Rolling Stone magazine has ranked 100 artists and leaders, policymakers, writers, thinkers, scientists and provocateurs who they say are fighting every day to show us what is possible — whether it's engineering a new electrical grid, reinventing the way movies are made or challenging us to let go of our illusions and face the brave new world that stands before us. At #40 on the list is Berkeley Lab Physical Bioscience Division Director Jay Keasling, who was lauded for his work to develop synthetic artemisinin and biofuels. Former Lab Director Steve Chu was ranked at #24 (scroll down).
The Department of Energy has announced that Berkeley Lab will receive $115.8 million from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds are part of $1.2 billion announced by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today from funding allocated under the Recovery Act to DOE’s Office of Science. Funds directed to Berkeley Lab are to be used to accelerate construction of a user support building for the Advanced Light Source and provide additional support for research in the fields of advanced materials, energy and biology. Funds will also be provided for a laser-based accelerator facility called BELLA. More>
[Financial Times] Moving clean energy innovations from the lab to the marketplace is one of the biggest challenges in the technology industry. But students at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business are getting a crash course on how to achieve it. A partnership between scientists at Berkeley Lab and students of the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative, an organization founded by Haas students, is working to push new technology into the private sector or into the hands of the right venture capitalist. More>
[Wall Street Journal] Responding to the clean-energy industry’s pleas for a better brand of subsidy, the recently passed stimulus package overhauled the way renewable-energy projects get help. What will that mean for clean-energy companies on the ground? Researchers at Berkeley Lab and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory set out to see, with a new report called “PTC, ITC, or Cash Grant? An Analysis of the Choice Facing Renewable Power Projects in the United States,” which looks at the provisions of the stimulus that could have a significant impact on how U.S. renewable power projects are financed over the next few years. EETD's Mark Bolinger and Ryan Wiser contributed to the report. More>
People: Lab Scientists Present at ACS Annual Meeting The American Chemical Society (ACS) will host its annual meeting in Salt Lake City this week, featuring the theme of nanoscience. Several Berkeley Lab scientists will make presentations on nanoscale research in such areas as energy, the environment, biology, catalysis, biomimetics and artificial photosynthesis. Among those scheduled to talk are Gabor Somorjai, Graham Fleming, Interim Lab Director Paul Alivisatos, Darleane Hoffman, and Jim De Yoreo. Reports on some of the Lab’s ACS presentations will be posted here throughout the week. More>
The Payroll and International Researchers and Scholars Offices will conduct a Nonresident International Tax Workshops at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25 in Perseverance Hall. An overview of tax forms, tax treaties, and resources for international scholars, students, and researchers will be presented. Attendees can also get answers to visa questions relating to nonresident taxation issues.
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