Institute Calendar
Spring 2025-2026
Tuesday, May 19th, 2026
8:00am
–
12:00pm
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10:30am
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11:30am
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PhD Thesis Defense
Unraveling Material Behavior with Electron and X-ray Spectroscopies: From Transient Electronic Responses to Electronic Topological Transitions
Wonseok Lee,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Cushing Group),
Caltech,
12:00pm
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1:00pm
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CMX Lunch Seminar
Radon-Wasserstein gradient flows for high-dimensional sampling
Elias Hess-Childs,
Postdoctoral Scholar,
Department of Mathematical Sciences,
Carnegie Mellon University,
12:00pm
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1:00pm
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IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar
Quantum-enhanced clocks and assembled superfluids with strontium atom arrays
Alec Cao,
Adam Kaufman's group, JILA,
12:00pm
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1:00pm
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NB-CNS Seminar - Edward Chang
The Cortical Machinery for Words
Edward Chang,
Professor,
Neurological Surgery UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences,
University of California, San Francisco,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
New regulatory mechanisms in SRP targeting pathway
Ruilin Qian,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Shan Group),
Caltech,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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Chemical Engineering Seminar
Designing Biodegradable Hydrogels for Sustainable Soil Systems
Thaiesha A. Wright,
Assistant Professor,
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
University of California, Los Angeles,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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Chemical Physics Seminar
New Experimental Platforms for Molecular Polaritonics
Marissa Weichman,
Assistant Professor of Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
Princeton University,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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DIX Planetary Science Seminar
"What Pollutes White Dwarfs?" & "Heavy metal analysis in dust from the 2025 Eaton Fire: Pre- and post-remediation."
Valeria Kachmar,
Graduate Student,
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,
Caltech,
Merritt McDowell,
Graduate Student,
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,
Caltech,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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Wolff Memorial Lectures
The Ramsey numbers: new results and new perspectives
Julian Sahasrabudhe,
Professor,
Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS),
University of Cambridge,
7:00pm
–
9:00pm
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Wednesday, May 20th, 2026
8:00am
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5:00pm
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8:30am
–
2:00pm
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9:00am
–
10:00am
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Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar: PhD Thesis Defense
Generative Modeling of Earthquake Ground Motion
Yaozhong Shi,
Graduate Student,
Mechanical Engineering,
Caltech,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
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Election Science Office Hours
Online Event
Science, Trust, and the June 2nd Primary: A Deep Dive into Election Transparency and Reform
Thad Kousser,
Professor of Political Science,
UC San Diego,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
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High Energy Theory Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Diffeomorphism invariant tensor networks for 3d gravity
Charlie Cummings,
University of Pennsylvania,
11:00am
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12:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
The Total Synthesis of Aleutianamine, (–)-Crotonolide D, and (–)-Crotonine G
Hao Yu,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Stoltz Group),
Caltech,
12:00pm
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1:00pm
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Seismo Lab Brown Bag Seminar
Coseismic fault-zone depressurization and postseismic evolution revealed from very-near-fault observation
Ruei-Jiun Hung,
Postdoc,
University of Kentucky,
12:15pm
–
1:00pm
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2:00pm
–
3:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Electrochemical Carboxylation of Aldehydes with CO2: Mechanistic Insights and Enantioselective Synthesis
Thu Ton,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Manthiram Group),
Caltech,
3:30pm
–
4:30pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Deep Stochastic Control for Regime-dependent Utility Maximization Problems
Harshkooshal Gandhi,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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Astronomy Colloquium
Rubin's LSST: the greatest movie of all time is about to begin!
Zeljko Ivezic,
Professor,
Department of Astronomy,
University of Washington,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar
Antarctic Sea Ice: Structural Change, Future Projections and Uncertainties
Marilyn Raphael,
Department of Geography and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability,
UCLA,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
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7:30pm
–
8:30pm
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POSTPONED: Watson Lecture - Kirby Nielsen
Kirby Nielsen,
professor of economics; William H. Hurt Scholar,
Thursday, May 21st, 2026
8:00am
–
12:00pm
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8:00am
–
6/5
11:59pm
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8:30am
–
9:30am
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PhD Thesis Defense
From Cell to FTU: Accurate and Efficient Deep Learning-Based Segmentation Across Diverse Microscopic Imaging Modalities
Qilin Li,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
10:00am
–
11:30am
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11:00am
–
2:00pm
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11:00am
–
12:24pm
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Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar
X-ray Based Full Field Stress-Strain Measurements in Metals
Angkur Shaikeea,
Assistant Professor of Aerospace; Bren Scholar,
The Lynn Booth & Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace,
California Institute of Technology,
12:00pm
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1:00pm
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High Energy Physics Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Gaia at the Forefront of Dissipative Dark Matter Searches: Exchange
Jackie Lodman,
Harvard University,
12:05pm
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1:00pm
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Observational Cosmology Seminar
Updates on NEW-MUSIC: The Next-generation Extended-Wavelength Multiband Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera
Simon Hempel-Costello,
Graduate Student,
The Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy,
Caltech,
1:00pm
–
2:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Tug of War between Epoxidation and Ketonization in Electrochemical Alkene Oxidation: Pulling the Ropefor Ketonization
Chenyu Jiang,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Manthiram Group),
Caltech,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Molecular Mechanisms of DNA Interstrand Cross-Link Repair by the Fanconi Anemia Pathway
Maria Altshuller,
Graduate Student,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics,
California Institute of Technology,
3:45pm
–
5:00pm
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4:00pm
–
5:00pm
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4:00pm
–
5:00pm
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Biochemistry Seminar
BRCA1-BARD1 Tumor Suppressor Complex in Homologous Recombination Licensing
Patrick Sung,
Professor of Biochemistry & Structural Biology, Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry,
UT Health San Antonio,
4:00pm
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5:00pm
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4:00pm
–
5:00pm
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Physics Colloquium
Online and In-Person Event
Particles of the Moment
David Hertzog,
Arthur B. McDonald Professor of Physics, Director of CENPA,
Department of Physics,
University of Washington,
7:00pm
–
9:00pm
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Friday, May 22nd, 2026
10:00am
–
11:00am
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PhD Thesis Defense
Integrated Transceivers from Microwave to Optical: Signals, Systems and Silicon for Sensing and Communications
Samir Nooshabadi,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
10:30am
–
11:30am
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PhD Thesis Defense
Artificial Intelligence Methods for Enzyme Engineering
Jason Yang,
Graduate Student,
Chemical Engineering (Arnold Lab),
Caltech,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
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High Energy Theory Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Strings Attached: the Confining Flux Tube as a Conformal Defect
Barak Gabai,
EPFL,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
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IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar
Non-perturbatively slow spread of quantum correlations in non-resonant systems
Benjamin McDonough,
University of Colorado, Boulder,
1:00pm
–
2:00pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Optimizing Treslin-MTBP for cryo-EM analysis
Cai Tong Ng,
Graduate Student,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics,
California Institute of Technology,
1:30pm
–
2:30pm
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PhD Thesis Defense
Combinatorial Signal Integration in the Dopamine Receptor System
Jan Gregrowicz,
Graduate Student,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics,
California Institute of Technology,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
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TAPIR Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Magnetic Relaxation and the Landscape of Stable Magnetic Equilibria in Stellar Interiors
3:00pm
–
4:00pm
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Geometry and Topology Seminar
Series Invariants for Plumbed 3-Manifolds
Nicola Tarasca,
Associate Professor,
Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics,
Virginia Commonwealth University,