Academics

U. seeks research proposals related to COVID-19

Although all non-essential on-campus research was suspended as of March 21, a limited number of approved, campus-based proposals related to COVID-19 will be permitted to join the few essential projects permitted to continue to operate.

Two weeks into Zoom, students reflect on challenges of online learning

Nearly two weeks have passed since University students began taking online courses on Zoom. Not all students — depending on their time zone, internet access, and living situation — can participate easily.

Decentralized PDF grading policy sparks debate over fairness

Some students and professors expressed concern with the lack of an overarching University policy.

U. grants students unlimited PDFs for spring term, “encourages” faculty to consider “PDF-only option”

Though students will be permitted to P/D/F more than one class this semester, it is unclear whether classes currently designated non-P/D/F (npdf), such as writing seminars, foreign languages, and hundreds of other courses, will be required to transition to grading that allows for the P/D/F option. 

Faculty urged to consider re-weighting examinations

The message also included language on how faculty members could apply the guidance of social distancing to exam administration.

Petitions to revise midterms and prevent forced departures garner 5700+ signatures combined

The students pointed to the stress imposed by the COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, outbreak. Since Sunday night, when the University inadvertently leaked plans to move to online schooling after spring break, students, faculty, and staff have scrambled to make contingency plans. The University officially announced that plan on Monday, at the start of midterms week. 

Four graduate students named Jacobus Fellows

All of this year’s fellows will pursue careers in academia. According to the Graduate School’s website, “previous Jacobus winners have gone on to become leaders in all fields including academia, business, industry, and government.” 

Bat crashes microeconomics lecture in McCosh 50

Deputy University Spokesperson Mike Hotchkiss explained in a statement to The Daily Princetonian that the room was evacuated shortly after the bat sighting. A pest-control company arrived to find the bat gone, “likely through an open window.”

Hundreds of fossils lay forgotten in the basement of Guyot. One sophomore is working to change that.

The collection was all but forgotten until Andrew Xu ’22 found out about it while preparing for a high school Science Olympiad fossils competition. Xu now maintains the collection with the help of the Geosciences department.

U. administration establishes dates for reformed 2020–21 academic calendar

Although requirements may vary by department, the University-wide deadline for junior independent work, however, will be the first Friday of Wintersession, on January 15, 2021, according to an email statement by Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss to The Daily Princetonian. 

Lin '20 receives Churchill Scholarship for mathematics study

Forty-three University students have been granted the scholarship in its history — the highest number of any institution. 

Oseguera Serra ’20, Elzalabany ’20, Oxford student Parisi awarded Sachs Scholarship

The Sachs Scholarship allows recipients to travel, study, and work around the world and further their research that will benefit the public. 

T.S. Eliot’s letters in U. library after 50 years in storage

On Jan. 2, a collection of 1,131 letters from renowned poet and Nobel Laureate Thomas Stearns Eliot, better known as T.S. Eliot, opened for research at Firestone Library. The letters dated from 1932 to 1947 and were written from Eliot to his muse and lover Emily Hale.

Professor Ari Waldman, New York Law School, delivers lecture on Data Privacy Discourse to COS126

In an optional lecture delivered to students enrolled in COS 126: Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach, New York Law School Professor Ari Waldman discussed how engineers typically view data privacy and where he believes that conversation can be improved.

U. professors Conley and Tilghman recognized as AAAS Fellows

The fellowship is a lifetime honor. Last year, University professors Rebecca Burdine and Elke Weber were appointed to the position. 37 members of Princeton’s faculty currently hold AAAS fellowships.

Future of African studies program driven by student engagement

Seven of the eight Ivy League institutions boast robust African Studies departments, in which undergraduate students can major. Within the Orange Bubble, such a department does not yet exist, but students and faculty are seeking to rectify this disparity.

Fried ’20, Brown ’20 awarded 2020 Marshall Scholarships

Mudd Library to close for renovations through 2021

The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, a division of Princeton University Library’s Department of Special Collections, will close for renovations in March 2020. Digitization services will cease in February 2020 in preparation for the renovation, which is predicted to last through January 2021.

Alagappan ’20, Malhotra ’20 win 2020 Rhodes Scholarship

Serena Alagappan ’20 and Ananya Malhotra ’20 have been selected as two of the 32 U.S. students who have been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. The scholarship will provide all expenses for two or three years of postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.

Mathematics professor Aleksandr Logunov wins Packard Fellowship

Mathematics professor Aleksandr Logunov was awarded the Packard Fellowship for his work on nodal geometry.