News: 2026

At the 2026 King Faisal Prize ceremony, Prof. Carlos Kenig was recognized for his transformative work on nonlinear partial differential equations, described as a stubborn, beautiful aspect of mathematics that govern everything from the crash of ocean waves to the clarity of a medical scan. Where others saw complexity, he found structure that reshaped the very landscape of modern mathematical analysis.

Science and art are often held up as opposites — the logical and analytical versus the creative and emotional, the domain of the left brain hemisphere versus the right, the yang versus the yin. But UChicago notes that the disciplines are, in fact, intertwined — and not just in an abstract philosophical sense.

UChicago researchers launch civic chatbot to educate and challenge voters on political views, ballot measures and more
 

UChicago Chemistry celebrates World Quantum Day and how the department transformed quantum science from a descriptive tool into a predictive power
 

UC Berkeley professor and pioneer in gold catalysis and supramolecular chemistry visits UChicago to present a three-part seminar series on the future of chemical synthesis.

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Data Science Institute announced a new partnership with AI Research Commons (ARC), Microsoft, and NVIDIA to identify and support high-potential, early-stage artificial intelligence startups emerging from Third Coast Foundry universities.
 

Profs. Yu Deng and Tomer Schlank have received 2026 Clay Research Awards from the Clay Mathematics Institute. Tomer Schlank is recognized (with collaborators) for groundbreaking work on Ravenel’s Telescope Conjecture, and Yu Deng is recognized (with Zaher Hani) for major advances on the derivation of the Boltzmann equation from particle systems.
 

The UChicago Alumni Association and Alumni Board honor Marc Kamionkowski, PhD’91, with the Professional Achievement Award. Kamionkowski is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, where he has taught since 2011. He is a theoretical physicist who has worked on a broad range of topics in theoretical astrophysics, cosmology and particle theory. 

Superconductors allow electricity to flow without resistance, meaning no energy is lost as heat.
 

As robots become more expressive and socially capable, the line between machines and living characters is starting to blur. From Disney’s lifelike Olaf robot to interactive droids inspired by Star Wars, recent developments highlight how far robotics has come in replicating human-like behavior and emotion.

UV light, defects, and climate clues unlocked by groundbreaking study.

A newly confirmed ancient star may preserve one of the clearest records of the universe’s earliest stellar generations.

Congratulations to Guangbin Dong, who has received the 2026 Janssen Prize. This award recognizes his groundbreaking contributions in a broad range of topics including activation of inert Carbon-Carbon and Caron-Hydrogen bonds, total synthesis of bioactive natural products, development of novel boron chemistry methods, and syntheses of specific graphene nanoribbons.​​

Chicago Human+AI (CHAI) Lab launches Agent4Science, a platform where AI agents share, critique, and debate research.
 

Chuan He developed a technique known as nano-hmC-seal that labels DNA fragments carrying the 5-hmC modification, allowing scientists to map patterns of gene activity across the genome, which is now being used to create blood-based DNA signals to help track osteosarcoma.