Arts & Sciences

The Gephardt Institute for Public Service at Washington University in St. Louis has selected 12 sophomores as its next cohort of the Civic Scholars program.

The list of authors for an article on the comparative genomics of a fruit fly chromosome, published online May 11 by the journal G3, includes 940 undergraduates from 63 institutions. It is the result of an effort, coordinated through Washington University in St. Louis, to provide many more students with a hands-on research experience than has traditionally been possible.

After an epic journey across the breadth of the solar system, the New Horizons spacecraft is finally nearing its destination: the Pluto system, a staggering three billion miles from Earth. William McKinnon, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, explains that our understanding of Pluto has been transformed in the nearly 10 years the probe has been en route to its target. ​

There’s a small room in Rudolph Hall that most students walk right past without noticing. But when anyone finds it, they usually insist all their friends come and look as well. It’s one of those special things about the university no student ever forgets, and this is the story of how it came to be there.

Three doctoral candidates at Washington University in St. Louis were inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at the annual Bouchet Conference on Diversity in Graduate Education April 10-11 at Yale University.

​​The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has announced the winners from its 2015 call for proposals. This year, the center awarded funds to 10 projects involving nearly 30 Washington University faculty from four schools.

William F. Tate, PhD, dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, recognized outstanding performance by graduate teaching assistants during the annual Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence ceremony, held April 23 in the Women’s Building Formal Lounge.

​When it comes to rewards and punishments, which is more effective — the carrot or the stick? Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have devised a simple experiment to test the effects of rewards and punishments on behavior and have found that punishments seem to be more effective at influencing behavior.

The devastating earthquake in Nepal has forced three Washington University in St. Louis researchers to alter their plans for research-related projects in the country — one who was working in Kathmandu when the quake hit and two who planned to fly there a few days later.

Kristina Kleutghen, PhD, has been selected as the inaugural David W. Mesker Career Development Professor of art history at Washington University in St. Louis. A specialist in early modern and modern Chinese art, Kleutghen’s research investigates Sino-foreign interaction, the imperial court, optical devices and connections to visual culture, science and mathematics.