Research at UCSD
Organized Research Units (ORUs) are academic units the University
of California has established to provide a supportive infrastructure
for interdisciplinary research complementary to the academic goals
of departments of instruction and research. The functions of ORUs
are to facilitate research and research collaborations; disseminate
research results through research conferences, meetings, and other
activities; strengthen graduate and undergraduate education by providing
students with training opportunities and access to facilities; seek
extramural research funds; and carry out university and public service
programs related to ORUs research expertise. The senior staff
of these units are faculty members in related academic departments.
Institutes and centers currently in operation at UCSD are described
below.
In addition, the university is formally and informally affiliated
with various private research organizations such as the Institute
of the Americas, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research,
and The Burnham Institute.
Universitywide Institutes/Organized Research Units
California Space Institute (Cal Space) was established
in 1979 as a multicampus organized research unit of the University
of California (UC). Cal Space maintains centers on several campuses,
which support and conduct pure and applied space-related science
and technological research and development. Specific areas of investigation
include the following:
Remote Sensingacquisition, processing, and application
of observations by satellites or other remotely automated instruments
to study the Earth and its changing environment. The primarily satellite-based
investigations study the greenhouse effect, global warming, hydrological
cycle, land surface processes, air-sea interactions, radiation,
and cloud dynamics.
Climateinterdisciplinary scientific research that
applies space observations and numerical modeling techniques to
fundamental issues of climate prediction and global change caused
by both natural and human forces within the atmosphere, the oceans,
and on land surfaces.
Space science and engineeringinvestigations of both
the solar system and universe, and the development of automation
and robotic systems for space exploration. Current investigations
include the study of comets, asteroids, the solar wind, and cosmic
background radiation. Space observations are often conducted with
instruments and techniques designed by Cal Space researchers.
Educationpromotion of undergraduate and graduate
education in the interdisciplinary fields of climate and global
change, and space science and engineering. The Cal Space-led statewide
consortium (California Space Grant Consortium) was designated in
1989 as a Space Grant College by NASAs Office of Education.
The program expands leadership in the development and application
of space resources through research and hands-on space projects,
fellowship funding, and educational outreach activities. The California
Space Grant Program works with NASA Centers and the aerospace and
high technology industries to strengthen its educational objectives.
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) was
established in 1960 and named the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green IGPP
in 1994. It is a multicampus research unit of the University of
California, headquartered at UC Riverside, with branches at UCSD,
UCI, UCLA,
UCSC, as well as Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.
The present facility includes the Roger and Ellen Revelle Laboratory
and the Judith and Walter Munk Laboratory. Present research concentrates
on the study of crustal dynamics by measurements of gravity, tilt,
displacement, and strain in both continental and oceanic environments;
of regional seismicity and linear and nonlinear earthquake and
explosion
source mechanisms; of the variability of the earths geomagnetic
field and its generation by the geodynamo; of the spherical and
aspherical structure of the earth by measurements of free oscillations,
surface waves, and travel times; of seafloor tectonics using marine
geophysical methods; of linear and nonlinear theoretical and computational
fluid dynamics; of the variable mesoscale structure of the oceans
and global ocean warming by acoustic tomography; of the structure
of the oceanic crust and lithosphere by seismic and electromagnetic
measurements on the ocean bottom and at the oceans surface
through seismic multichannel methods; of sea-floor and planetary
topography and gravity using satellite methods; of nonlinear dynamics
applied to geomorphology; and of tides, waves, turbulence, and
circulation
in the oceans; of surface change caused by tectonic activity, or
climate change using satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture
Radar (InSAR), as well as airborne and spaceborne laser altimetry.
The institute operates a global network of some forty broadband
seismometers, the IDA (International Deployment of Accelerometers)
Array, with ten of these stations in the former Soviet Union which
are telemetered by satellite to the institute; a crustal strain
and seismic observatory at the Cecil and Ida Green Piñon
Flat Observatory near Palm Springs; a scientific wireless network
in California with SDSC, the High Performance Wireless Research
and Education Network (HPWREN); a southern California network
of
Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite geodetic sites operated
by the Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center (SOPAC) and the
California Spatial Reference Center (CSRC); an acoustic network
in the Pacific for measuring ocean temperature variability; a
modern
3D data visualization facility; a 5m, X-band satellite receiving
antenna for satellite remote sensing; a national Ocean Bottom
Seismograph
Instrument Pool (OBSIP); and telemetered seismic arrays in Kirghizia,
and two locations in California. The institute does not grant
degrees,
but makes its facilities available to graduate students from various
departments who have chosen to write their dissertations on geophysical
problems. Undergraduate students are involved in independent research
projects and as laboratory assistants. Members of the institute
staff now hold joint appointments with the Departments of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, and Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Sciences. Support for visiting scholars and grant matching funds
is provided through an endowment to the Cecil and Ida Green Foundation
for the Earth Sciences.
The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and
Cooperation (IGCC) is a multicampus research unit serving all
ten UC campuses and the UC-managed Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore,
and Los Alamos National Laboratories. IGCC is based at the Graduate
School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at
UCSD, whose faculty provides IGCCs leadership.
IGCCs mission to educate the next generation of international
problem-solvers and peacemakers is carried out through teaching
activities and research and public service opportunities. Scholars
and researchers from inside and outside the UC system, government
officials, and students from the United States and abroad have participated
in IGCC projects.
IGCCs initial research focused on averting nuclear proliferation
through arms control and confidence-building measures between the
superpowers. Since then, its research program has diversified to
encompass several broad areas of inquiry: regional relations, international
environmental policy, ethnic conflict, terrorism, and international
trade and policy issues. In addition, receipt of a prestigious NSF
award in 2002 for a program to train the next generation of nuclear
policy experts has lead to a rekindling of interest in research
on traditional security issues.
IGCC supports research and teaching on the causes of international
conflict and opportunities to promote cooperation through its annual
fellowship and grant cycle. IGCCs development office provides
an additional resource for UC faculty seeking foundation funding
for their projects. IGCC also serves as a liaison between the academic
and policy communities through its Washington, D.C., office, located
in the UC Washington Center (UCDC). The Washington, D.C., office
administers a graduate internship program in international affairs
and the IGCC Dissertation/ Foreign Policy Fellow Program. Interns
and fellows are placed with governmental and nongovernmental organizations
involved in international policy. The Washington office also sponsors
policy seminars to showcase UC faculty research results and to provide
opportunities for interaction between professors and policymakers.
IGCCs annual NEWSWired provides an overview
of the previous years research, funding, awards, projects,
meetings, workshops, colloquia, news, and publications. POLICYPacks
provide concise summaries of IGCC research programs for the policy
community. A new annual journal, IGCCReview, will
feature articles addressing the policy implications of IGCC research
conducted by senior UC faculty.
IGCC receives primary support from the regents of the University
of California. Additional funding has been provided by the U.S.
Departments of Energy, State, and Defense, the U.S. Institute of
Peace, the National Science Foundation, the Japan-U.S. Friendship
Commission, and Japans National Institute for Research Advancement
(NIRA). IGCC has also received important support from foundations
such as the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP),
the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
the Markle Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the
Rockefeller Foundation.
For more information about IGCC and its research programs, including
full-text publications and downloadable POLICYPacks,
visit the IGCC Web site at http://www-igcc.ucsd.edu.
IGCC publications can also be downloaded from the California Digital
Librarys E-Scholarship Repository at http://repositories.cdlib.org.
The White Mountain Research Station (WMRS) was established
as a UC multicampus research unit in 1950 to support high-altitude
research. The station includes four laboratory facilities located
over a 3,000m (10,000 vertical ft.) altitude transect, ranging from
the floor of the Owens Valley to White Mountain at over 14,000 feet
above sea level. Located on the western edge of the Great Basin,
WMRS also provides access to three major biogeographic regions (Sierra
Nevada and White/Inyo montane, Mojave desert, and Great Basin desert),
and geologically rich and diverse field sites. WMRS has evolved
into a major multidisciplinary research and teaching institution
in eastern California, and hosts programs in archaeology and anthropology,
atmospheric and space sciences, biological and medical sciences,
ecology, conservation and natural resource management, geological,
hydrological, and earth sciences.
WMRS facilities include: (1) Owens Valley Laboratories with classrooms,
offices, dormitories, and food services for up to seventy people
outside the Sierra resort town of Bishop, (2) a newly renovated
lodge, cabins, classrooms, and laboratories for fifty people in
the Bristlecone pine forest at Crooked Creek (3,094m altitude) (3)
the Nello Pace Laboratory and Mount Barcroft facilities (3,801m
altitude), which can house thirty-five peoples, and (4) the 450-square-foot
Summit Laboratory on White Mountain peak (4,342m altitude), making
it the highest research lab in North America.
All of the laboratories are linked by a high-speed wireless internet
connection providing instant access between campus-based laboratories
and remote-sensing projects in the field. The Owens Valley Laboratory
includes a modern molecular biology and genetics laboratory used
to study adaptations to the environment and management of the majestic—but
endangered—Bighorn sheep. A geographic information system
(GIS) laboratory that houses the USGS-funded “Eastern Sierra
Geospatial Data Clearinghouse” is used by scientists and government
agencies for natural resource research and policy decisions. WMRS
also hosts a Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology at Barcroft and
“The Deepest Valley Interagency Plant Propagation Center.”
WMRS hosts more than 3,000 users from over 100 institutions per
year for research, teaching, and conferences. Research occurs year-round
with access to the high-altitude labs at Barcroft via snowmobile.
Summer is the busiest time at WMRS, with undergraduate internships,
graduate students supported by WMRS Fellowships in residence, plus
students and faculty from other universities around the world. Educational
uses include several geology field courses and a NSF-funded Research
Experience for Undergraduates program. WMRS sponsors professional
and post-graduate training courses, annual professional society
meetings, a community lecture series, an annual Open House at Barcroft
in August, and offers published proceedings from symposia on the
environmental science in the region.
Campuswide Institutes
The AIDS Research Institute
http://ari.ucsd.edu
Established in 1996 and formally opened in 1997, the AIDS Research
Institute (ARI) serves as the conduit for the UCSD Programs in HIV
Infection and AIDS, in which AIDS researchers in all university
departments and our associated institutions can collaborate on research,
with the objective of developing new approaches to the prevention,
diagnosis, and the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
UCSD faculty have made major advances in our understanding of
how the virus works, how it causes disease, how to treat HIV infection
and its complications, and the impact of HIV infection on nationwide
health and healthcare costs. In addition to the 104 faculty members
from 19 departments, the UCSD Program in HIV Infection and AIDS
is internationally recognized for its contributions to science
and
patient care, and is ranked among the top ten AIDS programs in
the country.
ARI programs include:
- The Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
- The Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (AACTG)
- The Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG)
- The California NeuroAIDS Tissue Network (CNTN)
- The Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (SOCA)
- The Acute Infection and Early Disease Research Program (AIEDRP)
- The California Collaborative Treatment Group (CCTG)
- The HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC)
- The Southern California Primary Infection Program
- The HIV Costs and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS)
- The VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative for HIV (QUERI-HIV)
- The San Diego AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC)
- The Owen Clinic, providing primary health care services
- The Antiviral Research Center (AVRC)
- The UCSD Mother, Child, and Adolescent Program
The institute sponsors seminars and workshops as well as offering
developmental grants to new investigators in the area of human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) related
research.
Together with research and development the ARI is fully committed
to serve as a community resource for information and assistance
regarding infection, treatment, and education in HIV and AIDS.
We are here to serve as the regional resource for all aspects
pertaining
to HIV and AIDS and, as a leader in research and education, to
treat the infected and prevent the uninfected from becoming infected.
The California Institute for Telecommunications
and Information Technology (Calit2) (http://www.calit2.net),
an organized research unit, conducts research on the future
of telecommunications and information technology
and how these technologies will transform a range of applications
important to the economy and citizens’ quality of life. These
application areas include: environment and civil infrastructure,
intelligent transportation, digitally enabled genomic medicine,
new media arts, and disaster response.
Calit2, a partnership between
UCSD and UCI, is one of four institutes established in December
2000 through the California Institutes for Science and Innovation
(Cal ISI) initiative. It is funded by a state capital grant, federal research
grants, industry, and foundations.
Calit2 unites faculty, students, and industrial
and community partners into multidisciplinary teams with expertise
drawn from two dozen academic departments at both campuses.
These teams integrate individuals’ deep expertise to enable larger-scale
studies than those typically led by single investigators.
Emerging technologies
are prototyped in the context of Calit2 “living laboratories,” pushing
traditional research one step beyond scholarly publication to building and
testing integrated systems under real-world conditions on and beyond the two
participating
campuses. Research professionals at leading California telecommunications,
computer, software, and applications companies are active partners in the more
than 50
projects supported by Calit2.
The institute’s goal is to develop technology
approaches that will benefit society and spur the state’s economic
development, building on the explosive growth in bandwidth and connectivity
provided by
the wired and unwired Internet.
Two new facilities constructed at UCSD and
UCI feature unique capabilities, shared resources, extreme bandwidth, and
reconfigurable space.
The 215,000-square-foot facility at UCSD, completed in the summer
of 2005, is home to a wide range of projects at the intersection
of science, engineering,
and the arts. The building is a physical manifestation of this multidisciplinary
research agenda: It includes clean rooms for nanofabrication, digital
theatres in a range of sizes and capabilities to support new media
arts and scientific
visualization, test and measurement labs for circuit design, smart spaces
for experiments in augmented reality, transmission and networking testbeds
for
wireless
and optical communications experiments, and labs for designing systems
on a chip. The building juxtaposes people and programs in uncommon proximity
to
maximize
the potential benefit arising from experts in different disciplines working
together.
A 120,000-square-foot building dedicated at UCI in November 2004
is equipped throughout with high-speed wireless Internet access,
a Voice-over-IP
phone system, and
customized ad-hoc in-house networks. In addition, in a collaborative
effort with the U.S. Geological Survey, the facility employs more than
40 seismic
sensors
to measure ground and building motion with the same system. The facility
also boasts a 3,700-square-foot clean room, a large-scale visualization
laboratory, and labs for network research, optical devices, nanotechnology
measurement,
and media arts.
Calit2 has developed research and education partnerships
with academic and industrial leaders in telecommunications and
information technology
across
the nation and
around the world, including Europe, North and South America, the
Pacific Rim, and Southeast Asia. Calit2 is helping prepare students
for the
global workplace
of the twenty-first century by supporting summer internships with
researchers in Australia, Japan, Taiwan, China, and Thailand, and
recently signed
an e-learning
collaborative
agreement with India.
Calit2 has also established a global dedicated
optical network with partners in the U.S., Netherlands, Japan,
and Korea, which allows
real-time collaboration
between faculty and students in multiple research laboratories.
Through
Calit2, students complement their course work by working on large-scale,
multidisciplinary, team-oriented projects that
conduct
research, establish
prototype technologies, and test those technologies in the field.
The experience they gain
makes them especially valuable to potential employers, including
Calit2 industrial and community partners.
The Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies
(IICAS) was created
in 2001 to promote research on international, comparative, and
cross-regional topics. Building on the substantial existing strengths
of UCSD in international studies, IICAS coordinates and supports
the research of faculty in departments, area studies programs,
and the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific
Studies.
It is closely associated with undergraduate and graduate education
in international studies, including Eleanor Roosevelt College and
the international studies major, whose program offices are housed
within the institute.
IICAS has three principal initial roles. First,
it serves as a research catalyst, fostering and incubating interdisciplinary
and
cross-area research groups and
projects. Activities have included the launch of a European Studies initiative,
a faculty research project on states at risk, and a multiyear, interdisciplinary
research workshop examining the empire-to-nation transition. Second, IICAS coordinates
and provides services for existing and new international and area studies programs
in development and events planning and coordination. It also encourages new programs
in international and area studies. In this role, IICAS has co-sponsored campus-wide
panels and seminars that address critical international issues. Third, the IICAS
director and advisory committee advise the senior vice chancellor for academic
affairs on campus priorities and appointments in international studies. IICAS’ Office
of International Academic Exchange and Protocol (IAEP) also provides campus-wide
services in support of UCSD’s international contacts, including international
visitors, requests for affiliation agreements, and collaborative international
research projects.
The UCSD Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM).
Our mission is: Integration of Molecules and Medicine—to
create an Olympic village for translational medicine in the San
Diego biomedical community, Innovation at Disease Interfaces
to lead in the cross-fertilization between diverse human diseases
and disciplines, Interdisciplinary Training to mentor many
of the highest caliber physician-scientists from the United States
and abroad, and International Programs to offer global outreach
to Europe and Asia through innovative collaborations and partnerships.
IMM is designed to provide a unique research and training atmosphere
for undergraduate students, medical students, graduate students,
Ph.D. students, M.D. fellows, and M.D./Ph.D. fellows with a scientific
focus on molecular medicine in the post-genome era. The Institute
of Molecular Medicine was established in June 2000 as an organized
research unit at UCSD, and has been designed as a Center Without
Walls to encourage interactive, interdisciplinary, educational,
and research opportunities in the growing field of molecular medicine.
The faculty members
of this institute are committed to creating and maintaining a collaborative
environment that will ensure the rapid development of novel, biologically
targeted therapies to enhance the lives of the patients of tomorrow.
The institute is now in its second phase of development, and the
program is being reassessed and expanded. The institute is composed
of IMM Affinity Groups that bring together basic scientists, physician
scientists, and clinical researchers around specific topics relevant
to translational medicine. Some of the affinity groups either already
constituted or in the planning stage include: Stem Cell Biology
and Medicine, which includes four subgroups—neurosciences,
cardiac, vascular biology, and technology; Extreme Oxygen Group;
Robotics
and Simulation in Surgery; Cardiac Bioengineering; and Inflammation.
The
Institute of Molecular Medicine is based on the vision that a new
era in human health and drug discovery lies at the borders between
curiosity-driven
science and tomorrow’s medical therapies.
The Institute for Neural Computation (INC) The
institute’s research projects are directed at understanding
the modes of functioning of nervous systems through direct observation,
experimental investigation, and modeling of neural structures;
uncovering cognitive principles through psychological experimentation
and parallel distributed-processing models; applying neural computation
to the solution of major technological and scientific problems;
and ultimately building a new generation of massively parallel
computers based on the principles of neural computation.
The central
premise of the INC is that these diverse research efforts cannot
be adequately achieved independently; instead significant progress will come
through the joint efforts of researchers in the relevant disciplines, including
neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, physics, mathematics,
economics, electrical and computer engineering, computer science and engineering,
radiology, and linguistics.
Faculty from the UCSD Departments of Biology, Computer Science
and Engineering, Cognitive Science, Economics, Philosophy, Neurosciences,
and Radiology, and the
Salk Institute for Biological Studies are actively involved in the institute’s
activities. The institute has a training program in cognitive neuroscience, an
active visitors program and an industrial affiliates program with ongoing joint
research projects. The institute sponsors a seminar series, the annual Rockwood
Memorial Lecture, and several scientific workshops and conferences annually.
The
goal of the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, an off-campus lab
of the INC, is to observe and model how functional activities in
multiple brain
areas interact dynamically to support human awareness, interaction, and creativity.
Research in the center involves development of computational methods and software,
experimental methods and equipment; collection and analysis of human cognitive
experiments; and collaborations to analyze data collected by other groups in
such experiments.
The Machine Perception Laboratory, another activity of the
INC, seeks to gain insights into how the brain works by developing
embodied systems that solve
problems similar to those encountered by the brain. The lab focuses on systems
that perceive
and interact with humans in real time using natural communication channels
(e.g., visual, auditory, and tactile information). To this effect lab personnel
are
developing perceptual primitives to detect and track human faces and to recognize
facial expressions. Developing such systems requires a multidisciplinary
approach that combines mathematical modeling, machine learning
techniques, computational
modeling of brain function, and behavioral experiments. Applications include
personal robots, automatic tutoring systems, and automatic assessment of
affective disorders.
Other projects include research on human movement
disorders, automatic speech recognition, autism, social cognition,
how sensory information is represented
in the cerebral cortex, how memory representations are formed and consolidated
during sleep, and how visuomotor transformations are adaptively organized.
The Institute for Nonlinear Science (INLS) promotes interdisciplinary
research and graduate education in the development and application
of contemporary methods in the study of nonlinear dynamical systems.
Using a common mathematical language, faculty and students from
disciplines as diverse as physics, mathematics, oceanography, biology
and neuroscience, mechanical and electrical engineering, and economics
pursue the implications of generic characteristics of nonlinear
problems for their subjects. Each year the institute sponsors several
long- and short-term senior visitors from the University of California
and elsewhere and provides, through funds from external funding
agencies, support for approximately ten graduate students to work
on Ph.D. dissertations concerned with nonlinear problems. Also associated
with INLS are approximately twenty full-time research scientists
and postdoctoral researchers.
The core of INLS activities is composed of (1) joint research
among faculty and students across disciplinary lines and (2) lecture
series and working seminars designed to convey recent research progress
and to stimulate new investigations. Through contracts with external
agencies the INLS supports experimental, numerical, and theoretical
studies of nonlinear dynamics and chaos in neurophysiology, investigations
in nonlinear fluid dynamics and pattern formation, studies (jointly
with the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University)
of applications of chaos in communications, as well as in the nonlinear
dynamics of granular materials.
INLS has developed joint research programs with universities,
research institutes, and commercial companies in areas of common
interest. It actively works with colleagues at UCLA, Stanford, Cal
Tech, Argonne National Laboratory, ST Microelectronics, Time Domain
Inc., and Randle Corporation. These affiliations provide new research
horizons and realistic opportunities for technology transfer.
Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences (IPAPS)
is an interdisciplinary research unit which brings together faculty
and researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering, and Scripps
Institution of Oceanography. The institute is concerned with fluids
and materials. Specific subjects of research include superconductivity,
ferromagnetism, semiconductor heterostructures, solid surfaces,
plasma physics, hydromagnetics, turbulence, fluid mechanics, laser
physics, and numerical analysis.
Within the IPAPS is the Center for Interface and Materials Science
(CIMS), which emphasizes interdisciplinary collaborative research
on the properties of surfaces, thin-layered composites, and novel
materials, as well as their technological applications. With centralized
space and equipment, CIMS brings together faculty and research staff
from the Departments of Physics, Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Electrical and Computer Engineering,
and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) is
a virtual environment unhampered by disciplinary boundaries, providing
scientists with
opportunities for effective interdisciplinary integration of research
and knowledge. KIBM will transcend traditional disciplinary barriers
to foster new discourse among scientists, accelerating discoveries
about the connections between mechanism and behavior.
KIBM’s mission
is to support research that furthers our understanding of the origins,
evolution, and mechanisms of human cognition, from the brain’s
physical
and biochemical machinery to the experiences and behaviors called the mind. KIBM
leverages UCSD’s preeminence in such fields as neuroscience, biology, cognitive
science, psychology, and medicine, along with the extensive resources of the
broader La Jolla scientific community, to extend its position as the pacesetter
in brain-mind research and education, and as a vibrant hub for dissemination
of its discoveries to advance science and benefit humankind.
To achieve its mission,
KIBM provides funding for innovative research to focus on ideas
that bridge different levels of organization of brain and mind,
and
for distinguished scientists to visit San Diego to broaden our interdisciplinary
research on brain-mind issues.
Faculty from UCSD’s Departments of Neurobiology,
Cognitive Science, Neuropharmacology, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychiatry,
Psychology, and Radiology; and scientists
from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Neurosciences Institute,
and The Scripps Research Institute participate in KIBM research, lectures,
and workshops.
The Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging (SIRA) is
an ORU committed to the development of the latest advances in biomedical
and behavioral science knowledge, and their application
to issues of successful (healthy) aging and the prevention
and reduction of the burden of disability and disease in late life.
Established in 1983 as the first ORU on aging within the
University of California system, the unit consists of more than
120 faculty
members with outstanding track records in research and encompassing
a wide range of expertise. These faculty members represent
multiple departments within the UCSD School of Medicine, ranging from
bioengineering and family and preventive medicine to neurosciences
and psychiatry. Over the past two decades, the SIRA has made
major contributions to research, research training, and dissemination
of information to the San Diego, national, and international
community in geriatrics and gerontology. It has funded more
than 75 pilot grants for junior faculty during critical stages of
their careers, and funded more than 100 undergraduate and
medical students interested in aging research. In 2005, the SIRA
was
awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA)
to conduct summer research training of medical students from around
the country, with a focus on healthy aging. In this program,
students are paired with experienced scientists from UCSD
and provided an opportunity to conduct hands-on research by pursuing
basic science, clinical, or health services projects. In
addition,
the SIRA has also recently targeted its pilot grant awards
to junior faculty pursuing research projects pertaining to successful
aging. Along with its Web site (http://sira.ucsd.edu),
the SIRA publishes a monthly newsletter, Healthwise, which
is distributed
to more than 2,000 individuals and organizations. The monthly
SIRA Public Lecture Series has resulted in over 250 public
lectures provided by SIRA faculty on topics of interest to
the general
public, with the lectures also broadcast on UCSD-TV. The
SIRA Grand Rounds and Geriatric Journal Club further enhance the multiple
venues provided to educate professionals and the general public
on age-related topics. Under the leadership of Dilip Jeste, M.D.,
director of the SIRA since 2003, the SIRA has launched comprehensive,
longitudinal, bio-psycho-social studies of successful (or healthy)
aging. Scientists at the SIRA believe that studying health and
well-being and how and why people age without significant mental,
physical, or social impairment should be at least as important
as studying why people become ill. In the coming years, the SIRA
will strive to become a national and international resource on
successful aging and impact people’s ability to age well.
For more information, contact us at 858-534-6299 or steininstitute@ucsd.edu or
visit our Web site at http://sira.ucsd.edu.
Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering (WIBE).
In November 1991, UCSD established the Institute for Biomedical
Engineering (IBME) as an ORU.
The goal of the institute is to foster research at the interfaces
of engineering, biology, and medicine by promoting and coordinating
interdisciplinary interactions
among faculty and students.
Dr. Shu Chien, university professor of bioengineering and medicine,
has served as the director since its inception. Starting with thirty
members, the institute
now has over one hundred faculty and research scientists from the Schools
of Engineering,
Medicine, Natural Sciences, and Biological Sciences, and the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography (SIO), as well as members of neighboring institutions, including
the Burnham Institute, the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, and The
Scripps Research Institute.
As of July 1, 1999, with approval of the Governing Board of the
Whitaker Foundation and the University of California, the name
of the institute was
changed to
the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering (WIBE).
The WIBE facilitates academia-industry cooperation. We hold regular
research seminars, workshops, and symposia to promote information
exchange, generate
new ideas and projects, and foster interdisciplinary training of graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows.
From 1991 to 1997, the WIBE was located in the Engineering Building
Unit 1 (EBU1). With the completion of the Science and Engineering
Research Facility
(SERF) in
1997, the WIBE and its core facilities, such as the confocal microscope,
computer
and imaging, and flow cytometry facilities, now reside in the SERF building.
Since 2003, WIBE has also established facilities for atomic force microscopy
and florescence resonance energy transfer in the newly completed Powell-Focht
Bioengineering Hall.
The WIBE identified “tissue-engineering science” as
the first major research thrust, using the principles and methods of
engineering and life sciences
for the understanding of structure-function relationships in normal
and pathological tissues and the development of biological substitutes
to
restore, maintain, or
improve tissue functions. The major areas of tissue engineering science
pursued in WIBE involve the heart, blood vessels, blood, lung, kidney,
liver, pancreas,
muscle, bone, cartilage, tendon, ligament, skin, nerve, brain, retina,
and cochlea.
The WIBE enhances research in molecular and cellular bioengineering,
molecular biomechanics, and targeted molecular delivery based on
engineering principles.
The current overarching theme is integrative bioengineering, spanning
the spectrum from molecular to organismal levels and integrating
engineering and biomedical
sciences.
WIBE research and training activities focus on cancer, diabetes,
myocardial infarction, hypertension, atherosclerosis, peripheral
vascular diseases,
hemolytic anemias,
pulmonary diseases, renal diseases, hepatobiliary diseases, inflammation,
AIDS, burns, trauma, shock, retinopathies, tympanic membrane perforation,
orthopedic
disorders, and sports injuries. Coordinated engineering and biomedical
research allows generation of quantitative information and novel
investigative approaches.
The goal is to improve the methods of prevention, diagnosis, and
treatment of diseases.
Research activities at the WIBE are coupled with educational
programs in the Department of Bioengineering. The Bioengineering
Program
was established in
1966 as a joint venture between the School of Medicine (SOM)
and the Department
of
Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences (AMES). In July 1994,
the program evolved into a Department of Bioengineering, the
first established
by the
University of California system among its ten campuses. The Department
of Bioengineering
is one of five departments in the Jacobs School of Engineering
(JSOE) and an affiliated department in the SOM.
Undergraduate
student enrollment increased from less than 100 prior to 1987
to 950 today. There are 150 graduate students,
about 100
studying for Ph.D.
and
50 for M.S. and M.Eng. degrees. Bioengineering graduate students
win awards and fellowships at the national level. The Bioengineering
Graduate
Student
Group
holds a series of annual graduate bioengineering symposia,
for which they are solely responsible, as well as the annual breakfast
with
industry, and other
industry-liaison activities. Graduate students benefit in their
interdisciplinary training by having joint advisers from different
fields.
UCSD has other graduate educational programs related
to biomedical engineering in JSOE, SOM, Biological Sciences and
Natural Science.
M.D./Ph.D. training
at UCSD is administered by the Medical Scientist Training
Program in SOM, with active
participation of bioengineering faculty and graduate students.
The Biomedical Engineering Program has approximately 30 postgraduate
fellows. Many receive joint training between bioengineering
and other departments
to pursue research related to biomedical engineering. These
young scientists make
important
contributions to the academic environment at UCSD.
The Project
on Glucose Monitoring and Control is a unit within the WIBE.
Its goal is to develop and evaluate new
approaches,
both natural
and
engineered, to achieve ideal blood glucose control and
metabolic management in diabetes
and related diseases. The project brings together researchers
and clinicians from
bioengineering, electrical engineering, computer science,
and medicine, as well as extramural collaborators. The
project serves as a nucleus
for information
exchange, development of new sensor and medication delivery
approaches, and development
and evaluation of diabetes control strategies.
The Bioengineering
Programs in the ten campuses in the University of California
(UC) system have formed a Multi-campus
Research
Unit (MRU)
to foster collaborations
in research and education. The WIBE is the unit participating
in this MRU on behalf of UCSD. In August 2004, the
MRU was officially approved
by the
UC Office
of the President as the Bioengineering Institute of
California (BIC), with its headquarters at UCSD and Dr. Shu Chien
as the director.
BIC has held
an annual
UC system-wide Bioengineering Symposium and sponsored
the collaborative implementation of Web-based teaching
materials
on various subjects
in bioengineering. http://wibe.ucsd.edu/
Centers
The Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center (CC), active
in the fight against cancer since 1979, is a National Cancer Institute-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Center. The specific goals of the Cancer Center
are to enhance the present level of basic research, increase collaborative
research, increase the application of basic science to solve clinical
problems through translational research, disseminate new knowledge
to oncology professionals and scientists in the San Diego community,
enable the biomedical industry to transfer new technology to the
clinical setting, develop a strong effort in cancer prevention and
control, and educate and train undergraduate and postgraduate physicians,
and basic scientists. Under the auspices of a Cancer Center Support
Grant from the National Cancer Institute, there are seven active
program areas within the Cancer Center. These include Cancer Biology,
Cancer Genetics, Cancer Prevention and Control, Cancer Pharmacology,
Cancer Symptom Control, Translational Oncology, and Viral Malignancy.
Shared resources at the Cancer Center include Biostatistics, Clinical
Trials, Data Compilation and Analysis, Digital Imaging, DNA Sequencing,
Flow Cytometry, Histology and Immunohistochemistry, Microarray,
Molecular Pathology, Nutrition, Radiation Medicine, and Transgenic
Mouse.
Research and educational grants support the training of postdoctoral
fellows and medical students. The Clinical Trials Office coordinates
clinical research trials involving cancer patients at UCSD and is
the focal point for a large Oncology Outreach Network which provides
state-of-the-art protocol treatment opportunities for patients in
a broad geographic area. Patient care activities of the Cancer Center
are located in the Combined Oncology Clinic at the Theodore Gildred
Facility and in UCSD Medical Center, both located in Hillcrest,
and at the Oncology Clinic of the Perlman Ambulatory Care Center
and in UCSD Thornton Hospital, both located in La Jolla. Basic research
activities of the Cancer Center are carried out at a variety of
other locations on or adjacent to the La Jolla campus. Total membership
of the Cancer Center exceeds 260 laboratory investigators and clinical
physicians from twenty-two academic departments. The research funding
for Cancer Center members exceeds $180 million. Construction is
currently underway on the universitys east campus to erect
a five-story, 270,000-square-foot building to unite many of the
centers essential programs and services; it is scheduled for
completion in early 2005.
The Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS) is
an interdisciplinary research unit established in 1979. The center
brings together academic and research staff from the Departments
of Physics, Chemistry, and Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Research is conducted in the scientific areas of theoretical cosmology,
computational astrophysics, observational cosmology, interstellar
medium, star formation; solar observational and theoretical studies;
X-ray and gamma-ray astrophysics; experimental and theoretical magnetospheric
and space plasma physics; and cosmochemistry, including the chemistry
of interstellar matter.
CASS provides a jointly shared facility which has office, laboratory,
and computer space to enhance the interchange of expertise. Researchers
in CASS have access to many University of California observing facilities,
including the 2 Keck 10m telescopes, Lick Observatories, and Keck
Telescopes, and have contributed experiments to many major NASA
space missions including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Rossi
X-Ray Timing Explorer. Associated with CASS are included seventeen
faculty, about twenty-five Ph.D.-level research staff, twelve graduate
students, and thirty technical and administrative support personnel.
The centers facilities, faculty, and research staff are
available to graduate students in the Departments of Physics, Electrical
and Computer Engineering, and Chemistry who have chosen to write
their dissertation on subjects of research encompassed by CASS.
Graduate and undergraduate courses in astrophysics, astronomy, and
space sciences are developed and taught by the academic staff of
CASS. The total yearly budget is about $5 million, mostly from federal
funding sources.
The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS)
is an interdisciplinary, multinational research and training program
devoted to comparative work on international migration and refugee
movements. Its primary missions are to conduct comparative (especially
cross-national) and policy-oriented research, train academic researchers,
students, and practitioners, and disseminate research conducted
under its auspices to academics, policymakers, and NGOs through
research seminars, conferences, publications, the Internet, and
the mass media. CCIS seeks to illuminate the U.S. immigration experience
through systematic comparison with other countries of immigration,
particularly in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
The Center promotes research in the following areas: (1) the causes,
dynamics, and consequences (economic, political, and sociocultural)
of international migration, including low-skilled and high-skilled
migrant workers and refugees; (2) the determinants and outcomes
of laws and policies to regulate immigration and refugee flows;
(3) transnational relationships (economic, political, cultural,
ethnic) between immigrant sending and receiving countries; (4) the
impact of international migration on citizenship, national identity,
and ethnic relations; (5) immigrant rights, advocacy, and social
services; (6) immigrant political mobilization and participation;
(7) the socioeconomic, political, and cultural interactions of immigrants
with native-born residents of receiving countries.
CCIS hosts visiting predoctoral and postdoctoral research fellows,
and conducts an annual field research project on Mexican migration
to the United States. The Center’s Forced Migration Laboratory
conducts research in San Diego’s refugee communities originating
in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and Southeast
Asia. The laboratory promotes interaction between academic specialists
in refugee studies and practitioners, aimed at identifying and disseminating
best practices for refugee resettlement. The center has an active
publications program consisting of monographs, anthologies, and
working papers. Funding is provided by the University of California,
private foundations, and international agencies.
A number of graduate research assistantships are available. Applications
for graduate study in any of the disciplines covered by CCIS should
be directed to the academic department in which graduate study is
to be undertaken.
The overall objective of the Center for Energy Research (CER)
is to provide an academic research unit for interdisciplinary interactions
among UCSD faculty, research staff, and students aimed at promoting
and coordinating energy research and education. Approximately sixty-one
faculty, staff, and students are affiliated with the CER. The goals
of the CER are complementary to academic departments of instruction
and research with an emphasis on bridging the various disciplines
related to energy research on the campus. Emphasis is currently
on combustion and fusion energy research. The CER will also provide
a vehicle for developing other dimensions of energy research, including
energy policy research. The specific goals of the CER are: (1) to
provide an interdepartmental coordinating function for energy research
groups and projects at UCSD, (2) to enhance the prospects of extramural
research funding involving interdepartmental and multidisciplinary
collaborations in energy research, (3) to promote the visibility
of energy topics in undergraduate and graduate programs at UCSD,
(4) to provide a mechanism for interacting with other institutions
involved in energy research with particular attention to potential
industrial partners, and (5) to promote the visibility of energy
research at UCSD to potential sponsors and funding agencies.
A number of graduate research assistantships are available. Applications
for graduate study in any of the disciplines covered by the CER
should be directed to the academic department in which graduate
study is to be undertaken.
The Center for Environmental Research and Training (CERT)
coordinates the broad range of environmental research activities
across the university. Departmental participation includes the Departments
of Anthropology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Economics, Division
of Biological Sciences, School of Engineering, School of Medicine,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Center for U.S.-Mexican
Studies, and the Graduate School of International Relations and
Pacific Studies. This extensive group offers an opportunity to address
environmental issues across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
This opportunity is particularly crucial for understanding the complex
interactive nature of global and regional environmental issues.
The CERT also provides an interface for interaction with environmental
agencies outside the university, including the environmental technology
sector and governmental agencies.
The Center for Human Development (CHD) is an interdisciplinary,
research-centered unit designed to meet the growing needs for interdisciplinary
exchange on issues related to human development. The goal of CHD
is to provide a forum for interdisciplinary exchange that creates
dialogue between members of diverse disciplines. The Center is organized
around five structurally distinct components, but with integrated
functions. Each function is designed to serve a specific set of
needs and to make unique contributions to the larger enterprise.
These components are the following: (1) research support and infrastructure,
(2) enrichment of human developments instructional counterpartsthe
undergraduate Human Development Program and a proposed interdisciplinary
graduate program, (3) dissemination activities focused on but not
limited to local community needs, (4) public policy analysis, and
(5) assessment activities. In addition, the Center serves as a focal
point for research, evaluation, and assessment activities associated
with the campuswide Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment,
and Teaching Excellence (CREATE).
The Center for Human Information Processing (CHIP) is a
research facility for the study of the neural and cognitive mechanisms
underlying human perception, thought, and emotion.
CHIP has two missionsa practical one and a theoretical one.
The practical goal is to help develop new therapeutic approaches
for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric patients (e.g.,
stroke and childhood autism). The theoretical agenda is to understand
the neural basis of human behaviorthe question of how the
activities of millions of tiny wisps of protoplasm in the brain
gives rise to all the richness of our conscious experience and the
complexity of our cognitive processes.
It is ironic that even though we now have a vast amount of factual
information about the brain, even the most basic questions about
the human mind remain unanswered. How does the human brain create
and respond to art? Why do we enjoy music? How are metaphors represented
in the brain? What is body image and why does it get
distorted in Anorexia nervosa? How did language evolve? Or even
more basic questions such as: How do we see color? Can we pay attention
to only one thing at a time? How do we recognize faces so effortlessly?
CHIP has become well known for tackling questions such as these
experimentally. CHIP has played a major role in the emergence of
such new disciplines as neuro-ethics, neurotheology,
neuroeconomics, neuro-aesthetics, and neuro-epistemology.
CHIP has four divisions, each operating with the common goal of
furthering our understanding of human cognitive processes and the
neurological bases of these processes. The subdivisions are: brain
and perception division, the cognitive processes division, the division
of neuropharmacology and alternative medicine, and the language
processing division.
CHIP provides facilities for visiting scholars and supports workshops,
conferences, and brown-bag discussion groups centering on the theoretical
and empirical issues in each of these areas.
The Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC):
Each member of LCHC pursues forms of critical empirical research,
which aim
to understand how human variation can be an asset in understanding
human nature in its social and historical contexts. We use a range
of methods to throw into relief the contingency of culturally inflected
social practices, and the implications of those practices for human
development. In keeping with the critical ethos of our orientation,
we often use strategies that actively engage us in the settings
we investigate. We take an ecological approach, looking at systems
that include meditating tools, people, representations, institutions,
and activities. We are especially interested in the collective
accomplishment of knowledge practices—cognition, learning,
play, remembering (and forgetting), teaching, research, and the
design of new social practices. Collectively, our research spans
all ages. At the same time, because the institutionalization of
social practices holds an important place in our studies, specific
projects often take the form of educational or workplace research.
In both domains, the place of discourses, economics, and technologies
in the development of social relations of power, and their implications
for change over time, are scrutinized. We find comparisons across
these realms a powerful source of insight and theoretical development.
The LCHC published fifteen volumes of The Quarterly Newsletter
of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. It now publishes
a journal, Mind, Culture, and Activity: An International Journal.
The LCHC also coordinates an international electronic discussion
(http://communication.ucsd.edu/MCA/Mai/index.html)
that currently includes more than 400 researchers from sixteen countries. The
LCHC conducts a weekly seminar and workshops focused on special
topics, including cutting-edge research reports from members of
an interdisciplinary, international group of LCHC alumni who visit
periodically. Our seminars and research seminars are open to all
members of the academic community and our community partners.
The Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS)
coordinates and promotes Latin American and Iberian research and
service activities for faculty and students in all departments at
the university and outreach programs for the San Diego community.
It sponsors multi-disciplinary colloquia, conferences, projects
and publications, collaborations and exchanges with Latin American
institutions, as well as library expansion. The center is currently
launching new initiatives in the areas of public health; democracy,
civil society, and citizenship; and cultural studies. The center
also hosts visiting scholars, and it awards grants and fellowships
each year to promising graduate students.
The Center for Magnetic Recording Research (CMRR) (http://cmrr.ucsd.edu)
is an organized research unit whose mission is to advance the science
and technology that will serve as the foundation for the information-storage
devices, systems, and applications of the future. This mission
is achieved in partnership with private foundations, industrial
and government sponsors, through the combination of an ambitious
research agenda that reflects a shared vision of the participating
organizations, and a research-driven program of education and professional
training for the future leaders in information-storage technology.
CMRR
draws upon the wide range of intellectual interests and resources
at UCSD, with participating faculty from departments in the Jacobs
School of Engineering, the Division of Physical Sciences, and the
Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies,
as well as researchers in the UCSD Materials Science and Engineering
Program, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and the California
Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2).
The
center supports five endowed professorial chairs. Research programs
address fundamental problems in nanoscale storage technology,
including recording physics and micromagnetics, nano-patterned
magnetic materials and structures, mechanical interfaces and tribology,
servo control systems, signal-processing techniques, and error-control
coding. Related projects explore storage mechanisms based upon
novel nano-structures, optical holography, and spintronic materials.
System-level research topics include object-based storage paradigms, “intelligent” storage
devices, and data security.
Graduate and undergraduate student researchers,
post-graduate researchers, professional scientists, and visiting
scholars representing international
academic institutions and industrial laboratories contribute to
a research and educational environment that is dynamic and varied.
As
part of the center’s mission to educate future leaders
in the vital information-storage industry, faculty members teach
specialized classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels that
train students in the theoretical methods and experimental techniques
underlying advanced magnetic recording technology. Real-world research
opportunities are also available to students through academic-year
and summer internships with selected sponsors. In addition, the
center contributes to the continuing education of professionals
in the storage industry through regular seminars, research reviews,
and focused workshops.
CMRR also supports a world-class information
center for information-storage technology that provides a range
of services to sponsors, resident
researchers, and students. These services include licensed database
searching, patent searching, document retrieval, and expedited
access to proprietary technical resources.
The Center for Molecular Agriculture (CMA) promotes research
and education in plant genetics and plant molecular biology with
an eye to the application of that research to the improvement of
crops. Crop improvement cannot any longer rely exclusively on traditional
plant breeding methods but requires the application of new technologies
that include but are not limited to genetics and genomics, informatics,
molecular gene isolation, and plant transformation. The CMA brings
together researchers from UCSD and the Salk Institute and is a resource
for the entire San Diego community. It provides a focal point for
interaction with the local and statewide agricultural biotechnology
industry. The Center wishes to play an active role in the debate
about the safe cultivation and use of genetically modified crops.
The Center for Molecular Genetics (CMG) promotes molecular
genetic research and the training of graduate students and postdoctoral
fellows in the biological, chemical, and biomedical sciences.
The center’s research incorporates studies in both model
systems and humans that share a focus on dissecting the molecular
basis
of human diseases. The latest techniques of gene isolation and
manipulation, as well as the genetic transformation of both cells
and organisms, are applied to major problems in biology and medicine.
The center serves as a resource for the entire UCSD campus for
molecular genetic techniques, materials, and facilities. The CMG
also is host to seminar series, conferences, and workshops that
encourage cross-disciplinary interactions among biomedical and
bioinformatic investigators.
The Center for Networked Systems (CNS) was
formally established as an organized research unit at UCSD in 2005.
CNS is pursuing a portfolio of large and small
multidisciplinary projects designed to develop key technologies and frameworks
for networked systems. Each project attacks a critical technical problem or
framework and all contribute to our technical capability to build
robust, secure, manageable,
and open networked systems. CNS combines its research talents and strengths
in partnership with key industrial leaders, achieving the critical
mass and relevant
focus necessary to accelerate research progress and create key technologies,
framework, and systems understanding for robust, secure networked
systems and innovative
new applications. CNS is focusing its initial efforts in four key research
areas:
- Robustness: Understanding networked system properties which
enable flexible connection (composition) and sharing of networks,
grids, and networked system
applications
while ensuring predictable performance, reliability, quality, and efficiency.
- System
and Application Security: Technologies and architectures which
enable applications and networked systems to be secured or
protected against unauthorized
use, observation, or denial of service.
- Manageability: Technologies and architectures
which reduce the effort required to understand, design, operate,
use, and administer
networked systems.
- Application/End-User Quality: Technologies
and architectures which provide both capabilities and understanding
of application performance
and end-user quality of experience, particularly in large-scale and
open
systems.
The Center for Research in Biological Structure (CRBS)
is an organized research unit that exists to provide human resources,
high-technology equipment, and administrative services to researchers
engaged in fundamental research on cell structure and function
relationships, particularly those involved in central nervous
system processes,
cardiovascular networking, and muscular contraction. CRBS scientists
investigate these processes through invention, refinement, deployment
of sophisticated technologies, especially
- High-powered electron microscopes that reveal three-dimensional
cell structures
- State-of-the-art X-ray crystallography and magnetic resonance
analysis that provide detail on protein structures at high resolution
- Laser-scanning and Confocal light microscopes that reveal molecules
tagged with fluorescent markers as they traffic within cells and
pass transfer signals within and between cells
- High performance computing and grid-based integration of distributed
data
CRBS facilitates an interdisciplinary infrastructure in which people
from biology, medicine, chemistry, and physics can work with those
from computer science and information technologies in collaborative
research. CRBS researchers share interests in the study of complex
biological systems at many scales, from the structures of enzymes,
proteins, and the body’s chemical communications network at
atomic and molecular levels, to an organism’s physiology,
strength, and support at cellular and tissue levels.
The CRBS infrastructure integrates resources for high-performance
computing, visualization and database technologies, and the grid-integration
of large amounts of archival storage data. The California Institute
for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-IT2) and
the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) are collaborators in simulating
the activity of biological systems, analyzing the results, and organizing
the growing storehouse of biological information.
The aims of CRBS researchers are met in interdisciplinary research
efforts of major federally funded research efforts that are presently
the heart of CRBS:
- BIRN, the Biomedical Informatics Research Network http://www.nbirn.net
tests new modes of large-scale biomedical science. BIRN builds
infrastructure and technologies to enable large-scale biomedical
data mining and refinement.
- NCMIR, the National Center for Microscopy Imaging Research http://www.ncmir.ucsd.edu
specializes in the development of technologies for improving the
understanding of biological structure and function relationships
spanning the dimensional range from 5nm3 to 50µm3.
- NBCR, the National Biomedical Computation Resource http://nbcr.ucsd.edu
conducts, catalyzes, and advances biomedical research by harnessing,
developing, and deploying forefront computational, information,
and grid technologies.
- JCSG, the Joint Center for Structural Genomics http://www.jcsg.org
creates new technologies to drive high-throughput structure determination.
The Bioinformatics Core at UCSD is responsible for target selection,
sample tracking, information management, structure validation
and deposition, and poststructural analysis. Through these functions,
the group provides the integrated informatics backbone required
for the successful operation of JCSG.
CRBS researchers also have significant roles in collaborations
with
- PRAGMA, Pacific Rim Applications and Grid Middleware Assembly,
http://www.pragma-grid.net
establishes sustained collaborations and advances the use of grid
technologies in applications throughout the Pacific Region to
allow data, computing, and other resource sharing.
- Optiputer, http://www.optiputer.net,
involves the design and development of an infrastructure to integrate
computational, storage and visualization resources over parallel
optical networks using lambda switching communication mechanisms.
CRBS is an entity evolving as research evolves. It was established
in 1996 to involve researchers from disciplines across UCSD, the
School of Medicine, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Calit2,
and SDSC, including bioengineering, biology, chemistry, computer
science, mathematics, neurosciences, pharmacology, psychiatry, and
physics, and forges interactions with biotechnology and biocomputing
companies for technology transfer. Interaction, collaboration, and
multiscale research produce new perspectives, reveal fruitful research
topics, lead to the development of new technologies and drugs, and
train a new generation of researchers in biological systems.
The Center for Research in Computing and the Arts (CRCA)
is an organized research unit of UCSD whose mission is to facilitate
the creation of new forms of art that arise out of the developments
of digital technologies. Current focus areas include networked multimedia,
virtual reality, computer-spatialized audio, and live performance
techniques for computer music and graphics.
As the University of California’s oldest arts research center,
CRCA pursues innovative approaches to the arts, crossing disciplinary
boundaries with the humanities, engineering, and the sciences. Faculty
members devise new modes of artistic practice through their liaisons
with international cultural institutions, high-tech industries,
and interdisciplinary collaborations.
CRCA coordinates the New Media Arts layer of the California Institute
for Telecommunications and Information Technologies [Calit2] at
UCSD. The center’s cultural research activities are considered
a model “living laboratory” for Calit2 provocatively,
and critically, pursuing new cultural forms and social engagements
provided by developments in IT and telecommunications.
CRCA provides the support framework for a broad range of approaches
to artistic, scholarly, and technological development that is at
the basis of our digitally transformed culture. We actively encourage
the investigation of what constitutes the potent cultural acts of
our time and the viable mechanisms that should be engaged to create
them. More information about the center, its researchers, public
events, and the process for engagement, can be found at http://crca.ucsd.edu.
The Center for Research in Language (CRL) emphasizes
the combination of theoretical and experimental approaches to language
study. The research is interdisciplinary and draws upon the fields
of cognitive science, communication, communication disorders, computer
science, human development, linguistics, neurosciences, psychology,
and radiology.
The center’s facilities accommodate laboratory
research projects by the faculty and graduate students; facilities
include a number of high-performance
work stations, a computer laboratory, extensive equipment for audio recording
and analysis, and equipment for psycholinguistic experimentation.
Current research projects include studies of language and cognitive
development in children; language impairment in children and adults;
word and sentence processing in bilinguals;
studies of American Sign Language; cross-linguistic studies of
language structure; development of neurally inspired parallel processing
models of speech perception; first-language acquisition; cross-linguistic
comparisons of language acquisition and aphasia; research on the
integration of grammatical analyses and
theories;
a project to collect large-scale text corpora in electronic form;
and a study of expectancy generation in sentence processing. The
center administers an NIH pre- and postdoctoral training grant, “Language,
Communication and the Brain.” CRL has also entered into several
institutional agreements with research institutions in Europe,
Asia, and the Americas, providing for the exchange of personnel
and support for projects of mutual interest. An ongoing workshop
series presents a broad range of experimental approaches to the
study of language. The center publishes a monthly electronic newsletter.
The Project in Cognitive and Neural Development
is an activity of CRL. Its purpose is to provide a forum for interdisciplinary
research on brain and cognition in
human children, including research on the neural bases of language and communication.
The studies focus on typically developing children and on children with
language impairments, Down syndrome, or autism spectrum disorders. The researchers
use a wide range of behavioral and neuroimaging methods to yield new informaton
about the interaction between experience and brain development. The results
of these studies have important implications for education and
clinical practice.
The project brings together faculty and research staff from the UCSD Departments
of Cognitive Science, Human Development, Neurosciences, Psychology, and Radiology;
the San Diego State University Departments of Psychology and the
School of Speech and Hearing Sciences; and the Salk Institute for
Biological
Studies.
The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies (CUSMS), established
in 1979, is the nations largest program devoted to the study
of Mexico and U.S.-Mexican relations. It supports research in the
social sciences and history, graduate student training, publications,
and public education activities that address the full range of problems
affecting economic and political relations between Mexico and the
United States.
Through its visiting researchers program, the center each year
sponsors the research of predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars,
who spend three to nine months in residence. Typically, people from
Mexico receive over half of these awards, which are made through
an open, international competition. Other visiting fellows come
from Europe, Canada, East Asia, and the rest of Latin America. The
centers permanent academic staff also conducts long-term studies
of Mexico’s competitiveness in the global economy, Mexican
financial markets, the impact of remittances on development, political
change and the administration of justice in Mexico, environmental
problems in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Mexican immigration
to the U.S., and new forms of North American economic integration.
The center publishes much of the research conducted under its auspices.
Each summer, the center conducts a seminar in studies of the United
States for twenty-three to twenty-five Latin American social scientists
and nonacademic professionals.
The centers interdisciplinary Research Seminar on Mexico
and U.S.-Mexican Relations, which meets throughout the academic
year, features presentations of recent research by scholars from
throughout the United States, Mexico, and other countries. In addition,
several research workshops on specialized subjects are held each
year.
The center has an active public education program, which includes
frequent briefings for journalists, public officials, and community
groups.
The Glycobiology Research and Training Center (GRTC) seeks
to facilitate and enhance glycobiology research and training throughout
California. Current faculty membership includes many UCSD faculty
from several departments across the School of Medicine, SIO, and
the
general campus as well as adjunct faculty at nearby institutions.
Affiliate members include interested scientists in the La Jolla
area as well as faculty from several other UC campuses and some
other California institutes of higher learning.
Glycobiology is the study of the structure, biosynthesis, and
biology of sugar chains (called oligosaccharides or glycans) that
are widely distributed in nature. All cells and many proteins in
nature carry a dense and complex array of covalently attached
glycans.
These are often found on cellular and secreted macromolecules,
in an optimal position to modulate or mediate events in cell-cell
and
cell-matrix interactions that are crucial to the development and
function of a complex multicellular organisms. They can also mediate
interactions between organisms (e.g., between host and parasite).
Simple rapidly turning-over protein-bound glycans
are also abundant in the nucleus and cytoplasm, where they appear
to serve as regulatory switches. The development of a variety of
new
technologies for exploring the structures of these glycans has
recently opened up this new frontier of molecular biology.
The GRTC (http://grtc.ucsd.edu)
seeks to foster interactive research in glycobiology by coordinating
the availability of state-of-the-art
instrumentation
and expertise in the structural analysis of glycans through a Glycotechnology
Core Resource (http://glycotech.ucsd.edu), increasing intellectual
and collaborative interactions
by organizing symposia, joint programs and seminars, coordinating
joint applications for extramural support, improving access to
relevant
informatics, and facilitating the transfer of basic glycobiology
research to practical applications. The Center also strongly emphasizes
graduate, postgraduate, and medical student education in glycobiology,
including contributions by the faculty to core curricula, as well
as to elective courses and journal clubs.
The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) has
enabled science and engineering discoveries through advances in
computational science and high-performance computing for the past
two decades. Data is an over-riding theme in SDSC activities. By
developing and providing data cyberinfrastructure, the center acts
as a strategic resource to science, industry, and academia, offering
leadership in the areas of data management, grid computing, bioinformatics,
geoinformatics, and high-performance computing. The mission of
SDSC is to extend the reach of the scientific community by providing
data-oriented technology resources above and beyond the limits
of what is available in the local laboratory, department, and university
environment. SDSC is an organized research unit of UCSD with a
staff of scientists, software developers, and support personnel,
primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Two
key SDSC projects include the Geoscience Network (GEON) and the
Science Environment for Ecological Knowledge (SEEK). GEON weaves
together separate informational strands into a unified fabric that
enables the discovery of data relationships within and across Earth
science disciplines.
SEEK uses SDSC’s computational science resources to provide
the computational and data-management components of UCSD’s
strong environmental informatics program. Reflecting the dramatic
increase in humankind’s ability to change
the environment, the study of environmental informatics is increasingly critical
to California. SDSC and UCSD are building and
supporting a program that spans scales from
the molecular level to entire populations, accurately modeling the impact of
population on
the environment.
In addition, SDSC pursues data management activities such as
digital library initiatives, data-system standardization, and opportunities
to impact large-scale data mining, analysis, and knowledge synthesis
with academic, federal,
and commercial partners.
SDSC’s high-end computing unit is leading a national effort to understand
and deploy the most capable computational environments and to make those environments
easily accessible and usable by scientific communities—locally, nationally,
and globally. SDSC maintains leadership in critical strategic capabilities,
including chemistry, parallel applications and performance modeling, scientific
visualization,
and increasing collaborations with the social sciences.
Researchers involved
in SDSC’s integrative biosciences area are developing
projects to understand how cellular behavior emerges from the molecular level,
how tissue behavior emerges from the cellular level, and so on up to the
level of the organism. SDSC is collaborating in this area with the UCSD School
of
Medicine, the Center for Research in Biological Structure, The Scripps Research
Institute,
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and local biotech and pharmaceutical
companies. SDSC also is focusing on large-scale collaborative bioscience
projects worldwide using an infrastructure based on high-performance computation
and
analysis of massive amounts of data.
Major academic researchers around the
country use the powerful computing resources at SDSC to make breakthroughs
in diverse areas of science—from astronomy
and biology to chemistry and particle physics.
SDSC’s state-of-the-art computational resources and support include DataStar, a 15.7 teraflops
(trillion floating point operations per second)
supercomputer
with a total shared memory of seven terabytes. DataStar is among the top
supercomputers in the world. DataStar is used by researchers in academia
and industry to conduct
large-scale, data-intensive scientific research applications that involve
extremely large data sets or have stressful input/output requirements.
SDSC
collaborates with eight partners—including the National Center
for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, Argonne
National Laboratory,
the Center for Advanced Computing Research at the California Institute
of Technology, and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center—in the
TeraGrid project. This multiyear effort builds and maintains the world’s
most powerful and comprehensive distributed computational infrastructure
for
open scientific research. The TeraGrid
integrates more than 110 teraflops of computing power through a cross-country
network backbone that operates at 40 gigabits per second. The storage
facilities at SDSC alone include more than one petabyte of high-speed
disk and six
petabytes of archival storage capacity, one of the world’s largest
academic storage installations.
SDSC hosts huge digital collections, including
visualizations of earthquake simulations, disaster-recovery records,
astronomical images from the
2-Micron All Sky Survey,
images from the Art Museum Image Consortium, Chinese text from the
Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance, and tomographic images of
the human brain.
The data
technology is also being used to prototype persistent digital archives
for the National Archives and Records Administration and other government
agencies
with
huge data archives.
The Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis
(CAIDA) at SDSC engages Internet providers, vendors, and users
in engineering and technical
collaborations
to promote a more robust, scalable Internet infrastructure. CAIDA works
with the community to develop and transfer tools and technologies that
provide
engineering and other insights relating to the operation and evolution
of the Internet
infrastructure. CAIDA works with providers and researchers
to refine Internet traffic metrics, foster shared research environments,
and encourage the development and testing of advanced networking technologies.
SDSC’s
Applied Network Research group is currently conducting two Internet
research projects. The first involves the National Laboratory for
Applied Network Research (NLANR), an NSF-supported collaboration
to provide
technical, engineering,
and traffic analysis support for NSF’s High Performance Connections
sites and the nation’s high-performance network infrastructure.
The
second activity of the Applied Network Research group is the High
Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN),
a collaboration
with
SIO that created a noncommercial, prototype, high-performance,
wide-area wireless
network
in San Diego County.
Projects
The goal of the African and African-American Studies Research
Project (AAASRP) is to facilitate faculty, postgraduate, and
graduate research in the areas of Africa and African diaspora studies
in the social sciences and the humanities, and to foster the comparative,
cross-national, and interdisciplinary dimensions of research, with
a core group of scholars drawn from several fields in the social
sciences and humanities. These research efforts are linked directly
to larger local and international community concerns.
The project sponsors visiting scholars, focused research groups,
a seminar, and symposia. Faculty from seven university departments
are involved. The project oversees the African Studies Minor. The
project is also part of the UC Systemwide Consortium of African
Studies Programs and the national Association of African Studies
Programs. It provides the basis for the establishment of an organized
research unit on African and African-American Studies at a later
time. For more information, contact the AAASRP office at (858) 822-0265.
The Project for Explaining the Origin of Humans is a broad-based
multidisciplinary
coalition of investigators in the La Jolla area (from UCSD as well
as institutions from the surrounding area and around the world)
who are interested in defining and explaining the evolutionary
origins of humans and in generating testable hypotheses and new
agendas for research regarding this matter. Areas of current interest
include primate genetics and evolution, paleoanthropology and hominid
origins, mammalian and primate neurosciences, primate biology and
medicine, the roles of nature and nurture in language and cognition,
human and primate society and culture, comparative primate reproductive
biology, geographic, environmental and climatic factors in hominid
evolution, as well as general theories for explaining humans. The
group includes UCSD faculty from the Departments of Anthropology,
Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cognitive Science, Linguistics,
Medicine, Neurosciences, Oceanog- raphy, Pathology, and Psychology.
A listing of participants can be found at http://origins.ucsd.edu.
The Project in Display Phosphor Research provides a forum
for research on the synthesis, characterization, and processing
of phosphors for high definition display applications. The project
brings together faculty and researchers from the UCSD Departments
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
(MAE), and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). The project
was organized in 1992 in order to expand collaboration with other
colleagues at UCSD and to extend research efforts to address both
near-term and future research issues concerning phosphor materials
and advanced displays.
The Project In Econometric Analysis (PEA) is concerned
with the analysis of economic and financial data and with techniques
for modeling relationships between economic variables and testing
economic theories. As economic variables have properties not generally
found in other fields, standard procedures from mainstream statistics
are often not appropriate. The field of econometrics has been developed
to deal with these issues. Its importance is indicated by its effect
on the methodologies in other social sciences, such as political
science and empirical history, and the fact that several Nobel Prize
winners in economics have been econometricians. In fact, the 2003
Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to Clive Granger and Robert
Engle, two of the founders of the PEA.
The Project in Econometric Analysis (PEA) supports the work of
an active group of researchers and provides opportunities for productive
interaction among faculty and students. Areas of active research
include financial econometrics, non-linear time series modeling,
properties of neural network models, the theory of economic forecasting
and various actual applications including evaluations of models
and forecasts in finance and economics. The PEA allows links with
workers from other universities in this and other countries. In
20002001 and 20012002 the project had visitors from
Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia; some were senior and
some were pre- and post-doctoral students. Faculty members and graduate
students associated with the project presented their research at
workshops and conferences worldwide. In addition, PEA facilitates
the submission of grant proposals to outside agencies.
The Project in Geometry and Physics (PGP), established
in 1987, provides opportunities for increased collaboration between
mathematicians and physicists. The project hosts several scientific
meetings each year and also sponsors a number of research seminars
with distinguished scientists from inside and outside the UCSD community.
The Project on International Affairs (PIA) is one of the
international programs within the Institute on International, Comparative,
and Area Studies, focusing on economic and political interactions
between states. The project serves to promote interdisciplinary
research on international politics and international economics;
disseminate current research to UCSD faculty and students; provide
a multidisciplinary focal point for research and programming; and
enhance campus and community understanding of international political
and economic affairs.
The Project on Responsible Conduct of Research Education
(RCR Education Project) was created in 2003 to promote
RCR education both at UCSD and nationally. To achieve this goal,
the RCR Education Project is facilitating the formation of an independent
Responsible Conduct of Research Education Consortium (RCREC). The
RCREC will provide leadership to the research community in promoting
education in the responsible conduct of research
The RCR Education Project and the RCREC are intended to be a broad-based
coalition, representing medical, social, and behavioral research,
and public and private institutions. Through these collaborations,
the RCR Education Project will lay the foundations for the RCREC
to advance programs of RCR education, develop RCR education standards,
certify or identify programs that meet those standards, facilitate
the exchange of RCR education programs among research institutions,
and develop outcome measures to evaluate the success of the endeavor.
Specific objectives of the RCREC are to: 1) promote RCR education
as a central responsibility for any institution involved in research;
2) develop clear definitions for RCR education, including goals,
standards, competencies, and methods for evaluating the effectiveness
of programs; 3) assist institutions, RCR programs, and investigators
in identifying and developing RCR education curricula and resources;
4) facilitate discussion and collaboration among federal agencies,
public and private research institutions and organizations, professional
societies, and businesses in developing, coordinating, and sharing
new and existing RCR educational programs within the research community;
and (5) identify and overcome barriers to fulfilling RCR educational
needs and requirements.
The Public Policy Research Project was established to facilitate
interdisciplinary research and educational opportunities in public
policy and business-government interaction. Through conferences,
focused research groups, and lecture series, the project acts as
a catalyst for interaction among economists, political scientists,
moral philosophers, historians, cognitive scientists, anthropologists,
and sociologists. The project supports programs that: (1) help faculty
obtain funding that are engaged in policy-related research, (2)
conduct research apprenticeships for doctoral students working on
research projects dealing with issues and processes of public policy,
and (3) provide technical support and arrange faculty-proposed conferences
within the scope of the projects mission statement.
Natural Reserve System (NRS)
The Natural Reserve System (NRS) was founded to establish
and maintain significant examples of Californias diverse ecosystems
and terrain. These reserves are used for teaching and research in
all disciplines, from geology and environmental sciences to anthropology
and art. Faculty and students of the University of California and
other institutions are encouraged to use any of the thirty-four
reserves in the system for serious academic pursuits. The San Diego
campus administers the following four reserves:
Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve: This 218-acre reserve
is located in the cities of Carlsbad and Vista in north coastal
San Diego County. Its young, stream-cut valley contains a year-round
creek with precipitous north- and south-facing slopes. The major
habitat types are Southern Riparian Woodland, Diegan Coastal Sage
Scrub, Perennial Coastal Stream, Coast Live Oak Woodland, Mixed
Grassland of native bunchgrass and introduced annuals, and South
Coastal Mixed Chaparral. This area is also of unique and significant
historical and archaeological value. A small field station provides
opportunities for small laboratory classes, overnight stays, and
on-site research.
Elliott Chaparral Reserve: Located ten miles to the east
of campus, this 107-acre reserve, adjacent to the large expanse
of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is undeveloped, features
Chamise Chaparral typical of the Southern California coastal plain
and a large stand of mature planted eucalyptus. It is readily available
during a normal three-hour lab period or for term paper-length field
studies as well as for more lengthy projects.
Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve: This sixteen-acre
reserve, together with the city of San Diegos contiguous Northern
Wildlife Preserve, constitute the last remaining forty acres of
tidal salt marsh on Mission Bay and one of the few such wetlands
remaining in Southern California. It is recognized for the habitat
it provides for several rare and endangered birds including the
light-footed clapper rail, Beldings savannah sparrow, and
the California least tern, as well as many resident and migratory
shorebirds and waterfowl, and several fish species. An on-site trailer
houses limited residential and laboratory facilities, and extensive
facilities exist within ten miles on the UCSD main campus and at
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. There are opportunities
for studying restoration ecology of upland and tidal habitats.
Scripps Coastal Reserve: This reserve consists of disjunct
shoreline and cliff-top (or knoll) portions. The shoreline
part consists of the 67 acre San Diego Marine Life Refuge extending
seaward 1,000 feet from the high tide line, and surrounding the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) Pier. Habitats include
sandy beach and submerged plain, to 60 feet below mean lower low
water, seasonally exposed cobble beach, rocky reef, pier pilings,
and upper submarine canyon ledges. Habitats of the clifftop knoll
and canyons include coastal sage scrub, maritime succulent scrub,
southern coastal mixed chaparral, and disturbed grassland. The latter
is particularly suitable for ecological restoration experiments.
This reserve is enhanced by the availability of the laboratories
and facilities of adjacent SIO and the main San Diego campus.
Campuswide Research Facilities
Academic Computing Services
San Diego Supercomputer Center
The UCSD Libraries
Research at UCSD
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