Institute Calendar
May 2026
Friday, May 15th, 2026
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar
Phantom codes: Entangling logical qubits without physical operations
Jin Ming Koh,
Harvard,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Abiotic Strategies and C-H Functionalization toward Natural Product Total Synthesis and Studies toward CNS-Penetrant Drug Derivatives
Camila Suarez,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Stoltz Group),
Caltech,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
3:00pm
–
4:00pm
Add to Cal
3:00pm
–
4:00pm
Add to Cal
Susan and James Wu Aerospace Colloquium
Scott Jackson,
Associate Professor,
Department of Aerospace Engineering,
Texas A&M University,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Inorganic-Organometallics Seminar
Reductive Carbonyl Functionalization Driven by Ligand Non-Innocence
Nathan Friede,
Graduate Student (Reisman Group),
Chemistry,
Caltech,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Seismo Lab Seminar
Complex fault architecture and heterogeneous stresses profoundly affect earthquake mechanics
Greg McLaskey,
Associate Professor,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Cornell University,
6:30pm
–
9:00pm
Add to Cal
7:00pm
–
8:30pm
Add to Cal
8:00pm
–
9:30pm
Add to Cal
Saturday, May 16th, 2026
9:00am
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
3:00pm
–
4:30pm
Add to Cal
4:00pm
–
5:30pm
Add to Cal
7:00pm
–
8:30pm
Add to Cal
8:00pm
–
9:30pm
Add to Cal
Sunday, May 17th, 2026
3:00pm
–
4:30pm
Add to Cal
Monday, May 18th, 2026
10:30am
–
11:30am
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Genetic Interrogation of Expression Regulation
Maria Carilli,
Graduate Student,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics,
California Institute of Technology,
12:00pm
–
1:30pm
Add to Cal
3:45pm
–
4:45pm
Add to Cal
Inorganic-Electrochemistry Seminar
Designing for Disorder: Electrocatalytic Synthesis with Interfacial Control
Anna Wuttig,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Chemistry,
The University of Chicago,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Astronomy Tea Talk
Galactic Winds Are Kinematically Coherent and Turbulence-Regulated: New Insights from Lyα and UV Metal-Line Radiative Transfer
Zhihui Li,
Assistant Research Scientist and William Miller Postdoctoral Fellow,
Johns Hopkins University,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Geological and Planetary Sciences Seminar
"Geocentric languages and the perception of the earth's magnetic field"
Felicity Meakins,
Professor of Linguistics,
School of Languages and Culture, Australian Research Council (ARC),
University of Queensland Australia,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
High Energy Physics Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Open system approach to neutrinos propagating in an ultralight scalar background
Gustavo Alves,
Fermilab and Northwestern University,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Quantum Matter Seminar
Engineering Topological Quantum Matter in Space and Time
Shuolong Yang,
Assistant Professor,
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering,
The University of Chicago,
Tuesday, May 19th, 2026
8:00am
–
12:00pm
Add to Cal
10:30am
–
11:30am
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Unraveling Material Behavior with Electron and X-ray Spectroscopies: From Transient Electronic Responses to Electronic Topological Transitions
Wonseok Lee,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Cushing Group),
Caltech,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
CMX Lunch Seminar
Radon-Wasserstein gradient flows for high-dimensional sampling
Elias Hess-Childs,
Postdoctoral Scholar,
Department of Mathematical Sciences,
Carnegie Mellon University,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar
Quantum-enhanced clocks and assembled superfluids with strontium atom arrays
Alec Cao,
Adam Kaufman's group, JILA,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
NB-CNS Seminar - Edward Chang
The Cortical Machinery for Words
Edward Chang,
Professor,
Neurological Surgery UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences,
University of California, San Francisco,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
New regulatory mechanisms in SRP targeting pathway
Ruilin Qian,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Shan Group),
Caltech,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Chemical Engineering Seminar
Designing Biodegradable Hydrogels for Sustainable Soil Systems
Thaiesha A. Wright,
Assistant Professor,
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,
University of California, Los Angeles,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Chemical Physics Seminar
New Experimental Platforms for Molecular Polaritonics
Marissa Weichman,
Assistant Professor of Chemistry,
Department of Chemistry,
Princeton University,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
DIX Planetary Science Seminar
"What Pollutes White Dwarfs?" & "Heavy metal analysis in dust from the 2025 Eaton Fire: Pre- and post-remediation."
Valeria Kachmar,
Graduate Student,
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,
Caltech,
Merritt McDowell,
Graduate Student,
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences,
Caltech,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Wolff Memorial Lectures
The Ramsey numbers: new results and new perspectives
Julian Sahasrabudhe,
Professor,
Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS),
University of Cambridge,
7:00pm
–
9:00pm
Add to Cal
Wednesday, May 20th, 2026
8:00am
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
8:30am
–
2:00pm
Add to Cal
9:00am
–
10:00am
Add to Cal
Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar: PhD Thesis Defense
Generative Modeling of Earthquake Ground Motion
Yaozhong Shi,
Graduate Student,
Mechanical Engineering,
Caltech,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
Add to Cal
Election Science Office Hours
Online Event
Science, Trust, and the June 2nd Primary: A Deep Dive into Election Transparency and Reform
Thad Kousser,
Professor of Political Science,
UC San Diego,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
Add to Cal
High Energy Theory Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Diffeomorphism invariant tensor networks for 3d gravity
Charlie Cummings,
University of Pennsylvania,
11:00am
–
12:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
The Total Synthesis of Aleutianamine, (–)-Crotonolide D, and (–)-Crotonine G
Hao Yu,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Stoltz Group),
Caltech,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
Seismo Lab Brown Bag Seminar
Coseismic fault-zone depressurization and postseismic evolution revealed from very-near-fault observation
Ruei-Jiun Hung,
Postdoc,
University of Kentucky,
12:15pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Electrochemical Carboxylation of Aldehydes with CO2: Mechanistic Insights and Enantioselective Synthesis
Thu Ton,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Manthiram Group),
Caltech,
3:30pm
–
4:30pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Deep Stochastic Control for Regime-dependent Utility Maximization Problems
Harshkooshal Gandhi,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Astronomy Colloquium
Rubin's LSST: the greatest movie of all time is about to begin!
Zeljko Ivezic,
Professor,
Department of Astronomy,
University of Washington,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar
Antarctic Sea Ice: Structural Change, Future Projections and Uncertainties
Marilyn Raphael,
Department of Geography and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability,
UCLA,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
7:30pm
–
8:30pm
Add to Cal
POSTPONED: Watson Lecture - Kirby Nielsen
Kirby Nielsen,
professor of economics; William H. Hurt Scholar,
Thursday, May 21st, 2026
8:00am
–
12:00pm
Add to Cal
8:00am
–
Ongoing
Add to Cal
8:30am
–
9:30am
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
From Cell to FTU: Accurate and Efficient Deep Learning-Based Segmentation Across Diverse Microscopic Imaging Modalities
Qilin Li,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
10:00am
–
11:30am
Add to Cal
11:00am
–
2:00pm
Add to Cal
11:00am
–
12:24pm
Add to Cal
Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar
X-ray Based Full Field Stress-Strain Measurements in Metals
Angkur Shaikeea,
Assistant Professor of Aerospace; Bren Scholar,
The Lynn Booth & Kent Kresa Department of Aerospace,
California Institute of Technology,
12:00pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
High Energy Physics Seminar
Online and In-Person Event
Gaia at the Forefront of Dissipative Dark Matter Searches: Exchange
Jackie Lodman,
Harvard University,
12:05pm
–
1:00pm
Add to Cal
Observational Cosmology Seminar
Updates on NEW-MUSIC: The Next-generation Extended-Wavelength Multiband Sub/millimeter Inductance Camera
Simon Hempel-Costello,
Graduate Student,
The Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy,
Caltech,
1:00pm
–
2:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Tug of War between Epoxidation and Ketonization in Electrochemical Alkene Oxidation: Pulling the Ropefor Ketonization
Chenyu Jiang,
Graduate Student,
Chemistry (Manthiram Group),
Caltech,
2:00pm
–
3:00pm
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Molecular Mechanisms of DNA Interstrand Cross-Link Repair by the Fanconi Anemia Pathway
Maria Altshuller,
Graduate Student,
Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics,
California Institute of Technology,
3:45pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Biochemistry Seminar
BRCA1-BARD1 Tumor Suppressor Complex in Homologous Recombination Licensing
Patrick Sung,
Professor of Biochemistry & Structural Biology, Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry,
UT Health San Antonio,
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
4:00pm
–
5:00pm
Add to Cal
Physics Colloquium
Online and In-Person Event
Particles of the Moment
David Hertzog,
Arthur B. McDonald Professor of Physics, Director of CENPA,
Department of Physics,
University of Washington,
7:00pm
–
9:00pm
Add to Cal
Friday, May 22nd, 2026
10:00am
–
11:00am
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Integrated Transceivers from Microwave to Optical: Signals, Systems and Silicon for Sensing and Communications
Samir Nooshabadi,
Graduate Student,
Electrical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology,
10:30am
–
11:30am
Add to Cal
PhD Thesis Defense
Artificial Intelligence Methods for Enzyme Engineering
Jason Yang,
Graduate Student,
Chemical Engineering (Arnold Lab),
Caltech,