researcher on the beach  holding up water specimens.

Research

A global research university with an uncommon emphasis on undergraduate research and education, UC Santa Cruz is part of the world’s most celebrated system of public higher education, and stands among the most renowned institutions of higher learning.


Research news

Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Andy Yeh, who was awarded a nearly $2.5 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to develop completely artificial enzymes that can produce bioluminescence in the body for deep tissue imaging.

Shedding light on disease

Scientist Andy Yeh was awarded a nearly $2.5 million grant to develop artificial enzymes that can produce bioluminescence in the body—which could make it possible to image tumors in deep tissues during the earliest phases of disease.

An international team of researchers collected fossil coral cores to examine signs of historic climate and sea-level change. (Photos courtesy of M. Parker @ECORD/IODP)

Answers to climate-change riddles could be hiding in ancient coral

An international team of researchers on an expedition co-led by UC Santa Cruz Professor Christina Ravelo collected cores of fossil coral off the coast of Hawai’i to look for signs of climate and sea-level change over the past half million years.

Sowing Seeds will heighlight evocative photographs as well as family heirlooms, contemporary artworks,  and oral histories. Photographs courtesy of WIITH.

Exhibition highlights vibrant Filipino American life on the Central Coast

Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History highlights the vitality, struggles, and resilience of the Central Coast’s Filipino migrant community.

Real-world experience

Undergraduates have the unique opportunity to participate in world-class research, both creative and scientific, at UC Santa Cruz. Both undergrad and graduate students gain academic experience and career exploration as they engage in the pursuit of knowledge.

person building a research device.

Research with impact


Student working in a lab using a pipette


Research programs and units

The campus’s research activities range from small groups within academic departments to large units with connections outside UC Santa Cruz.


Research support

The Office of Research is dedicated to working collaboratively with the UC Santa Cruz community to advance research and demonstrate its impact.

Two people posing for the camera with the ocean in the background and a drone hovering over them.
3 students outside the science and engineering library.

University library


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