Caltech

First week down, many to go. Even Berni came out to play!

How was your first week? Let us know below! We want to hear all about it!

This morning, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission successfully launched to the International Space Station, commanded by NASA astronaut and former Caltech postdoc Jessica Watkins. The crew of four astronauts will perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance.

Watkins first launched to the space station aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission in 2022, spending a total of 170 days in orbit across Expeditions 67 and 68. She will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Read more through the link in our bio.



Photo: NASA/Robert Markowitz

Welcome back, Beavers! Let’s make this year a great one.

What should you expect this school year?
Here’s a message from President Ray Jayawardhana:

At Caltech, it’s the unknown that energizes us. Our ambition finds expression through the search for new insights and deeper understanding at every scale: from revealing long-predicted patterns in quantum matter and finding clues to cancer in jellyfish cells, to harnessing AI to protect voters from misinformation and - through the recently announced PRIMA mission - opening a transformative far-infrared window to the cosmos. What unites our community’s disparate pursuits is the restless pull toward the knowledge just out of reach and the unshakeable conviction that no question is too daunting for curiosity to tackle.

Welcome to the new academic year!

NASA has officially selected PRIMA—the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics—a new space observatory designed to explore regions of the universe that are hidden at visible wavelengths.

PRIMA will use a cryogenically cooled 1.8-meter telescope and advanced instruments to study far-infrared light. The mission will help scientists investigate the origins of planetary atmospheres, the formation of stars and planetary systems, the evolution of galaxies, and the growth of supermassive black holes.

Caltech, JPL, and Caltech’s IPAC will have major roles in making the mission possible. JPL will lead mission development, systems engineering, and integration of the spacecraft and payload. Caltech and JPL researchers pioneered the superconducting detectors that will give PRIMA its exceptional sensitivity. And IPAC will serve as the PRIMA Science Center, supporting mission planning, data calibration and processing, and public access to the mission’s science archive.

PRIMA is NASA’s first probe-class astrophysics mission and is targeted to launch in the 2030s.

Read more: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/nasa-confirms-prima-mission-key-roles-for-caltech-jpl-and-ipac

The U.S. News & World Report rankings have released!

Caltech earned the top national placement in four of the 17 metrics behind the rankings: per-student financial resources; share of faculty publications in the top 25 percent of journals; graduate earnings relative to high school graduates; and standardized testing scores (Caltech resumed reporting scores this year after ending its four-year test-blind admissions policy). It placed second in a new metric of graduate earnings by major.

Read more: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltech-rises-to-no-5-in-the-us-news-best-colleges-ranking

The Citation Laureates program helps researchers, institutions, funders and policymakers identify highly influential research, while offering science media, Nobel observers and the wider public insight into discoveries shaping the future. The 2026 Laureates are affiliated with leading academic institutions in seven countries/regions, reflecting the global nature of Nobel-class research.

We’re proud to announce that Harry B. Gray and Jay R. Winkler have been named Citation Laureates 2026 by ! Their pioneering research in Chemistry is shaping the future of science.