Founded in 1965, the University of California, Santa Cruz, is rapidly becoming one of the country's top research universities. In a comprehensive analysis of more than 200 top universities, UCSC ranked 11th in the nation among public campuses in the quality of its research productivity. Scholarly inquiry at UCSC covers a wide range of fields, including the six areas featured below:

Institute of Marine Sciences Established in 1972, the Institute of Marine Sciences is known for interdisciplinary research in marine vertebrate biology; coastal biology; fisheries and fishery management; oceanography and ocean processes; marine geology and geophysics; environmental toxicology; and paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, and global change. The Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory houses research laboratories equipped with running seawater, outdoor tanks for marine mammals, a veterinary/pathology lab, and environmental toxicology labs. Several new additions are transforming the Long Marine Lab site into an integrated complex of state-of-the-art facilities supporting broad-based efforts in ocean research, policy, and education. The Lab's popular public education programs will soon be housed in the new Seymour Marine Discovery Center, scheduled to open in January 2000. A new Center for Ocean Health, currently under construction, will provide flexible ocean-front research space, plus offices and a 50-seat conference room. And the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group is building a facility to support new research to improve the survival of seabirds after oil spills. In addition to UCSC's facilities, two government research agencies have moved or are moving to the Long Marine Lab site, investing nearly $25 million. The California Department of Fish and Game opened its Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center there in July 1997, and construction of the National Marine Fisheries Service Santa Cruz Laboratory is under way. Several Institute of Marine Sciences research projects are described in the following stories: $17.7 million grant launches marine research collaboration Marine ecologist wins Pew Fellowship to support Bering Sea research Killer whales feed on sea otters, pushing coastal ecosystems off kilter Dancing with Dolphins

UC Observatories / Lick Observatory UC Observatories/Lick Observatory (UCO/Lick) oversees two of the world's leading astronomical observatories: the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton east of San Jose and the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The Keck Observatory is jointly operated by the University of California, the California Institute of Technology, and NASA. Its twin Keck Telescopes, designed and built by astronomers and technical staff from Lick and Caltech, are the largest optical telescopes in the world. The staff of Lick Observatory, a preeminent UC research facility since 1888, became the core of the UCSC Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics soon after the campus opened in 1965. The observatory's 3,800-acre site on Mount Hamilton, with numerous telescopes, a visitor's center, and related facilities, is used by astronomers and advanced students from throughout the UC system. UCO/Lick's administrative offices, astronomy archives, and laboratories are located at UCSC, as are optical, electronic, engineering, programming, and detector and instrument-development groups. A Center for Adaptive Optics funded by the National Science Foundation also has its headquarters on the UCSC campus.. Research by UCSC astronomers and other developments at UCO/Lick are described in the following stories: National Science Foundation approves funding for a UCSC-based Center for Adaptive Optics UCSC astronomers describe two newly discovered dwarf galaxies Windows on the Universe UCSC astrophysics ranked second in nation Gamma ray bursts may come from "failed" supernova explosions

Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) was established in 1980 to coordinate research and instruction in high-energy physics. Its staff and visiting scientists are engaged in theoretical and experimental projects concerning the fundamental nature and interactions of matter. SCIPP is recognized as a leader in the development of state-of-the-art particle detection systems for high-energy physics experiments. Work on the design, testing, and construction of particle detectors takes place in the development laboratories on campus. Experiments are ultimately performed at major particle accelerators, such as the federally funded Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) at Stanford University and the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. SCIPP faculty and staff are also involved in two particle astrophysics experiments: the Milagro cosmic ray airshower detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and NASA's gamma ray large area space telescope (GLAST). Research projects and other activities at SCIPP are described in the following stories: Particle Detectives Summer program pairs local teachers with SCIPP physicists UCSC physicists to participate in European-based scientific collaboration

School of Engineering With the establishment of the Jack Baskin School of Engineering in 1997, UCSC entered an exciting phase of rapid expansion in engineering programs, focusing on the disciplines of greatest interest to Silicon Valley's high-technology industry. UCSC has well established programs in Computer Engineering and Computer Science, a new Electrical Engineering program, and a Dual Degree Engineering program with UC Berkeley. Many other engineering programs are also being established, including Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Software Engineering, Engineering Management, and Biomolecular Engineering. A new major in Information Systems Management provides training in business, technical, and communications skills. The School of Engineering's research and education programs are described in more detail in the following stories: Industry leaders to join UCSC officials for dedication of the Jack Baskin School of Engineering Electrical Engineering at UCSC UCSC to participate in industry-funded center for research on chip design and testing UCSC offers new major in information systems management

Institute of Tectonics UCSC's Institute of Tectonics coordinates six research facilities: The W. M. Keck Seismological Laboratory, a center for earthquake and earth structure research; the Paleomagnetism Laboratory, for sensitive magnetic studies of rock samples; the Mineral Physics Laboratory, which allows scientists to determine the thermochemical and elastic properties of planetary materials; the Crustal Imaging Laboratory, furthering the study of the earth's outer layers; and the Modeling and Imaging Laboratory, where researchers are developing new approaches to modeling and imaging in complex three-dimensional environments. The institute also has research programs in astrogeology (applying geophysics to the study of extraterrestrial bodies), geodynamics, geomorphology, and heterogeneous wave propagation. Some of the research projects conducted by Institute of Tectonics faculty and staff are described in the following stories: Earthquake analysis sheds new light on the nature of destructive earthquakes Fascinated seismologists study the great Antarctic earthquake of 1998 Asteroid-impact study finds effects of collisions or explosions on small asteroids may be hard to predict Seismologists detect origin of volcanic hotspot that created the Hawaiian Islands

Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA The Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers whose common interest is the structure and function of RNA. An important goal is to promote interaction between structural biologists and molecular geneticists. Because RNA molecules are key players in all biological systems, a better understanding of the fundamental properties of RNA has a wide range of potential applications in medicine and other fields. Research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have been critical to supporting the center's research activities. The Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA is affiliated with the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology program in UCSC's Department of Biology. Research and other activities in the Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA are described in the following stories: Ribosome study yields new clues to protein synthesis UCSC hosts international conference on RNA structure Biochemists unveil the molecular dances of antibiotics and bacterial RNA

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