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Hellina Hailu Nigatu always loved math and physics – really any field that let her calculate things. Then she found computer science. By the time she'd started her PhD at UC Berkeley, she saw how computing skills could address a range of issues from healthcare to women's rights. She learned in classes about concepts in Natural Language Processing and large language models developed in English...

Dozens of California public educators walked into a sunlight streaked, first floor-room at the edge of UC Berkeley in late June. Hugging each other and snagging coffee or water, they navigated blue and gold star-shaped balloons to settle at tables facing a projector screen. These scholars are part of a state effort to make California the nation’s leader in excellent, equitable and accessible undergraduate data...

UC Berkeley’s newest college launched an undergraduate student advising office this month. The office in the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) began serving undergraduate students majoring or minoring in statistics, data science or computer science. These students can receive support selecting courses, engaging in research and more. “We are excited to officially open the Undergraduate Advising Office and share the new things...

UC Berkeley’s Omar Yaghi received a top sustainability prize on June 18 for his pioneering discoveries unlocking essential tools to combat the climate crisis. Yaghi won the Tang Prize for Sustainable Development in recognition of his groundbreaking efforts founding and advancing the field of reticular chemistry. He has proven that the ultra porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks can help address...

Campus leaders, faculty and community members of the UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) celebrated the “topping out” of the new Gateway building on June 7. Construction workers placed the final steel beam onto the building, recognition of a major milestone for the future home of Berkeley’s first new college in 50 years. This state-of-the-art building, which will be located on...

California Governor Gavin Newsom and leaders representing technology, government, academia, labor, civic organizations and more convened at the Joint California Summit on Generative AI to collaborate on and examine this transformative technology. More than 100 changemakers came together at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to discuss new ways generative artificial intelligence could better serve the public. “California is the globe’s artificial intelligence leader, and...

At the UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society’s two inaugural commencements on Thursday, speakers lauded the students’ resilience. “You have achieved an impressive feat, not only because you’ve completed a demanding curriculum, but also because you’ve been doing this during a time of historic change and challenge, beginning with a global pandemic and now — during your years here — widespread social...

When Sana Pandey arrived at UC Berkeley four years ago, she wanted to be a doctor. It was how she was going to put the most good into the world, she said. But after she took her first computer science class, the joy of problem solving had her hooked. Now, Pandey sees the potential to help people at scale. She aims to develop AI systems...

Isabel Serrano knew what she enjoyed – the logic of math, the patterns of data, the power to help people through medicine – but for years she didn’t know how to make it a career. When an intern advisor proposed a PhD in computational biology, it clicked almost instantly. Serrano, who received her undergraduate degree from California State University, Fullerton, now helps increase awareness of...

UC Berkeley is joining an ambitious effort to advance open source research, education and public service across the University of California system. The Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) will lead the university’s involvement in this initiative, launching an office to house the campus’s extensive open source expertise. This program office is one of six in the UC system that will work individually and collectively...