days at a desk, chances are you are aware of common issues like tech neck, eye strain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Long hours at a desk can take a toll on your body — but small changes can make a big difference. This workshop is all about helping you feel better during your workday. We’ll explore how to ease muscle tension, boost your energy, and stay more focused with easy, equipment-free routines you can do right at your desk, even in work clothes. If you're looking to move more, sit less, and feel more comfortable throughout your day, this session offers a low-stress way to start building healthy habits right where you are.
To register, please fill out the registration link. This presentation will be recorded and made available after the meeting.
For more information about upcoming workshops and events, please visit the Wellness Event Calendar.
For questions, please contact Health and Well-being Specialist, Ashley Parker, at aseparke@ucsc.edu.

Frosh, Friends, and Family: Welcome to the Sciences
2025-07-10 12:00, 2025-07-17 17:00
This webinar welcomes incoming science students and families to the Sciences. Meet the Science Excellence team and learn about key summer events, advising support, and resources to prepare for a strong start. We’ll also discuss science majors and how families can support students during the transition. Register here to receive a Zoom link!

Job Search Strategies for New Grads
2025-07-10 14:00
So you've graduated and now it's time to look for a job, we can help!
Whether you're just starting your search or looking to improve your strategy, this workshop will walk you through how to:

Craft resumes and cover letters that reflect your skills and potential
Use LinkedIn to uncover opportunities and potential mentors
Develop networking skills

You’ll come away with actionable strategies to streamline your application process and make your next move count.
Register here: https://ucsc.joinhandshake.com/stu/events/1757697

July Slugs and Steins with Campus Architect Emeritus Frank Zwart (Cowell, ’71)
2025-07-14 18:30
The Imagining and Making of a University Campus at Santa Cruz
Every alum has a story about how he or she first discovered and came to UC Santa Cruz. But the story of how the University of California came to Santa Cruz is a longer and much more involved one. Step into the Wayback Machine with UCSC’s Campus Architect Emeritus Frank Zwart (Cowell ’71) to hear the details of how the University’s Regents selected Santa Cruz as the site for their bold new experiment in public higher education, and learn about the University's first steps in building its new home. Along the way you’ll pick up some interesting UCSC architectural history trivia and some hidden jewels from the campus archives.
Frank Zwart, FAIA, FAUA, served as campus architect at the University of California, Santa Cruz, from 1988 until his retirement in 2010. Under his direction, the campus nearly doubled in size, adding nearly 2.4 million square feet of building space and renovating one million more, while preserving its breathtaking site. A Pasadena, California, native, Frank received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from UC Santa Cruz (Cowell College) in 1971 and his master’s in architecture from Princeton University. Prior to joining the design and construction staff at UCSC in 1985, he worked in architectural firms in Princeton, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Aptos, Philadelphia, and Carmel.

Rainbow Slugs Staff Virtual Lunch Get-together
2025-07-16 12:00
Hello! Please join us for a virtual lunch time hang-out so that folks can gather, decompress, and be in community. We encourage folks to eat their lunch while we meet, but you can do whatever is most comfortable to you! Any level of participation is welcome. Hope to see you there! 🙂
Rainbow Slugs is UCSC's LGBTQIA2S+ Staff Affinity group. Anyone is welcome.

Ecosystem of Care Webinar: Dining Services
2025-07-16 18:00
The DSAS Ecosystem of Care webinar series continues with a spotlight on Dining Services—your guide to how students dine on campus at UC Santa Cruz. Designed for families, this session will feature campus dining leaders sharing details about meal plans, dining hall hours and locations, menu variety, dietary accommodations, and tips for helping students make the most of their on-campus dining experience.
The webinar will begin with a short presentation, followed by a Q&A based on questions submitted through the registration form.
Join us to learn how UCSC Dining supports your student’s day-to-day life and discover helpful information to stay connected to their college journey.
Registration: In advance, via Zoom

Workplace Mental Health Training for Supervisors and Managers
2025-07-17 12:00
The Office of Risk Services has partnered with OHSU’s Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Services to provide mental health support training to UCSC supervisors and managers.
This evidence based program teaches leaders:

To identify employee mental health struggles
Appropriate ways to respond to employee warning signs
Practical strategies to reduce employee stress

Employees whose managers and supervisors were trained in this program report:

Reduced anger and loneliness
Improved feelings of support from manager
Increased feelings of team cohesion

This training is open to all supervisors and managers at UCSC. Our next training session will take place on Tuesday, October 14, and will comprise the following:

A self paced online training session
A live, virtual one hour session
A two-week voluntary virtual check in

If you would like to participate in this training on Tuesday, October 14,12:00 PM – 2:30 PM please fill out this form. Please note that space is limited. Folks added to the waitlist will be given priority for our next training session.

To learn more, please visit the Workplace Mental Health Training for Supervisors and Managers website.
If you have any questions about this training, please reach out to Jessica Bulleri, Campus Health and Well-being Manager, at jbulleri@ucsc.edu.

Rooted in Nature Camping Trip
2025-07-19 08:00
Rooted in Nature is a pre-conference camping retreat leading up to the California Black Farmers Conference designed to connect attendees and community members with the land, with each other, and with themselves. Through guided outdoor experiences, storytelling, community meals, wellness activities, and field day activities, participants will explore healing, resilience, and joy in nature.
This is more than a camping trip—it's a space to build community, restore balance, and deepen our relationship to land and legacy. Whether you're an experienced camper or new to the outdoors, all are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Activities include:

Nature hikes & plant walks

Campfire storytelling

Art, music, & meditation circles

Workshops & land-based teachings

Group meals & reflection time

Dates: July 19-20, 2025
Location: Sunset State Beach, 201 Sunset Beach Rd, Watsonville, CA 95076
Spots are limited — Registration is required. Visit CBFCs registration page to reserve your tickets. Follow us on Instagram @cablackfarmersconference & @squareonefoundationinc for updates, packing tips, and what to expect.
This program is hosted by the Square One Foundation and proudly funded by the CA State Parks Santa Cruz Community Grant Program.
Let’s return to our roots and grow something powerful—together.

CASPA 2025 Summer Symposium
2025-07-19 13:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Building AI-Native Data Centers
The Chinese American Semiconductor Professional Association invites you to join its annual all-day Summer Symposium where speakers will focus on Building AI-Native Data Centers: Innovations from Silicon to Software.
Panelists will explore advancements across the entire technology stack that are transforming the architecture and capabilities of next-generation data centers. As AI workloads scale in complexity and volume, infrastructure must evolve through tightly integrated innovation in compute, memory, storage, networking, power efficiency, cooling, orchestration, and security.
Leading innovators across the technology stack—from silicon to software—will share their insights on designing scalable, high-performance, energy-efficient, and trustworthy platforms that serve the demands of AI-native computing. The symposium will highlight how collaborative progress across silicon, systems, and software is reshaping the backbone of digital intelligence.
REGISTRATION
This event is open to all UCSC students and community members.
SPONSORSHIP
This CASPA event is co-sponsored by the UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Silicon Chip Design & Semiconductor Engineering, and AI programs.

45th Annual Dickens Universe featuring 'The Old Curiosity Shop'
2025-07-20 00:00 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Dickens Universe is a unique cultural event that brings together scholars, teachers, students, and members of the general public for a week of stimulating discussion and festive social activity on the beautiful Santa Cruz campus of the University of California—all focused on one or two Victorian novels, usually (but not always) one by Charles Dickens.
In 2025, the Dickens Universe will feature The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. Most people remember the novel for its famous and climactic death scene, featuring one of Dickens's most beloved (and reviled) girl heroines, Little Nell. It is a novel full of interesting scenes, themes, and curiosities. Featuring a gallery of Dickens's most grotesque characters, it explores the idea of deformity, especially as it contrasts with the angelic innocence and strangely embodied beauty of Little Nell. Its picaresque roots make it an adventure story as well as an allegory of moral journey; its interest in the urban landscape, its pleasure, and its dangers suggest Dickens's social concerns.
Now in its 45th year of operation, the Dickens Universe combines features of a scholarly conference, a festival, a book club, and a summer camp. Participants include people of all ages and walks of life—distinguished scholars, graduate students, undergraduates, retirees, young professionals, high school teachers, and anyone who loves reading and enjoys long Victorian novels.
Here are some things that make the Universe such a memorable experience.

The college lifestyle: participants live on campus, eat together in the student dining hall, and have time to meet and come to know each other in different ways.
Everyone is reading the same book. We all have this one important thing in common.
The activities include formal lectures, small discussion groups, films, daily Victorian teas, performances, and Victorian dancing.

The Universe offers a week of total immersion in the world of Victorian fiction with friendly, like-minded colleagues in a beautiful setting. Whether we’re returning to a Dickens novel that everyone knows and loves or branching out into a Victorian novel by another author who might be less familiar, during the Universe, we build a community out of our passion for reading, talking with one another, and bringing Victorian culture to life.

Astronomy on Tap!
2025-07-21 19:30 | Abbott Square
Abbott Square Market. 118 Cooper St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Monday July 21, 7:30 pm
No Bad Questions: Exoplanets Edition
Ask our panelists your wildest questions!
Free and open to people of all ages!

ALEKS Math Placement for Science and Math Majors
2025-07-22 12:00
Get introduced to ALEKS PPL, an essential online platform for assessing and strengthening your math skills. In this brief session, you’ll learn how ALEKS functions as both a placement assessment and a personalized learning tool. Discover how it can support your academic success in first-year science coursework like chemistry and calculus. For a Zoom link, please register here.

Basu, S. (CSE) - Decomposition Techniques for Web-Scale Networks: Bridging Theory and Practice
2025-07-25 11:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Decompositions of large-scale networks are central to many applications in graph mining, network science, and algorithm design. Over several decades, a rich body of work has developed techniques to partition networks with various different objectives. However, a noticeable gap persists between methods with strong theoretical guarantees, and those that perform well in practice. Practical algorithms often lack provable guarantees, while theoretically sound methods are rarely straightforward to implement, and scale poorly. This thesis presents a suite of techniques that aim to close this gap, presenting decomposition methods that are both theoretically grounded and practically efficient.

The first part of the thesis focuses on dense subgraph decomposition, a fundamental problem with numerous real-world applications and a close relation to the problem of community detection studied in the complex networks literature. Specifically, we focus on decompositions that produce a large number of small components; a variant that existing techniques struggle with. We propose a novel shift in perspective: rather than approximate the optimum closely using traditional optimization approaches, we develop fast algorithms with provable lower bounds on output quality. We introduce some new objectives and metrics to achieve these, and introduce a new theoretical framework that captures structural properties of real-world networks. We compare our perspective with the common approach taken in the community detection literature, and demonstrate algorithms that significantly outperform prior methods across a broad range of datasets.
The second part of the thesis explores how network decompositions can enable sublinear-time algorithms: ones that produce approximate solutions without needing to inspect the entire input. We study two somewhat distinct problems. The first is a property testing problem in bounded-degree planar graphs, where we show that hyperfinite decompositions allow for efficient testing of even the most complex properties. The second examines shortest-path computation in real-world networks. By observing that shortest paths often traverse a dense core, we design the first sublinear algorithm that exploits this structure to approximate shortest paths. Our method competes with exact algorithms in speed, while scaling to larger networks that such algorithms cannot handle.
We leave some open problems and discuss ongoing and future work, and provide pointers on how our insights can be leveraged to study a larger class of problems in graph algorithms.
Event Host: Sabyasachi Basu, PhD Candidate, Computer Science & Engineering
Advisor: C. Seshadhri

The Curiosity Gala
2025-07-25 18:30
Join us for The Curiosity Gala on July 25, 2025, as we celebrate the 45th Annual Dickens Universe Conference!
Now open to the public, this enchanting evening invites community members to don their finest Victorian attire and enjoy a night of lively entertainment—including Victorian dance lessons, casino tables, a raffle, postprandial potations, and a live auction!
Hosted by the Dickens Project, the Dickens Universe is a unique cultural event that brings together scholars, teachers, students, and members of the general public for a week of stimulating discussion and festive social activity on the beautiful Santa Cruz campus of the University of California—all focused on one or two Victorian novels, with this year’s novel being Charels Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop.
The week-long conference culminates in The Curiosity Gala—a festive celebration that brings together conference attendees and community members. Purchases from the evening’s activities will support the Dickens Project’s educational programs.
Tickets are $50 benefiting the Dickens Project's educational programs.

Summer Session 2 Start!
2025-07-28 08:00
Welcome to the start Session 2! You can add and drop classes until the deadline for each session. Remember, they come up quickly in a five-week course!

Birds & Blooms Tours
2025-07-29 09:15 | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Birds and Blooms tours are back for the summer! Bird language coach Jeff Caplan is just back from travels and will lead Arboretum tours about South Africa and Australia. These tours are kid and family friendly, bilingual in English and Spanish.
There will be a tour on every Tuesday for the next three weeks, which includes July 29th, August 5th, and August 12th. Bring binoculars and wear comfortable shoes. Tours begin in the visitor parking welcome area at 9:15 AM and last about two hours. Check out the Arboretum website or our Instagram @ucscarboretum for updates and more information.

IRB/ITS Webinar: Best Practices for Online Surveys in Research
2025-07-29 12:00
Join us for a one-hour webinar, Online Surveys in Research: Best Practices for Ethics, Security, and Success, featuring experst from ITS, the IRB, and the research community. Learn how to navigate common challenges with online survey tools, protect participant data, and esnure compliance with institutional and regulatory requirements.
This session is ideal for anyone conducting or planning to conduct online survey research.

SOLD OUT: Floral Arrangement Workshop
2025-08-03 10:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
This workshop is full.
Join Katie Wolf, creative director of Eothen event and design floral studio, for a morning of creativity and connection. Take what you learn in this workshop and apply these design principles to your next rendezvous with market bunches, garden cuts, and foraged wonders to bring beauty from the outdoors in.
We’ll begin with a short lecture and demonstration before heading out onto the UCSC Farm to gather our flowers and foliage to use in arrangements. We’ll then arrange together, with time for one-on-one tips, tricks, and feedback.

Johnson-Bey, S. (CMPM) - Designing Reusable Tools for Social Simulation-Driven Emergent Storytelling
2025-08-04 13:00
Narrative sandbox games rely heavily on simulation to produce emergent narrative experiences. Instead of featuring pre-authored central narratives, these games provide a play space, a sandbox, of various systems and mechanics players use to produce interesting narrative moments. This dissertation focuses on social simulation games, a subset of narrative sandbox games that drive the narrative experience by simulating individual characters and their social interactions. The core challenge of social simulation-driven emergent storytelling is complexity. Social simulations are complex to set up and complex to debug/balance. The entire narrative experience hinges on interesting events emerging from the complex interplay between systems. Small changes can have huge emergent effects on the dynamics of the story world. Game makers must constantly test their game to ensure behavior is consistent with their design intentions.
Event Host: Shi Johnson-Bey, PhD Candidate, Computational Media
Advisor: Michael Mateas

Larsen, B. (CMPM) - Communal Narrative Play in Perennial Games
2025-08-05 10:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Online communities tell stories with the games they play. As continual updates, recurring monetization, and platforms for community discussions have flourished, we have seen a rise in video games using ongoing development to tell stories, and have a community interact with those stories and build upon them. In this dissertation, I study this phenomenon, which I call textit{perennial games}—storytelling experiences, which are perpetual, continuous, and tell an ongoing, communal story, where everyone influences its future in big and small ways. I study this especially as it has grown in the years 2010-2025, as the modern rise of the live-service game has exploded in popularity, and are using this format to tell stories in ways both unique yet also in ways that harks back to serial fiction, professional wrestling, modern television series, traditional mythology, and more. Through a three-pronged focus I study: 1) the games as narrative experiences, and how they facilitate narrative play through their design, 2) the communities who play them, how and why they play with the narrative and stay in these worlds for decades, and 3) the development, investigating the many joys and challenges of telling an ongoing story, following the inevitable oscillations as developers interact with the community. Through this multifaceted approach, I illustrate how perennial games cultivate community by inherently trading their mystery for familiarity, creating strong social bonds through the communal experience of uncovering, cataloging and deciphering mystery. Pushed forward by the inherent myth that these games will continue to change, the communities around them strain against and increasing lack of mystery, both seeking the safety of their social bonds while yearning for that which brought them there in the first place. Perennial games can be alluded to a developed garden, requiring maintenance and care, each year taking a subtly new shape, molded by its inhabitants and its caretakers, always a bit more wild than anyone can manage on their own, and as it grows the people inside it grow ever more dependent on its continued existence, until the promise that kept them there breaks.
Event Host: Bjarke Larsen, PhD Candidate, Computational Media
Advisor: Elin Carstensdottir

Exploring your science major
2025-08-06 17:00
Choosing a major can feel overwhelming, but many science students share a common academic path in their first year. This session breaks down the similarities in core coursework, introduces the range of science majors available, and helps you begin thinking about where your interests align. To receive a Zoom link, register HERE.

Rose, N. (BMEB) - MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR T CELL RECEPTOR TARGET DISCOVERY AND AFFINITY ENGINEERING
2025-08-07 10:30 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
T cell receptors (TCRs) mediate antigen-specific immune responses through recognition of peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) molecules. Accurately predicting TCR–pMHC interactions remains a major barrier to TCR-based immunotherapy, due to limitations in current models that fail to generalize beyond common viral epitopes and well-characterized HLA alleles. In this PhD proposal, I outline a computational framework that integrates deep learning, structural modeling, and molecular simulation to improve TCR–pMHC prediction and discovery. I first introduce TRIOPS, a convolutional neural network trained on harmonized, experimentally validated data to predict MHC restriction from TCR sequence alone. TRIOPS outperforms state-of-the-art models in both held-out evaluation and independent patient datasets, demonstrating improved accuracy in assigning TCRs to their correct restricting MHC alleles. I then propose TRILOBITE, a two-part structure-based model combining atomic-resolution graph representations and dynamics-derived biophysical features to classify TCR–pMHC binding and estimate affinity. Finally, I propose an end-to-end pipeline to identify tumor-reactive TCRs from patient-derived sequencing data by integrating HLA typing, antigen prediction, structure generation, and binding assessment. Applied to a pan-cancer atlas of over 1.2 million T cells, this framework will enable high-throughput, structure-informed TCR discovery across diverse HLA backgrounds. Together, these aims address a critical need for scalable, mechanistically grounded methods for mapping T cell specificity to accelerate cancer immunotherapy discovery.
Event Host: Nicholas Rose, PhD student, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics
Advisor: Vanessa Jonsson
