Discovery Lectures Series
Renowned scientists, engineers and mathematicians will host lectures on a plethora of research topics during the four weeks COSMOS operates. The lecturers usually focus on their current research, as the presentations are designed to introduce students to the wide variety of STEM subjects and research taking place at UCSC and beyond, expanding their learning outside of their cluster topics. Discovery Lectures are required by all COSMOS students to attend and are also open to the entire campus community.
The list of speakers and topics is updated every year.
COSMOS 2025 Discovery Lectures:
| Date | Day | Speaker | Title |
| 7/7 | Monday | Tim Johnstone (C8) | How we understand what molecules look like |
| 7/8 | Tuesday | Alvaro Cardenas (C13) | AI and the Cyber Frontier: Hero, Villain, or Wildcard? |
| 7/9 | Wednesday | Raja Guhathakurta | The Cosmos Is My Canvas: The Intersection of Astrophysics Research, Art, and STEAM Experiential Learning Programs for Youth |
| 7/10 | Thursday | Zhu Wang (C3) | How to maintain an organ: stem cells and cancer |
| 7/11 | Friday | Yu Zhang (C6) | Lights On, Smarter: The Future of Energy with AI and Microgrids |
| 7/14 | Monday | David Belanger and Scott Oliver (C12) | Unlocking the properties of materials by scattering X-rays and neutrons |
| 7/15 | Tuesday | Steve Haddock | Who glows there? Biodiversity and bioluminescence of deep-sea animals? |
| 7/16 | Wednesday | Michael Oye (C10) | Semiconductor Processing and Device Engineering |
| 7/17 | Thursday | Shaowei Chen (C2) | A Brief History of Nanotechnology |
| 7/18 | Friday | Mauricio Rojas-Andrade | TBA |
| 7/21 | Monday | Ryan Baumbach (C4) | Design and Discovery of Quantum Materials |
| 7/22 | Tuesday | Holger Schmidt | Single molecule detection on a chip with integrated nanopores |
| 7/23 | Wednesday | Jimmy Shanks (C9) | Bacteriophages: Small but Powerful |
| 7/24 | Thursday | Jason Eshraghian (C11) | Are brains computers? |
| 7/25 | Friday | Tamara Duplantis (C5) | Spatialized Audio in Games |
| 7/28 | Monday | Abhinav Krishna Jha (C1) | Math: Past and Present |
| 7/29 | Tuesday | Ali A. Yanik (C7) | Neural Recordings Reimagined: Brain-Machine Interfaces at the Light Speed |
| 7/30 | Wednesday | Alison Galloway | Life of the Dead |
| 7/31 | Thursday | ||
| 8/1 | Friday | ||
