UChicago News

University of Chicago to celebrate Convocation Weekend June 8-9

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 12:14 -0500

The University of Chicago is preparing to celebrate Convocation Weekend on June 8 and 9.

The weekend kicks off with Class Day, a celebration that includes an invited speaker, the presentation of College awards, and speeches by students from the Class of 2018. The event will be held Friday, June 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Main Quadrangles.

The University-wide Convocation ceremony will be held Saturday, June 9 from 9:15 to 11 a.m. also in the Main Quadrangles. Later in the day, the College and graduate divisions and schools will hold individual ceremonies in which diplomas will be presented.

Convocation represents a calling together of the entire University, with graduating students, faculty and staff from the College and graduate divisions and schools gathering to recognize educational achievement.

For those unable to attend, the Class Day and Convocation ceremonies will be webcast. Follow the weekend’s events on social media using #uchicago2018.

The invited speaker for Class Day is Valerie Jarrett, former senior adviser to President Obama and a distinguished senior fellow at UChicago Law School. She will address the College’s graduating students and their families about the responsibilities of global citizenship.

Student speakers for Class Day are Priscilla Daboni, Mark Meyer and Andrea Popov. The ceremony is open to family and friends of graduating students as well as the larger UChicago community.

On Saturday, Convocation will begin with a procession of undergraduate and graduate candidates into the Main Quadrangles. President Robert J. Zimmer will verbally confer degrees to candidates by division and school during the ceremony. The University is scheduled to award a total of 3,243 degrees.

This year’s Convocation speaker is Marianne Bertrand, the Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth. Bertrand is an applied microeconomist whose research covers the fields of labor economics, corporate finance, political economy and development economics. Her address is entitled “Mind the Gaps.”

Awards and medals

On Saturday, the University will award honorary degrees to Fabiola Gianotti, an experimental particle physicist who led the search and characterization of the Higgs boson; Charles M. Lieber, a groundbreaking scholar of nanoscience and nanomaterials; Michael C.A. Macdonald, a leading expert in early language and civilization in the Arabian Peninsula; Robert E. Ricklefs, a leading figure in evolutionary ecology; and William S-Y. Wang, a pioneer in the study of language evolution and the emergence of new languages.

Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, will receive the Benton Medal for Distinguished Public Service, which recognizes people who have rendered distinguished public service in the field of education, including anyone who has contributed in a systematic and distinguished way to shaping minds and disseminating knowledge.

The University will recognize faculty members for excellence in teaching with presentations of the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Faculty Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring and the Norman Maclean Faculty Award.

Event logistics

Information about the weekend’s events, as well as details on transportation, parking and accommodations can be found on the Convocation website. Convocation shuttles can be tracked at uchicago.transloc.com. Attendees and community members are advised that there will be increased traffic and road closures during this time.

Tickets are not required for the main ceremonies, although they may be required for individual division and school ceremonies. General seating for Convocation will open at 7 a.m. and is available on a first-come basis.

Please note that all bags are subject to inspection before entering the Main Quadrangles. Items that may disrupt other guests from seeing or hearing the ceremony are not permitted inside the Quadrangles.

Less is more when it comes to predicting molecules’ conductivity

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 11:31 -0500

The smaller and smarter that phones and devices become, the greater the need to build smaller circuits. Forward-thinking scientists in the 1970s suggested that circuits could be built using molecules instead of wires, and over the past decades that technology has become reality.

The trouble is, some molecules have particularly complex interactions that make it hard to predict which of them might be good at serving as miniature circuits. But a new paper by two University of Chicago chemists presents an innovative method that cuts computational costs and improves accuracy by calculating interactions between pairs of electrons and extrapolating those to the rest of the molecule.

“Current models tend to overpredict conductance, but our theory outperforms traditional models by as much as one to two orders of magnitude,” said Prof. David Mazziotti, who coauthored the paper, published May 31 in Nature’s Communications Chemistry.

Everything from better computer chips and batteries to greener ways to produce chemicals depends on discovering new kinds of chemistries and materials, and scientists increasingly look to computers to search for new combinations more efficiently. Instead of trying permutations one by one, they can run models that predict the best options.

But it’s a delicate art, because in many cases these calculations can consume computing time alarmingly fast. In molecules with a lot of interacting electrons, “you can very quickly end up with the computation size increasing exponentially with the size of the molecule,” Mazziotti said.

Mazziotti and graduate student Manas Sajjan set out to simplify, creating a method for predicting molecular conductivity that uses the interaction between two electrons to represent all of the interactions. “To take one example, for a particular molecule the traditional method might require computing with 10²⁴ variables, whereas ours has 10⁹ variables—a quadrillion fewer variables,” Sajjan said. That’s the difference between a problem for which you need a supercomputer versus one you can do on a laptop.

This choice allows an unusual but powerful approach. Existing theories for molecular conductivity assign a set number of voltage applied to the molecule to predict a number for the current that could then flow through it. Sajjan and Mazziotti flipped this paradigm on its head. They fixed the current first, and then computed the voltage. This turns out to be much more accurate: When they checked their method with a well-known molecule, they saw it outperformed traditional methods by one-to-two orders of magnitude.

“What’s important is it’s really rigorous. Even with the conduction there’s still a one-to-one mapping with the many-electron system,” Mazziotti said. The process of making sure that the two-electron system still represents the many-electron system is a very challenging problem that’s been around for 50 years, but he said it’s worth the struggle.

“Almost all of the big problems that people are trying to solve involve working with materials that are difficult to explore with traditional methods,” he said. “If we can better predict the conductivity, we can more effectively design better molecules and materials.”

Citation: “Current-constrained density-matrix theory to calculate molecular conductivity with increased accuracy.” Manas Sajjan & David Mazziotti, Nature’s Communications Chemistry, May 31, 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s42004-018-0030-2

Funding: U.S. Army Research Office, National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Manifest wins first place in Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge

Thu, 31 May 2018 11:16 -0500

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago on May 30 announced the winners of the 22nd annual Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge, a top-ranked accelerator program in the nation.

Eleven finalists shared in a $700,000 cash prize pool—the highest ever given at the New Venture Challenge, greatly surpassing last year’s prize pool of $400,000. Thanks to a recent gift from Chicago Booth alum Rattan L. Khosa, an additional $150,000 for the new Rattan L. Khosa First-Place Prize was included, as well as $240,000 that was added from various prize sponsors and distinguished judges during today’s deliberations.

“Every team that presented in today’s finals is a real and operational company that can grow beyond this program,” said Starr Marcello, executive director of the Polsky Center and adjunct professor. “We are proud of all the teams that presented to our investors today, and those that took part in the 22nd year of the NVC. We are excited to see them grow.”

Finalists presented to 27 distinguished judges—including Dan Caruso, MBA’90, founder and CEO of Zayo Group; Immanuel Thangaraj, MBA’93, managing director of Essex Woodlands Health Ventures; and Penny Pritzker, founder and chairman of PSP Capital and U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama, among others.

Winners of the 2018 NVC include:

Manifest, a distributed ledger solution that will standardize 401(k) transfers, won first place and $315,000, including $150,000 from the Rattan L. Khosa First-Place Prize, $120,000 from individual distinguished judges, $25,000 from The Caruso Foundation and $20,000 for their acceptance into the Pritzker Group Venture Fellows Program this summer. Manifest, which is a member of the Polsky Incubator, is creating a network between 401(k) providers and streamlining the process to help eliminate the estimated $2.5B that providers lose each year due to these inefficiencies.

Mindful Urgent Care, a company offering same-day, non-emergent mental health and substance abuse psychiatric services to insured and cash-paying clients, took home second place and $125,000, including $75,000 from individual distinguished judges, $25,000 from The Caruso Foundation, $12,500 from the Polsky Center and $12,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund. Mindful Urgent Care was the winner of the 2018 Global New Venture Challenge and will be opening its first location in New York in the next month.

Coeus.ai, a company that empowers video game streamers and gamers by utilizing proprietary machine-learning algorithms to automatically create hundreds of highlights out of any video game stream and gameplay, won third place and $90,000, which includes $40,000 from OCA Ventures, $25,000 from The Caruso Foundation, $12,500 from the Polsky Center and $12,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund.

There was a tie between MUU and BrewBike, each taking home $45,000. Muu, a Brazilian ice cream that has less calories, more protein and less fat than traditional brands, took home $22,500 from the Polsky Center and $22,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund. BrewBike, a company that provides coffee to college communities, took home $20,000 for their acceptance into the Pritzker Group Venture Fellows Program this summer, $12,500 from the Polsky Center and $12,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund.

Oxalo Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based on University of Chicago research and committed to ending the epidemic of kidney stones, took home $25,000, including $12,500 from the Polsky Center and $12,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund.

nuBorn Medical, a company creating a smart baby bottle system to diagnose and treat feeding problems in preterm infants, took home $15,000 including $7,500 from the Polsky Center and $7,500 from the UChicago Innovation Fund.

Four finalists: Seurat Therapeutics, FORESEEaBill, Sweet Karma and Haystack ABI each took home $10,000, including $5,000 from the Polsky Center and $5,000 from the UChicago Innovation Fund. Seurat Therapeutics is a biotech startup developing a new medication that can stop migraines before they start. FORSEEaBill is an innovative platform technology that provides life sciences organizations with decision support in identifying the appropriate payer for every test, procedure and service performed during a clinical trial. Sweet Karma is a dessert company focusing on innovative dessert for health and fitness conscious people. Haystack ABI is a data-driven management platform for restaurants.

The New Venture Challenge finals is one of the marquee events of UChicago Innovation Fest. Now in its third year, UChicago Innovation Fest celebrates pioneering discovery and entrepreneurial endeavors at the University of Chicago. Led by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the month of events, workshops and accelerator programs highlights the breadth and impact of innovation at UChicago in the areas of entrepreneurship and research commercialization, scientific advancements and social impact.

Students bring accessibility to forefront in organizing disability studies conference

Fri, 25 May 2018 11:38 -0500

A scholar of linguistic anthropology and the anthropology of disability, UChicago graduate student Sharon Seegers conducts research on sign language interpreters in Hanoi. Her work focuses on the ways interpreters are dependent on deaf people and what it means to value interpreters’ dependence.

Seegers appreciated the opportunity to present her disability-focused research at a recent UChicago conference focused on disability studies. The Chicago Disabilities Studies Conference was conducted in an environment designed to accommodate attendees with disabilities.

“A lot of the scholars who did present are students with disabilities and also disability scholars,” said Seegers of the April 20-21 event, which highlighted research from undergraduate and graduate students and faculty from across the country. “It was a great opportunity for disabled scholars to present their work in an accessible environment.”

A dyslexic student, Seegers was one of the UChicago students who helped plan and organize this year’s conference, which offered attendees with disabilities resources including American sign language interpreters, CART services, large-print materials and access copies. This was the fourth annual conference, which was held at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Stephanie Ban, a fourth-year student at UChicago, presented her BA thesis, which focuses on how three Chicago-area universities addressed the issue of wheelchair accessibility prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. She was impressed by the wide variety of speakers and topics at the event.

“Whatever your interest was in disability studies, someone at the conference was speaking on that exact topic,” said Ban, who added it “served to highlight that disability is a form of diversity that should be embraced more widely across campus.”

Matthew Borus, a graduate student in the School of Social Service Administration and the Department of Sociology, participated in a panel on disability organizing and activism. His research focuses on the significant role of the Disability Rag, a print periodical in the 1980s that gained wide circulation and national focus, in the disability rights movement.

“This was primarily an academic conference engaging multiple disciplines,” Borus said, “and it also modeled accessibility practices that can be a lot more common.”

Student organizers hope the conference will return to UChicago in future years and will help increase the visibility of disability studies.

New theory finds ‘traffic jams’ in jet stream cause abnormal weather patterns

Thu, 24 May 2018 16:50 -0500

The sky sometimes has its limits, according to new research from two University of Chicago atmospheric scientists.

A study published May 24 in Science offers an explanation for a mysterious and sometimes deadly weather pattern in which the jet stream, the global air currents that circle the Earth, stalls out over a region. Much like highways, the jet stream has a capacity, researchers said, and when it’s exceeded, blockages form that are remarkably similar to traffic jams—and climate forecasters can use the same math to model them both.

The deadly 2003 European heat wave, California’s 2014 drought and the swing of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that surprised forecasters—all of these were caused by a weather phenomenon known as “blocking,” in which the jet stream meanders, stopping weather systems from moving eastward. Scientists have known about it for decades, almost as long as they’ve known about the jet stream—which was explored in the last century by pioneering University of Chicago meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Rossby, in fact—but no one had a good explanation for why it happens.

A wind map shows a typical blocking pattern in the Pacific, where the winds split and circle around. (Original image by earth.nullschool.net)

“Blocking is notoriously difficult to forecast, in large part because there was no compelling theory about when it forms and why,” said lead author Noboru Nakamura, a professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences.

Nakamura and Clare S.Y. Huang, PhD'17, were studying the jet stream, trying to determine a clear set of measurements for blocking in order to better analyze the phenomenon. One of their new metrics was a term that measured the jet stream’s meander. Looking over the math, Nakamura realized that the equation was nearly identical to one devised decades ago by transportation engineers trying to describe traffic jams.

“It turns out the jet stream has a capacity for ‘weather traffic,’ just as highway has traffic capacity, and when it is exceeded, blocking manifests as congestion,” said Huang, who performed the research for her thesis.

Just as car traffic piles up where speed limit is reduced or multiple highways converge, blocking often occurs where the background jet speed slows down due to mountains and coasts.

The result is a simple theory that not only reproduces blocking, but predicts it, said Nakamura, who called making the cross-disciplinary connection “one of the most unexpected, but enlightening moments in my research career—it was a gift from God.”

The explanation may not immediately improve short-term weather forecasting, the researchers said, but it will certainly help predict long-term patterns, including which areas may see more drought or floods.

Their initial results suggest that while climate change probably increases blocking by running the jet stream closer to its capacity, there will be regional differences: for example, the Pacific Ocean may actually see a decrease in blocking over the decades.

“It’s very difficult to forecast anything until you understand why it’s happening, so this mechanistic model should provide a useful guiding principle,” Nakamura said.

And the model, unlike most modern climate science, is expressed in simple math: “This equation captures the essence with a much less complicated system,” Huang said.

Citation: “Atmospheric Blocking as a Traffic Jam in the Jet Stream,” Nakamura and Huang, Science, May 24, 2018. DOI: 10.1126/science.aat0721

Funding: National Science Foundation.

Law School clinic co-authors report with ACLU on abuse of migrant children

Thu, 24 May 2018 10:31 -0500

A report released May 23 by the University of Chicago Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union’s Border Litigation Project reveals evidence of rampant child abuse by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, offering the public an unprecedented look at conditions experienced by unaccompanied migrant children who are apprehended upon arrival at the southern border of the United States.

The report, available on a new website launched by the ACLU, includes complaints in which children describe being kicked, shot with Tasers, sexually assaulted, deprived of food and water, held in freezing and unsanitary detention centers, threatened with rape and death, verbally abused, and more. It also offers evidence that children’s complaints of abuse were often ignored or mishandled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“These children are among the most vulnerable in the world: they are alone, having escaped violence and poverty in their home countries. When they arrive at our border, however, they often face shocking levels of neglect and abuse at the hands of U.S. officials—officials who are bound by law to keep these children safe and treat them in a humane way,” said IHRC Director Claudia Flores, who led a group of three Law School students in reviewing the complaints; researching human rights, immigration and child protection laws; and drafting the report in collaboration with the ACLU. “These complaints—which offer details never before available to the public on this scale—show institutional impunity by Customs and Border Protection officials and a disturbing lack of accountability.”

“These documents provide a glimpse into a federal immigration enforcement system marked by brutality and lawlessness,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, ACLU Border Litigation Project staff attorney. “All human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their immigration status—and children, in particular, deserve special protection. The misconduct demonstrated in these records is breathtaking, as is the government’s complete failure to hold officials who abuse their power accountable. The abuse that takes place by government officials is reprehensible and un-American.”

The report is part of a wider project by the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project—a joint project of the ACLU Foundations of Arizona and San Diego & Imperial Counties. Through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in late 2014, and over three years of subsequent litigation co-counseled with the law firm of Cooley LLP, the ACLU obtained more than 30,000 pages of documents from various DHS agencies. The documents—all of which are now being published by the ACLU—cover incidents that took place between 2009 and 2014 involving unaccompanied children, most of whom were fleeing violence and poverty in Mexico and Central America.

By law, CBP officials are not to hold unaccompanied children who are apprehended at the border for longer than 72 hours. These children are entitled to safe, secure and clean facilities; adequate food and water; proper medical care; and respectful treatment. Federal officials are also bound by law to report any incidents of child abuse to law enforcement, child protective services or the FBI.

But what the students and lawyers found as they reviewed complaints made to the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties was a systemic pattern of abuse: children being stomped on or punched; fondled or made to strip naked; verbally abused; fed inedible or spoiled food; or denied necessary medical care.

These records also show that neither of two DHS oversight entities—CRCL and the Office of the Inspector General—fully or effectively investigated children’s complaints. Investigations were repeatedly closed due to agency delays and a lack of reliable record-keeping. The records offered no evidence of effective remedial or disciplinary measures taken by DHS.

“The ACLU Border Litigation Project has recovered these disturbing records, which reflect abuses that occurred during the Obama administration. The concern is that, as Trump has increased federal immigration enforcement at our borders and called for increased funding for DHS entities, such abuses could recur—or proliferate,” said Grace Paek, who worked with fellow Law School students Nabihah Maqbool and Chinwe Chukwuogo on the project.

“This clinic project was a serious eye-opener for us when it comes to holding government accountable,” said Chukwuogo. “No matter where they come from, children must be protected and have their basic needs met. These children were alone and had no one to advocate for them.”

Startups with societal impact compete in Social New Venture Challenge finals

Tue, 22 May 2018 10:40 -0500

Seven teams have been selected to pitch their social impact startups during the finals of the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge on May 22.

The SNVC, a track of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s nationally ranked Edward L. Kaplan, ’71 New Venture Challenge, is one of the nation’s first social venture competitions and has helped more than 90 companies and nonprofits since it began in 2011.

“Every year, we’re impressed by the creativity of our teams in addressing their stated challenges,” said Robert H. Gertner, the Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Strategy and Finance at Chicago Booth and the John Edwardson Faculty Director of the Rustandy Center. “But this year they’ve pleased us with the degree to which they’ve proven their viability in the market.”

Past winners of the Social New Venture Challenge, which is run in collaboration with Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, include BallotReady, the online voter guide founded by Alex Niemczewski, AB’09, and Aviva Rosman, MPP’16; and LuminAID, the solar-powered lamp for disaster relief founded by Andrea Sreshta, MBA’16.

SNVC finalists will present to a panel of distinguished judges and compete for $75,000 in startup capital and $40,000 in additional specialized awards during the eighth annual competition. Doors open for SNVC finals at 9:15 a.m. in Harper Center, C-25, and remarks will start at 10 a.m.

Winners will be announced at the Taste the Impact Reception in Harper Center, Room 104. The SNVC Finals also will be streamed live. Register to attend or livestream the 2018 SNVC Finals and the Taste the Impact Reception here.

The finalist teams that will be presenting include:

Unbreakable, a 10-week, anti-bullying online video program that focuses on empowering youth by improving their self-confidence and coping skills using scientifically proven psychological techniques.
VouchCircle, a professional networking platform for underserved communities.
Shakti, which empowers functionally illiterate women in India to enforce their rights and access legal and public health resources.
Insights for Impact, a for-profit social enterprise that helps small to medium nonprofit organizations realize the use of data within their organizations.
Gather Activism, a digital platform for political activism.
Mighty, a free online and mobile marketplace for the public to deposit money in secure, community-investing banks.
AIM Clinics, which provides the gold standard autism therapy to children in rural U.S. communities.

Polsky Center helps launch biotech company from lab to real world

Fri, 18 May 2018 10:11 -0500

When Yang Zheng decided to go to business school, he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Instead of launching his own mobile application or consumer product, he sought an opportunity to join up with a University of Chicago doctor and begin work on bringing a technology to market that will change people’s lives.

An MBA student at Chicago Booth, Zheng is the chief operating officer of Oxalo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that is developing a novel drug to prevent kidney stones. Oxalo is the latest in a series of research innovations that, with the help of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is moving from the lab to making impact in the real world.

Oxalo’s drug is based on research conducted by Hatim Hassan, a UChicago assistant professor of medicine, who studies the gut microbe that exists in some people that helps prevent kidney stones. This microbe, found in around 60 percent of people, releases factors that stimulate the intestines to remove oxalate, the toxic molecule that, when combined with calcium, causes most kidney stones. By creating a drug that mimics the factors that this bug releases, the drug aims to remove oxalate in the body and prevent kidney stones. This type of microbiome-inspired therapy is sometimes referred to as “drugs as bugs.”

On May 22, Oxalo Therapeutics will find out if it is one of the teams selected to compete in the nationally renowned Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge, in which companies present to a panel of esteemed entrepreneurs and investors.

Getting involved

Zheng got involved with the Polsky Center through programs like the Collaboratorium, which connects University scientists and researchers with business students, and the Technology Venture Fellows program. While working as an intern in the Polsky Center’s technology commercialization office, Zheng decided he was ready to take his business expertise and join a company that could make an impact.

“My criteria for whatever business I joined or started was that it would make dramatic impact in people’s lives, and in reviewing these University technologies, it seemed like biotech was the way to do that,” said Zheng. “I wanted to focus on one technology that had good potential and a good cofounder, and at the same time, Hassan’s technology was just mature enough where it was ready to be commercialized. And the Polsky Center, knowing both of our paths and our goals for the future, connected us.”

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“I was impressed with Yang’s commitment to the biotech entrepreneurship path,” said Matt Martin, microbiome innovation and ventures lead at the Polsky Center. “While Yang and I had been informally talking for a few months, he described his commitment at a time when I was looking for another person to join Hassan’s business team. It turned out to be a perfect fit.”

Zheng connected with Hassan, and they took Oxalo through the UChicago Innovation Fund in the fall of 2017, receiving $250,000 from the Polsky Center. The Innovation Fund provides funding to UChicago-affiliated ventures and technologies that have the greatest promise to benefit society. The Innovation Fund fills a critical gap in venture funding, providing early capital that is often unavailable, but is needed to help bring groundbreaking ideas to market. Oxalo also benefited from the UCGo! Startup License, a program that streamlines and simplifies the licensing process for University startup companies, shortening the timeline and minimizing the company’s legal costs.

Following the Innovation Fund, Oxalo prepared for the next step in their entrepreneurial journey: the Polsky Center’s capstone program, the New Venture Challenge.

The NVC experience

Zheng is leading Oxalo through the New Venture Challenge, which requires a UChicago graduate student as an integral part of the team. Oxalo was accepted to Phase II of the NVC in February and is now in the middle of the rigorous classroom portion—complete with mentoring, critical feedback from outside judges and investors, and business plan development.

The classroom portion of the New Venture Challenge calls for students to present their companies to the class and a rotating group of outside judges and investors multiple times throughout the quarter. A process that Zheng contends is about much more than just crafting the perfect pitch.

“Going through the process of forcing yourself to tell the story of your company to people that may or may not care, or may or may not be in your industry, is the most powerful tool of the NVC,” said Zheng. “You intimately know your business, so you get to the point where you can explain it in a million different ways for a million different audiences. If you don’t know your business to that level, you need to. And that’s what the NVC has forced us to do.”

“My criteria for whatever business I joined or started was that it would make dramatic impact in people’s lives.” MBA student Yang Zheng

While the New Venture Challenge has a 22-year history, it is only recently that the University’s venture creation and technology licensing operations were brought under one organization. The recent expansion of the Polsky Center has made companies such as Oxalo—the product of University research—even more common. While there might be a vast difference between companies such as Oxalo or past NVC winners Grubhub or Tovala, the program is designed to benefit companies, no matter their industry or background.

“Ultimately, everything is a business. It doesn’t matter if you are a new type of food or science or a mobile app, it’s a business,” said Zheng. “You need to tell a story and figure out your finances and operations and everything like that. The NVC forces you to do that, and to do it well.”

At the NVC finals, teams will compete for a comprehensive awards package totaling more than $1 million in prize and in-kind services. This year, as a result of a recent gift from Chicago Booth alum Rattan Khosa, MBA ’79, the first-place prize will be a record $150,000.

Following the New Venture Challenge, Oxalo is planning to spend the next few months fundraising and participating in additional accelerator programs to continue to build and grow their business.

“They’re at the beginning of what could be a long, 10-year journey to bring a new class of drug to market,” said Martin. “However, kidney stone prevention is a huge unmet need for those with recurrent stones, and this team is off to a great start. I’m confident that if anyone can turn this science into a new therapy, Yang and Hassan will.”

Nationwide program launches to train new generation of quantum engineers

Tue, 08 May 2018 14:46 -0500

In the past decade, quantum technology took a leap out of the realm of science fiction and landed firmly in reality. As companies around the world race toward practical applications, however, they’ll need a new generation of scientists and engineers to fulfill its potential.

Funded by a $1.6 million award from the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and Harvard University will head a new nationwide graduate student training program for quantum science and engineering.

Called the Quantum Information Science and Engineering Network, the program will group select graduate students with both an academic adviser and one from a leading technology company or national laboratory. Over the course of four years, the “triplets” will each address a pressing research question for both academia and industry.

David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor in Spintronics and Quantum Information at the University of Chicago, will oversee the program in partnership with Evelyn Hu, the Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and of Electrical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

“Professor Hu and I are extremely excited to help the NSF pioneer a different approach to graduate education and advance the frontiers of quantum science by creating a national workforce of quantum engineers,” Awschalom said. “Students selected for QISE-NET will benefit from the mentorship of both academic and industrial advisers on research topics that will pursue leading-edge science and engineering along with longer-term industrial goals.”

The students will serve as the principal “communicators-in-residence” at both universities and in industry, translating ideas into research results, Awschalom said.

“NSF is pleased to foster this novel approach to educate the future workforce for the needs of quantum engineering, industry and science,” said Anne Kinney, assistant director of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation. “This important project responds to input from industry, research communities and other federal agencies. I look forward to the results of the QISE-NET project and to the mentorship and collaboration framework that it is expected to generate.”

Approximately 20 students will receive four years of funding under the first edition of the program.

Students impacted by hurricanes in Puerto Rico continue studies at UChicago

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 15:37 -0500

When Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico last fall, they left billions of dollars in damage in their wake, upending the lives of people across the island.

For Yanitza Cruz Crespo and Gabriel Manzano Nieves, students at University of Puerto Rico, the hurricanes meant pursuing their studies without water, electricity or functioning classrooms.

To help those affected by the hurricane, the University of Chicago launched a series of initiatives to allow members of Puerto Rico’s academic and artistic communities to continue their work. Cruz Crespo and Manzano Nieves are among the nine undergraduates who are joining the University this spring, along with four graduate students, four visiting faculty and two visiting artists who are receiving support from UChicago that includes tuition, room and board, and other expenses.

“Now that I’m here, I don’t have to worry about things like power or a place to study—all things that became major struggles back home. Instead I can focus on my work here as a student and gathering the tools to return home stronger,” said Cruz Crespo, whose family lost the roof of its home in the storm and was without water for three months and power for five months. “The environment here invites you to study, and I think that’s really nice because we went months after the hurricane without somewhere to study.”

A fourth-year student majoring in information & journalism at University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, Cruz Crespo said the UChicago program has shown her new ways to approach her research and coursework.

“I enjoy the way the professors teach our classes. It’s intensive, but I think it will improve my way of studying. It’s really different from what I’ve experienced in the past,” she said.

“Now that I’m here, I don’t have to worry about things like power or a place to study—all things that became major struggles back home. Instead I can focus on my work here as a student and gathering the tools to return home stronger.” Yanitza Cruz Crespo

Manzano Nieves, a fourth-year student majoring in the history of the Americas, also found connections between UChicago’s course offerings and his studies at University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.

“I’m interested in the processes and end products of colonization and decolonization. Each affects the way people see themselves and how they view people from different tiers of civilization,” said Manzano Nieves. “The courses I’m taking at UChicago complement each other and my path of study. When I read each syllabus, I was instantly attracted to each of them.”

Before beginning his studies, Manzano Nieves completed a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, working on aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships that took him across the globe. After a final deployment on the USS America, he realized he wanted to attend University of Puerto Rico and pursue a career in law.

After the hurricanes hit, he left his studies to help his family and others recover and confront other challenges like gas shortages, lack of drinking water and access to banking systems.

“The roads were desolate, and trees were down everywhere. It looked like a war zone,” Manzano Nieves said. “The green of the island was gone, and you could suddenly see parts of the island that you’d never noticed before. Many people say the hurricanes unmasked a lot of poverty that was hidden away from sight.”

While the Mayagüez campus was being rebuilt, Manzano Nieves established a GoFundMe campaign to provide supplies like water-purifying pills and flashlights for those who suffered the most damage. After he had spent most of his resources helping everyone but himself, the program at UChicago was a welcome relief. After completing Spring Quarter at UChicago, Manzano Nieves plans return to Puerto Rico and graduate in December.

“I hope to bring back the knowledge from the classes I am taking, which are interesting and go very deep into their specific topics. I find it is a completely different academic experience that I wouldn’t be able to get back home,” he said. “As I prepare for law school, this opportunity will give me a better idea of how other universities might think.”

Cruz Crespo said the UChicago program will change the way she and her family look back on Hurricane Maria.

“Maria was a disaster and is still a disaster in Puerto Rico, but we also see it another way because it opened a door for me to grow in other ways and to contribute to the recovery of my country,” she said. “It’s helped us realize that something good can come out of the hurricane.”

Postdoctoral fellow leads physics lectures on the mysteries of neutrinos

Fri, 20 Apr 2018 11:10 -0500

Twice every year, the University of Chicago’s Enrico Fermi Institute sponsors the Arthur Holly Compton lecture series, which provide the public an inside look at the questions about the universe with which the institute and its scientists are grappling.

This spring’s free lectures series will be held 11 a.m. Saturday mornings at the Kersten Physics Teaching Center through June 2 (except for Memorial Day weekend).

The series is named for pioneering University of Chicago physicist and Nobel laureate Arthur Holly Compton, who demonstrated that light can be both particle and wave. Compton also directed the Metallurgical Laboratory, where Enrico Fermi and his colleagues produced the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942.

The subject of this spring’s series, delivered by Grainger Postdoctoral Fellow Andrew Mastbaum, is the neutrino: the wiliest of all the particles in the universe. These tiny particles zip around and through us all the time, but they remain mysterious—yet they may be the gatekeepers to some of our most fundamental questions about the universe, from what makes the sun shine to why we exist at all.

Mastbaum answered a few questions for UChicago News.

Why do you study neutrinos?

Oh, neutrinos are where the party’s at. Everyone’s trying to find some kind of physics outside the Standard Model—something that’s outside of our current understanding of particle physics. And in neutrinos there’s all kinds of open questions and anomalies that our experiments have found. I feel like the time is right for discovery in one of those areas.

What are some of the neutrino experiments you’re working on?

I work on two experiments. At Fermilab I’m involved with the Short Baseline Neutrino Program, where our goal is to measure whether there’s some additional type of neutrino beyond the three ones we know about. The other is SNO+ in Ontario, Canada, which is located underground in a mine. It looks at neutrinos coming from the sun, which helps us understand how the sun works as well as how neutrinos work. But the main goal is to measure something called neutrino double-beta decay, which would only happen if a neutrino is its own antiparticle.

If you could find the answer to one of the questions about neutrinos, which would it be?

I think the question about whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles is really of fundamental significance. Among the known particles of matter, only neutrinos can get away with this, and it will be very interesting to see if that’s how Nature works. And that could also open the door to neutrinos being the solution to other problems—like the existence of the universe that’s full of matter and not antimatter.

So which one are you hoping for—it is or it isn’t its own antiparticle?

It’s so cool either way. If it is, that’s really interesting and feeds into this matter/antimatter symmetry. And if it’s not, then it suggests there’s something that actually differentiates neutrinos and antineutrinos that we don’t know about. So then there’s some fundamental symmetry of nature that we haven’t discovered yet.

But, if you pressed me…. I’m rooting for they’re their own antiparticles.

How would that affect physics?

The Standard Model, our main theory of particle physics, has evolved a bit over the years as we discover new things like neutrinos having mass, and add it in. But to make neutrinos their own antiparticles requires some bigger changes, and would be a strong hint that there is a some bigger-picture theory we don’t have yet, beyond the Standard Model.

When you started planning the lectures, what was something you hoped to get across?

One thing I wanted to communicate is this really interesting dichotomy with neutrinos. There’s so much we don’t understand about them, and so they’re really interesting to study in their own right to understand the universe; but in the meantime, because they’re so unique, we can use them as a probe. For example, they can help us see inside the sun, more or less, because the neutrinos come straight from the reactions in the core of the sun, while sunlight only tells us about what’s going on at the very outer surface. So we can use them to study physics out there in the universe even if we don’t fully understand the neutrinos themselves.

There’s a lot of very notable people who have done this before me, and it’s a real honor to be a part of that. And I think it’s a really cool opportunity to share some of the research we do—to share what the big open questions are, and what keeps neutrino physicists up at night. It’s really exciting stuff, and it’s great to be able to share that.

A syllabus and slides from past lectures are available at Mastbaum’s website. Funding for the free lectures is provided by the Enrico Fermi Institute; additional support from lecture attendees is welcomed.

Two undergraduates recognized for academic excellence in STEM fields

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:01 -0500

Adel Rahman and Naomi Sweeting, third-years in the College, have been awarded Barry Goldwater Scholarships, awarded annually based on academic merit in natural sciences, mathematics, computer science and engineering.

The two students were nominated by the College and are among 211 scholars selected from a field of 1,280 applicants nationwide. The one- and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year.

“As future scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians, UChicago’s students have the drive and dedication to make a meaningful impact on their fields,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. “We are proud that the Goldwater Foundation has recognized the work of Adel and Naomi, and we hope the award will give them the resources and encouragement to continue their academic pursuits.”

A physics and mathematics major, Rahman plans to pursue a doctorate in theoretical physics and conduct research focused on geometric and topological aspects of gravitational, high-energy and condensed matter physics. After pursuing his doctoral studies, he would like to teach at the university level.

“As a theorist, my work is somewhat disconnected from the real world, so it's easy to worry that people outside my field might not understand or care about what I am doing,” said Rahman. “Knowing that the Goldwater committee sees value in my research and aspirations has helped reaffirm my desire to keep pursuing my goals.”

Rahman is currently conducting research focused on general relativity. Under the guidance of Prof. Robert Wald, he is attempting to understand if, and if so, how, incoming gravitational radiation might alter the structure of a black hole and what consequences such an alteration might have. Rahman first developed an interest in general relativity when he took an introductory course on the subject from Wald. “I found the theory, in particular its elegant weaving of concrete physical ideas with high-powered mathematical machinery, to be both fascinating and profound.”

Rahman also has been engaged in a research project in mathematical hydrodynamics. Outside of the classroom, Rahman is a member of the Ransom Notes a cappella group and has served as a tutor for the Harper Tutors Program and the Department of Physics’ Bridge Program.

Sweeting is a mathematics major and history minor who plans to study number theory in graduate school. After earning a doctorate in theoretical math, Sweeting would like to teach at the university level.

Sweeting developed a love for math at a young age, and her interests were solidified through participation in math competitions at the middle school and high school level.

“I’ve always been fascinated by open problems—even ones that I knew were completely unapproachable,” said Sweeting. “I am amazed that with all the brilliance that has gone into mathematics for centuries and all the problems that have been solved, there are still simple mathematical questions that no one can answer. The thought of one day solving some of them myself has always been irresistible to me.”

Last summer, she completed an independent reading project about geometric measure theory and served as a teaching assistant at UChicago’s NSF Research Grant Summer Bootcamp, in which she planned curriculum and supervised student lectures. This summer, Sweeting will study number theory and arithmetic geometry at Emory University.

“I find number theory fascinating because it combines very concrete questions—many open problems could be understood by middle school students—with diverse and sophisticated methods drawn from very abstract areas of math.”

When she’s not engaged in math, Sweeting is a member of UChicago’s College Bowl team. She also participated in the European Civilization in Paris study abroad program.

Rahman and Sweeting were supported throughout their application process by the College Center for Scholarly Advancement, which supports undergraduates and College alumni through the highly competitive application processes for prestigious national scholarships and fellowships.

New podcast to tell stories behind transformative ideas at UChicago

Mon, 09 Apr 2018 15:30 -0500

A world-renowned classical composer whose music is performed more than almost any other living composer. One of the leading experts on health care expansion whose research is revealing the true impact of health insurance. A paleontologist who discovered an actual evolutionary missing link.

They are just a few of the pioneering scholars featured in a new UChicago podcast called Big Brains, which will tell the stories behind some of the most groundbreaking ideas by scholars at the University of Chicago.

Big Brains will debut April 16 with a conversation featuring evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin, whose revolutionary 2006 discovery of a 375-million-year-old fossil called Tiktaalik roseae provided a missing link in the evolution of animals from sea to land. Future guests will include composer Augusta Read Thomas and health care policy expert Katherine Baicker, among many more.

Hosted by Paul M. Rand, vice president of communications at UChicago, the podcast is part of the UChicago Podcast Network, which launched this year with a series Knowledge Applied. The podcast’s first season, focused on urban research, was ranked in the top higher education podcasts on Apple Podcasts and was featured as one of RadioPublic’s new shows.

“Since I arrived on campus, I’ve marveled at the discoveries and insights happening here that are changing our world for the better,” Rand said. “I think listeners will be excited to learn more about these big ideas and the people behind them.”

New episodes of Big Brains will appear Mondays through the Spring Quarter. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Message on police shooting incident

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 11:13 -0500

President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Daniel Diermeier sent the following message to the University of Chicago community on April 4, 2018:

We are writing to provide an update on an incident that occurred near campus last night. This is a difficult incident for our community, and our concern is with all of the individuals involved and their families.

At approximately 10:12 pm, University of Chicago police officers responded to a call of a burglary in process in the Hyde Park neighborhood in the alley between South Kimbark Avenue and South Woodlawn Avenue near 53rd Street. Three officers arrived at the scene and encountered a young male individual with a long metal pipe, breaking car and apartment windows. Upon arrival, following protocol, the officers demanded that the individual drop the pipe.

The individual ignored the officers’ repeated requests to drop the pipe, and at one point charged an officer with the weapon. At that time, the officer discharged his weapon, striking the individual in the shoulder. After the incident the UCPD learned that the individual is a student at the University of Chicago. The student’s parents have been contacted.

The student was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was last reported to be in stable condition. The Chicago Police Department will be investigating the incident. In addition, the University Department of Safety and Security will conduct an administrative investigation. Under police department protocol, the officer has been placed on mandatory administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. There is body camera footage of the incident, which will be released to the media as soon as feasible.

Maintaining our community’s safety, security and well-being is of paramount importance. Support services and resources for students will be provided by the College and Campus and Student Life. The University will release additional updates as more information becomes available.

Students teach local kids skating through community program

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 10:40 -0500

On one of her first nights as a UChicago student, Meera Dhodapkar was walking across campus when she noticed the lights of an empty outdoor ice rink. The sight on the Midway Plaisance in the fall of 2015 brought back fond memories of Central Park in New York, where she first learned to skate, but it also served as inspiration for connecting with her new community.

As a high schooler Dhodapkar competed for Team USA in synchronized skating, in which 16 people perform a program with intricate formations and step sequences. But it was also during this time in which the New Haven, Connecticut native taught the sport to aspiring young skaters as a volunteer instructor.

“I learned a lot about what it means to work with kids, but I really gained a deep appreciation for the sport and what a privilege it is to share it with others,” said Dhodapkar, now a third-year student studying biology and public policy. “That was something I wanted to be part of my college experience too.”

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Ice Skating on the Midway

She realized a similar program at UChicago could help local children have fun while learning crucial skills and healthy habits. With the help of the University, Dhodapkar founded a free program that introduces children to skating, promotes an active lifestyle and cultivates good sportsmanship.

Over the course of the past three seasons, the ChicaGO! initiative has grown to reach more than 120 students from neighboring schools. With the help of four UChicago student volunteers—each experienced skaters—Dhodapkar teaches weekly classes focused on basic skating techniques, ranging from falling safely to skating forward and backward to executing two-foot spins.

“To know that I could inspire others to take an interest in the sport is something I couldn’t pass up,” said Calvin Chu, a third-year UChicago student volunteer. “The students begin as we all do: nervous and afraid of falling. But over time, they gain confidence through skating, and those are the moments I’ve cherished as part of the program.”

Creating community partnerships

Dhodapkar formed an initial proposal for the program after participating in UChicago Leads, a weeklong pre-orientation program focused on individual leadership development and leadership in the context of the community. Her biggest challenge was making the program available to all participants.

“Ice skating is a sport that can be fairly inaccessible to individuals,” said Dhodapkar. “Not only is it a small sport, not generally offered in schools, but it can be very expensive and difficult to find lessons. Our rink is free admission, but many rinks are not. Even paying to rent skates once a week can be a financial burden.”

To ensure the program reflected the interests of the community, Dhodapkar sought help from Shaz Rasul, one of the community-focused leaders she met during pre-orientation. As executive director of student civic engagement activities at UChicago’s Office of Civic Engagement, Rasul helps student civic engagement activities improve their efficacy, stimulate innovation and create new partnerships.

“We are in an era in which there are so many resources at the University for students looking to do something positive for the community,” said Rasul. “Part of our commitment at the Office of Civic Engagement is to help students think through their ideas, connect them to local community organizations and provide the tools to determine if an idea is a good fit for the local neighborhood.”

Rasul received a positive response from members of the Neighborhood Schools Program, a local education partnership he heads, so in winter 2016, his office helped Dhodapkar by funding a one-day pilot event for 30 students.

“We are in an era in which there are so many resources at the University for students looking to do something positive for the community”Shaz Rasul, executive director of student civic engagement initiatives

In 2017, the program was formalized and the following year it offered weekly lessons to 50 participants over the course of winter quarter. Civic Engagement assisted Dhodapkar with grant proposals and helped forge partnerships with local organizations to fully subsidize the cost of skates and admission to the rink.

“I am personally very humbled by the number of people that wanted to engage in the program. It’s become much bigger than I ever could have imagined,” said Dhodapkar.

Next year, Dhodapkar hopes to expand the program, potentially offering lessons two days a week while organizing one-time skating events to reach more students. An aspiring physician, she also wants to apply the knowledge she has gained while studying public health and urban health disparities at UChicago. She is in the process of pursuing grants to incorporate formalized physical health and nutrition educational components into the program.

Dhodapkar said the program offers important lessons, both on and off the ice.

“There are huge benefits in learning how to persevere through challenges,” said Dhodapkar. “Every time you get on the ice, trip on your toe pick and take a nosedive, that’s a learning experience. The ability to take a hit but also learn from it is one of the most important things I’ve learned from the sport.”

NYC taxi ride data suggest cozy relationship between big banks and the Fed

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 13:20 -0600

Everyone in the financial markets would like to know what U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers are thinking. Will they raise interest rates? Where do they believe that the economy is going? What is their next move, and how will it affect my pocketbook?

In a perfect world, everyone would get an answer to those questions at the same time. But new research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business finds evidence that suggests Federal Reserve insiders systematically engaged in informal or discreet communication with the financial sector around the time of important policymaking meetings, increasing the probability of at least accidental leaks.

In the working paper, “What Insights Do Taxi Rides Offer into Federal Reserve Leakage?” Chicago Booth PhD candidate David Andrew Finer analyzed more than 500 million New York City taxi rides and finds “highly statistically significant evidence of increases in opportunities for information flow” between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and major commercial banks around Federal Open Market Committee meetings.

“These inferred meetings might pertain to monetary policy or could be social in nature,” said Finer. “The data don’t tell us. What we do know is that every interaction entails the risk that an outside party might gain valuable insights into the Fed.”

In a nod to the power of Big Data, Finer began his work after the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission released a dataset of more than a billion individual, anonymous cab rides in Manhattan going back to 2009. The dataset provided precise drop-off and pickup coordinates. For purposes of the study, Finer narrowed the dataset to yellow taxi rides that occurred between 2009 and 2014, omitted weekends and holidays and put other filters in place, yielding a dataset of more than 500 million taxi rides.

Among the study’s key findings:

The data yield evidence that rides from commercial banks directly to the New York Fed and offsite meetings involving insiders of the New York Fed and commercial banks increased around the time of FOMC meetings.
The data show a striking increase in rides from the commercial banks to the New York Fed almost immediately after the midnight lifting of the communications blackout. Tight restrictions on Federal Reserve staff communications are in force until midnight the day after an FOMC announcement, and rides to the New York Fed are elevated between 1 and 4 a.m. thereafter. The timing and location suggest that information pertinent to the conduct of monetary policy is being shared. The Fed might, for example, seek information on bond market conditions or provide clarification about the announcement.
Analysis of nearly coincidental drop-offs suggests that offsite lunchtime meetings between New York Fed insiders and commercial bankers increase around FOMC announcements. Coincidences are elevated from approximately the day before the announcement through a week afterward. The increase might partially reflect pent-up demand for meetings due to the blackout.
Both the post-blackout direct rides and lunchtime coincidental drop-offs were particularly elevated around monetary policy meetings in 2012, the year of the announcement of the third round of quantitative easing known as QE3.

Leaking information became an issue at the Federal Reserve in 2012 as policymakers worked to ease the effects of the Great Recession. According to the transcripts of 2012 Fed policy meetings released earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had warned his colleagues at an October 2012 policy meeting that disclosure of sensitive Fed policy deliberations, even if unintentional, could damage the central bank’s credibility and reputation.

Fed guidelines prohibit officials from discussing confidential information. The rules also restrict Fed policymakers’ and staff members’ ability to speak publicly or grant interviews during the Fed’s blackout periods, which occur around FOMC meetings.

Since this study captures only New York City yellow taxi rides, Finer said he believes that the results of this study represent the lower end of possibilities for changes in interactions around FOMC meetings and that the actual number of additional occurrences might be significantly greater.

“While this research focuses on the Fed and commercial banks, it touches on far more than just opportunities for information flow between financial institutions,” said Finer. “This study provides a taste of what private ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft can do with their data. It’s just one example of what can be learned from the data that large corporations collect on where we go and when, even if there are no clear personal identifiers.”

—Article originally appeared on the Chicago Booth website

Student-run hackathons use uncommon approaches to educate and inspire

Mon, 05 Mar 2018 09:00 -0600

A phone app to help the elderly remember family members’ faces. Software that transforms door knocks into a text alert for hearing-impaired users. Turn signals, but for people. A multiplayer game where crows wage war against...celery? All designed—and sometimes even built—at the University of Chicago in 24 hours or less.

Hackathons, daylong or overnight events in which teams work on a project in tech, data science or programming, have become a popular activity worldwide. But at UChicago, unique takes on the format organized by student groups supported by the Department of Computer Science help introduce middle-school girls to app design and tech careers or provoke more seasoned coders to use their talents in “uncommon” ways.

In January, a UChicago student organization called compileHer gathered 70 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from 50 schools across Chicago for an all-day hackathon at the Logan Center for the Arts. A student group formerly known as UChicago FEMMES, compileHer wanted to adopt the hackathon format to emphasize the importance of human-centered, accessible design in the creation of technology products today.

However most hackathons assume some level of programming or tech expertise, which can be intimidating to students who have had minimal exposure to computer science in their school curricula. The event was thus designed to cater to students from all different educational backgrounds by encouraging them to brainstorm app ideas and map their vision out with pen and paper.

Using the prompt “build something to make someone in your life happy,” teams of middle-schoolers worked with UChicago undergraduate volunteers to identify and design an app concept that addressed needs they had seen in their schools and homes. Mentors then transferred their sketches into a website that lets users navigate drawn menus and buttons as if though they were actual apps [Try one here].

The 20 hackathon groups each delivered a two-minute presentation on their creations and fielded questions from a panel of four Computer Science faculty members at the end of the day. Attendees designed a wide array of apps, including a gamified tool to boost student productivity, a resource to better facilitate pet care, and a memory assistant for the cognitively impaired.

“Overall the projects were very thoughtful. It was obvious that these students cared about the products they designed because they were building them for people in their lives that they cared about,” said fourth-year student Sydney Ko, compileHer co-director. “They had to identify the problems they saw in their lives and conceptualize how their product would be used in real life to address those issues.”

The group also organizes a yearly tech capstone event, 10-week coding workshops in Hyde Park schools, and field trips to the local offices of tech companies such as Google and Microsoft. It hoped that the design hackathon served as a gateway to computer science for its attendees.

“These girls are fantastic artists, fantastic problem-solvers and they clearly have all these really meaningful ideas on how to help the people in their lives. We wanted to use this event to show them that you don’t have to give up these existing passions to be able to succeed as a computer scientist,” said third-year student Devshi Mehrotra, co-director of compileHer. “You bring all that you are and all that you’ve learned in your life to this field and enrich it.”

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UChicago students lead hackathon

Hacking with a side of skits and soylent

On the surface, Uncommon Hacks is a more traditional hackathon, a weekend-long gathering of college students combining their skills in coding, hardware hacking, software development and other tech areas on impromptu projects. But as the name suggests, little else about the event is orthodox—from the lack of a prompt beyond “create the weirdest, the quirkiest and the most amazing projects ever” and interludes of song-and-dance skits, flashmobs, yoga and Connect 4 contests.

The third edition of Uncommon Hacks brought 250 participants from the U.S. and Canada to the Polsky Exchange in early February. After a whirlwind 24 hours, more than 50 projects competed for awards ranging from “Best Hack for Social Good” to “Most Uncommon.” Intermittently, participants would take a break to learn about 3D printing or other maker tech, chat with one of the event’s sponsors about job opportunities, or play a game of “Soylent Pong” using the nutritional liquid meal favored by hackers.

The creative atmosphere inspired a broad array of submissions, ranging from the socially conscious to the “random and impractical,” said director and third-year student Ben Weinshel. But even the sillier projects carried beneficial side effects, he said, as students learned new programming languages, tinkered inside the guts of VR headsets, fitness trackers, and smart-home devices, and formed new collaborations and friendships.

“These girls are fantastic artists, fantastic problem-solvers, and they clearly have all these really meaningful ideas on how to help the people in their lives. We wanted to use this event to show them that you don’t have to give up these existing passions to be able to succeed as a computer scientist.” Devshi Mehrotra, third-year College student and co-director of compileHer

“We want people to do things they didn’t know how to do by exploring new technologies and learning in the process,” Weinshel said. “Uncommon Hacks is a space to do this kind of work and build tech skills for the future without huge commitments.”

Over the weekend, teams designed videogames, meme generators, data visualizations, an internet-controlled typewriter, and even one or two cryptocurrencies. One team programmed Amazon’s “Alexa” personal assistant to suggest random “x but for y” startup ideas, which then inspired “turn signals for people,” small lights triggered when a person turns their head. Another created ListenHear, an app that detects important sounds such as an ambulance siren, a door knock, or a baby’s cry and sends a notification to a person’s computer.

“Those who are hard of hearing do not have these cues in life and must rely more heavily on other senses and cues in the world,” wrote one UChicago team. “ListenHear attempts to bridge the gap in providing some insight to these people about the cues they would be otherwise missing.”

UChicago, Obama Foundation announce program for emerging leaders from around the world

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 13:00 -0600

The Obama Foundation and the University of Chicago on Feb. 28 announced the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, a new program at the Harris School of Public Policy to support the next generation of leaders making an impact on issues in their communities and around the world.

Students in the Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Harris will pursue a master’s degree with an emphasis on international development and policy. Students also will participate in a range of leadership activities outside the classroom led by the Obama Foundation. Some of these foundation activities will include experiences throughout Chicago and the South Side. By engaging with the local community, students will have the opportunity to complement what they learn in the classroom and also to bring their unique perspectives to Chicago.

The program will provide rising leaders from across the globe with the skills, tools and experiences to expand the impact of their work at home. It will build relationships that reach across issues and borders, and build a global network that is committed to working together on solutions to address the most pressing challenges of our time.

The program will begin in the fall of 2018, and applications for the inaugural class of scholars are due April 10.

“This will be an impactful opportunity for emerging leaders from across the globe,” said Daniel Diermeier, provost of the University of Chicago and the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor at Harris. “Harris is known for educating leaders using rigorous, evidence-based approaches to confront the world’s most pressing problems. The Obama Foundation will provide unique and innovative opportunities to apply that learning outside the classroom and to build a global network. The result is a program that will equip a new generation of leaders to have a positive impact on a global scale.”

“The University of Chicago is where President and Mrs. Obama worked with students and future leaders for many years, so the opportunity to establish a world-class program to train the next generation of leaders there is particularly exciting for them personally,” said David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation. “The Obama Foundation is committed to inspiring and empowering emerging leaders around the world, and Harris has extraordinary resources to help young people gain new skills that will help them promote positive change. We look forward to working with Harris and to providing foundation-led programming to help these leaders gain real-world skills, tools and experiences to expand the impact of their work at home.”

The Obama Foundation Scholars Program will provide full scholarships and stipends for living expenses to approximately 25 students in its first year. The program will aim to attract individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, including community leaders, entrepreneurs and people in public service. Candidates for the program will be selected based on the work they are already doing on an issue of local or global importance and their demonstrated dedication to making a meaningful contribution to that issue and their community. The skills they develop and experiences they have as Obama Foundation Scholars will accelerate their progress and help take their work to the next level.

The Obama Foundation’s mission is to inspire, empower and connect the next generation of civic leaders. In the last year, the Obama Foundation hosted a global summit in Chicago, training days in Boston, Chicago and Tempe for local young leaders, and events with emerging leaders in Brazil, Indonesia, Germany and India. The Obama Foundation is developing the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side.

Applicants who are selected for the scholars program will join Harris’ diverse community, including alumni representing 36 countries. The students will study with leading academics from Harris and across UChicago in such fields as international development, economics and global conflict.

“We are thrilled to be able to welcome a new cohort of rising international leaders to our growing Harris community,” said Katherine Baicker, dean of Harris and the Emmett Dedmon Professor. “What unites our faculty, students and alumni is a desire to effect change on a global scale, using today’s best science to improve policy and improve lives. At a time of great and urgent need for policy innovation, ours is a home for new data-driven solutions to international policy issues across sectors and around the world.”

Students who wish to apply by the April 10 deadline can learn more about the program on Harris’ website at harris.uchicago.edu/obama-scholars. More information can be found on the Obama Foundation website at obama.org/scholars.

Fourth-year earns scholarship to pursue medical degree, global leadership program

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:00 -0600

Ade Ayoola, a fourth-year student in the College, has been selected as one of 49 inaugural Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University. Ayoola will receive full funding to pursue a medical degree from the Stanford School of Medicine while participating in the scholarship’s global leadership program.

The new scholarship program aims to provide a new generation of global leaders with the skills to develop solutions to the world’s most complicated challenges. The cohort of scholars was selected from a pool of more than 3,600 applicants based on their demonstration of independence of thought, purposeful leadership and civic mindset. Each recipient will be offered leadership training, mentorship and experiential learning opportunities.

“The College takes great pride that Ade is one of the first students worldwide to receive this scholarship, and that this experience will allow her to continue her pursuit of improving health care globally,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. “Ade’s achievements are a testament to the dedication that our students have to improving the welfare of their communities.”

Building upon her experiences in the College and drawing from the opportunities provided by the scholarship program, Ayoola hopes to practice medicine as a physician and conduct research to address global health concerns, such as improving access to quality health care and building healthier communities for those most severely underserved, particularly in Africa.

“The Knight-Hennessy scholarship will give me essential training and opportunities to pursue a career of impact in health care,” said Ayoola. “I will grow and learn alongside a group of peers and faculty who share my interest in tackling global issues and who act in spite of the unknowns. It’s an experience that will allow me to change the world for the better.”

As a pre-med student majoring in biological chemistry, Ayoola has been committed to expanding her pursuit of medicine beyond her formal academic training. Her interest in addressing health disparities was first sparked in 2015 by her experience working with BUILD Chicago, a nonprofit that aims to increase the educational and career outcomes of at-risk youth on the south and west sides of Chicago. Her work involved researching health issues among teenagers and young adults and using that information to design programs to better address these health concerns.

In 2016, she studied diabetes in Ibadan, Nigeria as a fellow with the Center for Global Health. Working with UChicago Prof. Louis Philipson, her project examined the lack of information concerning African patients, as well as methods of diagnosing, treating and managing diabetes in low-resource settings.

“I saw that to truly improve health as a physician, I had to understand current barriers to receiving quality health care, how to create effective health policies and how to implement them with a focus on what’s best for the community.”Ade Ayoola

Returning to Nigeria, where she was born and raised, was a formative and personal experience for Ayoola.

“Being in Nigeria affirmed my desire to make a change that positively affects our global community,” said Ayoola. “I saw that to truly improve health as a physician, I had to understand current barriers to receiving quality health care, how to create effective health policies and how to implement them with a focus on what’s best for the community.”

Ayoola’s accomplishments also extend beyond the classroom. As a standout track and field scholar-athlete, she was an NCAA national qualifier and University Athletic Association champion in the outdoor high jump this past season. She holds the UChicago school record in the event and has earned UAA all-academic honors the past two seasons.

“Ade’s willingness to improve in all facets of life is something all coaches hope for in an athlete,” said Stephen Fleagle, UChicago assistant track and field coach. “Her tireless pursuit of greatness on and off the field makes her extraordinarily worthy of this award.”

In addition, Ayoola sought out co-curricular activities to further her exposure to the social determinants of health. She engaged in extensive research centered around Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young and mutations that lead to monogenic diabetes. She also volunteered at the University of Chicago Medicine, and explored critical policy concerns relevant to health care through the Health Policy Scholars program.

Ayoola attends UChicago with the help of the Questbridge scholarship program and UChicago’s Odyssey scholarship, which help ensure students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to achieve academic success. She was supported throughout her application process by the College Center for Scholarly Advancement, which supports all undergraduates and College alumni through the highly competitive application processes for prestigious national scholarships and fellowships.

University of Chicago to host annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting

Fri, 16 Feb 2018 07:00 -0600

The University of Chicago, President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will host the Clinton Foundation’s 11th annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting on Oct. 19-21. More than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students from across the country and around the globe will gather to discuss and develop ideas and proposals to address some of the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges facing the next generation.

The students will meet with topic experts, academic leaders and other influential voices to develop commitments to action—plans that address societal issues near their campuses, in local communities or around the world.

After two days of working sessions and special events, the meeting will conclude with a day of action, in which student participants, in collaboration with University faculty and administrators, support an ongoing priority project in one of the University’s surrounding neighborhoods. The annual, non-partisan meeting is committed to helping prepare the next generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs to make a positive impact in communities worldwide.

Student leaders speak at a CGI U event. (Courtesy of Clinton Foundation)

Students interested in attending the meeting known as CGI U 2018 must submit their applications at cgiu.org/apply by April 23. Further details on the meeting and application process are below.

Since its 2007 launch, the Clinton Global Initiative University meeting has brought together more than 9,500 students from 940 schools, with more than $3.5 million in funding awarded to student participants. Last year, new commitments included efforts to provide professional-led naloxone administration training to combat the opioid epidemic in Philadelphia, the creation of a program to help ride-sharing companies accommodate individuals with disabilities and the establishment of academies to increase access to STEM education for African women. Past participants have included national leaders such as Rep. John Lewis, Sen. John McCain and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The University of Chicago’s student engagement efforts for the 2018 event will be coordinated by the Office of the Provost, in partnership with Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, Campus and Student Life, UChicago’s Institute of Politics, the Harris School of Public Policy, the School of Social Service Administration and the Office of Civic Engagement. Through the Rustandy Center, the University is continuing to expand support for students, alumni and faculty who are committed to tackling complex social and environmental challenges. Tandean Rustandy, MBA’07, an Indonesian entrepreneur and philanthropist, has pledged to support UChicago’s efforts as host for the 2018 CGI U meeting.

How to apply for CGI U 2018

To attend CGI U, students must be at least 18 years old and either be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate in an institution of higher education at the time they submit their CGI U application, or be enrolled at the time of the CGI U meeting.

Interested and eligible students can learn more at cgiu.org and apply through this form. Applicants are required to submit a detailed plan for their commitment to action that addresses specific problems in one of five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, poverty alleviation, peace and human rights, and public health. Interested students can use this map to guide them through this process.

The CGI U meeting is free to attend, and there are two application deadlines. If you are requesting travel and/or lodging assistance through the Clinton Foundation, you must submit your application by the early-decision deadline of March 16. All other applications must be submitted by the final deadline of April 23.

Student with questions about the application process should email CGIU2018@uchicago.edu.

All the world’s a stage for young UChicago playwrights

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 16:11 -0600

Fourth-year student Grace McLeod has already screened a short film at the Tribeca Film Festival and had additional works featured at venues and festivals nationwide. But she is still thrilled by the opportunities the University's Theater and Performance Studies Program has opened for her.

Last spring, the young playwright and screenwriter worked with Calamity West, who is part of a growing number of professional Chicago playwrights teaching with the TAPS program, helping to connect students to professional theaters throughout the city.

Thanks to West’s encouragement, McLeod applied for a summer residency program with Greenhouse Theater, where she was one of seven playwrights under 30 selected by the program. In October, McLeod’s play Herland was professionally staged—a heady experience despite her previous accomplishments.

“I’m still riding that high,” McLeod said. “I’m really proud. Now I’m in the process of sending it out to see if there is interest in producing it, and I’ve gotten some so far. Developing new plays is a very lengthy process, but I generally love it and I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Mutually beneficial collaborations

The experience has been a boon for instructors like West as well, who recently joined the roster of teaching playwrights in TAPS, including Evan Linder, Vanessa Stalling, Greg Allen, Sean Graney, Seth Bockley, Terrance Brown, Mickle Maher, Aaron Carter and Ike Holter.

“It makes me such a better writer,” West said. “I wasn’t anticipating that to happen. The students also show up, and they give me notes, and they push me as much as I push them. I can’t think of better ways to facilitate a program where relationships forge in the classroom. It’s really exciting.”

These kinds of relationships are exactly what faculty directors of TAPS had in mind when the major began about a decade ago, and the mentoring is quickly becoming the norm according to Heidi Coleman, TAPS director of undergraduate studies.

“I can’t think of better ways to facilitate a program where relationships forge in the classroom. It’s really exciting.”Playwright Calamity West

“The roster of TAPS teaching playwrights paves the way to a professional creative network,” Coleman said. “Grace is following a highway that Calamity is a part of, connecting her to this world. Every collaboration seeks this continuity, making a conduit for students to emerge as writers.”

This work ties directly into the efforts of the Chicago Performance Lab, which since 2009 has served as an incubator for professional companies around Chicago to develop new work, including residencies with Manual Cinema, The Syndicate and First Floor Theatre—three companies founded by UChicago alumni.

“TAPS has sought to position itself as a hub between the academy and the very vital theater world in our midst, and this is just one of the many ways we have sought to put our students into a meaningful dialogue with the amazing artists out in Chicago and across the country,” said David Levin, chair of TAPS and the Addie Clark Harding Professor.

Fostering professional connections

TAPS students also work closely with the Performance Lab, serving as interns during the summer session and in the process, becoming intimately involved with the production of a professional show.

“We’ve created student internships where students can be in the room when things are in production, and oftentimes they go on with the shows that they were part of here,” Coleman said.

Jesse Roth, AB’13, was a TAPS major and regularly assistant directs at the House, one of Chicago’s up-and-coming theaters. Roth credits her experience with TAPS with connecting her to a network of professional companies when she first graduated. Now she is enjoying returning the favor.

“I love speaking with current students and recent grads about life in the arts,” Roth said. “I’m really encouraged to see more and more young playwrights coming out of UChicago. The TAPS program is so young, but I imagine we’ll start seeing its impact in places like New York and Los Angeles in a few years, but it already feels like we have a quorum in Chicago.”

McLeod is ready to add her name to that group, and she believes that the TAPS program will continue to inject new UChicago talent into the theater world.

“I think that’s where this program is headed—getting students platforms for their work and getting them out to readings and really investing in telling students they can do this,” McLeod said.

Describing certain foods in a foreign language reduces aversion

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 11:44 -0600

Restaurateurs apparently know what they’re doing when they offer “escargot” on a menu rather than “snails.” New research shows that people are more willing to eat foods that they find disgusting if those foods are presented in a foreign language.

That’s the conclusion of a recent set of studies co-authored by a UChicago postdoctoral scholar in psychology, which could help win acceptance for environmentally sustainable foods that many people are unwilling to try.

Americans and Europeans are generally averse to eating insects or artificial meat, for example. Likewise, drinking water made by purifying wastewater has been a tough sell. “In people’s minds, once in contact (with a disgusting entity), always in contact,” said Janet Geipel, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Prof. Boaz Keysar and the lead author of the study published in Nature Sustainability. “No matter how good your technology is, it will not convince these people. So we need psychology to nudge sustainable consumption. And one nudge could be presenting sustainable-but-disgusting products in a foreign language.”

Geipel and her European collaborators were inspired by research, including work done by Keysar and his group, showing that encountering emotionally charged matters in a foreign language reduces people’s emotional reaction to them.

They did three separate studies, testing reactions to recycled wastewater, cookies made from mealworms and artificial meat. Participants were native speakers of German, Italian and Dutch who had learned either English or German as a second language. The participants read about the product either in their native tongue or their second language and were then asked if they would be willing to eat or drink it.

Of those who encountered the products in their native tongue, only about 18 percent said they would be willing to try either artificial meat or mealworm cookies. Forty percent ruled out the meat entirely, and almost 55 percent said an absolute “no” to the cookies. When presented with the products in their second language, however, only 25.8 percent completely ruled out the artificial meat, and 35.5 percent said “never” to the mealworm cookies.

Encountering the recycled wastewater in a foreign language increased participants’ willingness to give it a try by 12 percent. “I think the increase was maybe stronger for products that they don’t like to begin with,” said Geipel. “And artificial meat and insect-based foods are especially aversive to Europeans.”

The wastewater study also looked at actual consumption. Both groups of participants were asked how recently they drank something and were offered a glass of what was purportedly recycled wastewater (actually ordinary tap water). This time the effect of language was marginal, and was modulated by the participants’ thirst.

Geipel plans further work using a simple foreign-language label for the aversive foods rather than an entire description. If it works, such an intervention would be more widely applicable, as many people do not speak a foreign language. She and her colleagues feel that language interventions have potential for helping make some aversive sustainable foods more acceptable.

“You can use language to reduce feelings of disgust related to some products that are rejected by the population,” Geipel said. “A native tongue has a higher emotional resonance than a foreign language because it is used more often and in more emotional contexts. By using a foreign language you take away some of the emotionality attached to ‘insects’, and thus help override a barrier that prevents the consumption of insect-based food.”

Citation: “Barriers to sustainable consumption attenuated by foreign language use,” Nature Sustainability, Janet Geipel et. al, Jan. 8, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41893-017-0005-9

Scientists get better numbers on what happens when electrons get wet

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 12:07 -0600

There’s a particular set of chemical reactions that governs many of the processes around us—everything from bridges corroding in water to your breakfast breaking down in your gut. One crucial part of that reaction involves electrons striking water, and despite how commonplace this reaction is, scientists still have to use ballpark numbers for certain parts of the equation when they use computers to model them.

An article published in Nature Communications on Jan. 16 offers a new and better set of numbers from researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and the University of California-San Diego. By improving computer models, these numbers may eventually help scientists and engineers create better ways to split water for hydrogen fuel and other chemical processes.

When an electron is injected into water, the liquid captures it. The energy gain due to this process is called the electron affinity of water, and it’s key to understanding and modeling processes such as those occurring in photoelectrochemical cells to split water to generate oxygen and hydrogen, according to Alex Gaiduk, a postdoctoral fellow at UChicago and the lead author of the study.

Until now, scientists faced technical challenges while experimentally measuring the electron affinity of water, said coauthor Giulia Galli, the Liew Family Professor at the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and senior scientist at Argonne.

“Most of the results quoted in the literature as experimental numbers are actually values obtained by combining some measured quantities with crude theoretical estimates," Galli said.

New measurements

Accurate theoretical measurements have been out of reach for some time due to the difficulty and high computational cost of simulating the interactions of electrons with water, said University of California-San Diego Professor Francesco Paesani, a co-author of the study who has spent years developing an accurate potential for the modeling of liquid water. But through a combination of Paesani’s models, Galli’s group’s theoretical methods and software and Argonne’s supercomputer, they arrived at a new and surprising conclusion.

Fundamentally, the researchers sought to understand whether the liquid binds the electron right away. This determines whether the electron can eventually participate in chemical reactions as it hangs out in the liquid.

According to the results, the electron is bound, but its binding energy is much smaller than previously believed. This prompted the researchers to revisit a number of well-accepted data and models for the electron affinity of water.

"We found large differences between the affinity at the surface and in the bulk liquid. We also found values rather different from those accepted in the literature, which prompted us to revisit the full energy diagram of an electron in water," said Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist and coauthor T.A. Pham.

This finding has important consequences both for the fundamental understanding of the properties of water, as well as for understanding a type of reaction called reduction/oxidation reactions in aqueous solutions. These reactions are widespread in chemistry and biology, including how cells break down food for energy and how objects corrode in water.

Particularly, the information about the energy levels of water is often used during the computational screening of materials for photoelectrochemical cells to break apart water to produce hydrogen as fuel. Having a reliable estimate of the water electron affinity will lead to more robust and reliable computational protocols and better computational screening, the researchers said.

The methods for excited states used in this study were developed over the years by Galli and her co-workers, within collaborations involving Pham and Marco Govoni from Argonne. The study also used supercomputing resources at Argonne.

Citation: “Electron affinity of liquid water,” Nature Communications, Gaiduk et. al, Jan. 16, 2018. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02673-z

Funding: U.S. Department of Energy, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, National Science Foundation, Lawrence Fellowship.

UChicago launches initiative to support students, scholars and artists affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria

Wed, 24 Jan 2018 10:30 -0600

The University of Chicago is launching a new initiative to host students, scholars and artists affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The programs will support a select number of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and artists by welcoming them to UChicago on a temporary basis to continue their work. By joining the UChicago community, the visiting students, scholars and artists will help foster and renew dialogues across campus from diverse experiential and disciplinary perspectives.

The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture initiated the program. Partners include the College, the Office of Admissions, Campus and Student Life, UChicago Arts, UChicagoGRAD, the Graham School, the schools and divisions, and the Office of the Provost. The application process opened Jan. 3. The competitive programs provide a range of support such as room and board and other expenses.

Melissa Gilliam, vice provost for academic leadership, advancement and diversity and the Ellen H. Block Professor of Health Justice, pointed out that “Hurricanes Irma and Maria were devastating. This new initiative supports students, scholars and artists who have been severely affected, allowing them to continue their important work during this difficult time. We look forward to welcoming them to the UChicago community.”

The initiative includes:

Third- and fourth-year undergraduate students pursuing degrees at the University of Puerto Rico can apply to enroll at UChicago for the spring quarter. Applications for undergraduates are due Feb. 5.
Students in graduate programs in Puerto Rico can apply to continue their dissertation research at UChicago for a quarter as a non-degree visiting student. Those selected will partner with a UChicago faculty member whose area of research has a similar focus.
Faculty residencies are available for professors at colleges and universities in Puerto Rico. Under the program, scholars whose research has been disrupted by the hurricanes can continue their work at UChicago during the spring quarter.
The visiting artists program will be conducted in collaboration with arts and academic organizations in Chicago and Puerto Rico each of whom will nominate artists. Selected artists will come to UChicago from May through July.

For more information and application materials, please visit the program website.

University of Chicago to continue expansion of College housing

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:00 -0600

Continuing efforts to enhance on-campus housing for College students, the University of Chicago plans to build a new residential hall and dining commons that will open in the 2020-21 academic year. The new Woodlawn Residential Commons will be located between Woodlawn and University avenues, just north of 61st Street.

The new facility will house approximately 1,200 undergraduate students and resident staff, along with amenities, including lounges, study rooms and outdoor spaces. The facility will have 11 houses—residential communities that foster close academic and social networks throughout a student’s time at the College.

Much like the College’s award-winning Campus North Residential Commons, the Woodlawn residence is projected to offer single and double rooms, private apartments with kitchens and bathrooms for students who want greater independence, and common areas in each three-floor house to foster community and intellectual exchange, which are inherent to the College’s culture. The facility also will accommodate resident deans—faculty members who provide guidance and leadership to the staff and residents of College houses.

The new Woodlawn Residential Commons will be located between Woodlawn and University avenues, just north of 61st Street.

“The new Woodlawn Residential Commons continues the University of Chicago’s commitment to further the educational and personal success of our students by developing supportive and intellectually stimulating residential communities,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. “Students come to the University of Chicago for a distinct style of intellectual engagement and for a particular culture of learning, but that experience should not be confined to time in our classrooms. With the Commons, we will offer more high-quality resources for community living as well as an environment that also is designed to foster personal and intellectual development.”

Boyer also noted that the College faculty have long advocated that a higher percentage of students should live in modern, high-quality housing on the central campus, and that they have seen this as a major determinant for the future success of the College. As a faculty committee on the future of undergraduate housing chaired by Prof. Lloyd Rudolph of the Department of Political Science concluded more than 20 years ago, housing influences well-being and quality of life, which are essential components of effective higher education. Today this belief remains foundational to the development of student residences on or near the main campus.

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Woodlawn Residential Commons Renderings

From a community perspective, the facility will provide new job opportunities and amenities. In addition to its primary role as a dining space for students, the dining commons will be available for public use. Bon Appétit Management Company, which runs all residential dining commons at the University, also will hire permanent and temporary staff for the new dining commons. Thirty-five percent of the work will be allotted to women and minority-owned entities, and 50 percent of employees will come from local South Side communities. Similarly, Turner Construction Company, which will construct the project, has committed to the University’s expanded goals for diversity and local hiring on capital construction projects. This includes increasing participation of certified, minority-owned contracting firms from 25 percent to 35 percent, women-owned firms from 5 percent to 6 percent, and raising the proportion of onsite construction workers who live in the city of Chicago from 30 percent to 40 percent.

The firm of Elkus Manfredi Architects is designing the facility. To allow the University to develop the commons without taking on new capital investment, a private developer team of Capstone Development Partners and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital will develop, provide the capital, oversee the design and construction of the project, and thereafter assume responsibility for upkeep of the new residential and dining commons after construction is complete. Once open, the facility will be managed like all other residential and dining halls on campus, with oversight provided by the University, Housing and Residence Life staff, and College resident deans.

“We are delighted to partner with the University of Chicago to build the Woodlawn Residential Commons,” said Jeff Jones, principal of Capstone Development Partners. “At Capstone, our strength is collaboration. We look forward to working with University leaders to expand residential College environments proven to foster students’ connectivity and academic success.”

Construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2018. Additional details will be available at that time.