On April 12th, as part of Make-A-Difference (MAD) Day with the Caltech Y, seven other Caltech community members and I joined Lila Rodriguez-Aceves at the Chief Ya’anna Regenerative Learning Village—12 acres of unceded land in El Sereno, about 20 minutes from campus, where we helped tend the land. The Ya’anna Village is the first parcel of land returned to the Gabrielino Shoshone Nation, one of the original Indigenous peoples of Los Angeles. It is stewarded in partnership with Anawakalmekak, the first and only Indigenous public K-12 school in California.
According to the lawsuit, a reduction in the NSF indirect cost rate to 15% would result in an “annual loss of approximately $14.8 million to Caltech’s planned research budget.” An awarded grant consists of direct costs, which fund the research itself, and indirect costs, an added percentage that covers overhead such as infrastructure and administration. Caltech currently has 210 active awards and subawards from NSF. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Institute spent over $93 million on NSF-supported research, including nearly $22 million in indirect costs.
The Student Shop is opening! The Student Shop is an undergrad run machine shop which allows students to work on personal wood and metalworking projects. We had our grand opening yesterday (Monday May 12th). The shop is located near the big LN2 tank, right next to the loading docks and CES (near murder alley).
If you stroll past the Olive Walk on a sunny Pasadena day, you might see something magical in the air. Is it the scent of freshly pranked upperclassmen? The echo of the Fleming cannon? Or perhaps it’s just the spirit of Caltech’s brand of wizardry—a house system that would make even J.K. Rowling jealous. At Caltech, the hallowed tradition of “houses” isn’t just about where you sleep; it’s about forging family, engineering pranks, and unleashing a level of creativity that would make even Dumbledore drop his lemon drop.
On April 14, Caltech joined eight other American research universities in filing a lawsuit against the Department of Energy (DOE). The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order to block DOE’s decision to cap the indirect cost rate on all academic grants at 15%.
Caltech President and Professor of Physics Thomas Rosenbaum will retire from Caltech and assume emeritus status at the end of the 2026 academic year, according to a campus-wide announcement delivered last Monday.
This year marks a century since the establishment of quantum mechanics as a formal discipline… Significantly, Caltech played an essential role in expanding quantum theories, leading innovations, and expanding the possibilities of what science can be achieved.
Two members of the Caltech faculty have been named 2025 Wolf Prize laureates in recognition of their distinguished scientific accomplishments; the David Baltimore Professor of Biology and Bioengineering, Pamela Björkman, received the accolade in medicine, whereas the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, emeritus, Jim Eisenstein, received the prize in physics.
In my time at Caltech, I have found that scientists love to both work hard and play hard. While preparing for a party and hanging decorations at Dabney Garden last Fall, I noticed a statue of the Japanese deity Tenjin, on which I placed an Earth-shaped lantern. This man sitting on a yak with a Japanese name was of particular interest to me, as I have studied the Japanese language for over 10 years. Why had this statue been placed in one of the most historic spaces on campus? Why is Tenjin important?
