On Sept. 6, 2016, members of the class of 2020 walked through the Van Wickle gates to cheers from faculty, staff, family members and current Brown students as they processed toward the Main Green, where they took in Brown’s 253rd annual convocation.

A study partially conducted at the University has identified a new vaccine target for malaria with a novel mechanism underlying its ability to confer immunity.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, which was originally celebrated on April 22, 1970. In 1970, Earth Day involved a week-long festival of activities on campus.

Jessica Meir ’99 returned to Earth’s surface Friday at 1:16 am EDT, marking the end of her 205th day in space. The landing was live-streamed on NASA’s website as Thursday night gave way to Friday morning on the East coast.

When Jessica Meir ’99 was last subject to Earth’s gravitational pull almost seven months ago, life looked very different. This week she journeys home, leaving the isolation of the International Space Station behind to return to a self-quarantining planet. 

While researchers across the University had to close their doors and hang up their lab coats for the foreseeable future on March 18, some labs have found ways to keep their doors open for the benefit of the community amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Following the University’s instruction to shut down all non-essential research in laboratories by March 18 — by which time most students had relocated off-campus — it became apparent that remote work would become the new normal for millions of people around the world. 

As researchers and academics across the globe shift their priorities, the scholarship that used to dominate their time is largely being put on hold, with consequences and personal ramifications spanning departments and fields. 

While people turn to scientists for the latest updates on COVID-19, laboratories across campus will more or less go dark after 5 pm today. The constant hum of machines mixing samples will grow quiet as equipment is shut off, new experiments are canceled and entry is limited to essential personnel only.

Every year, alums from around the world visit the University to see how the campus has evolved in their absence and to interact with a new generation of Brunonians.