On Thursday, March 26th, at 5 pm in WEL 2.224, the Dean's Scholars Student Association is hosting our annual Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS). DLS is an annual event hosted to engage and educate the UT Austin community about the most groundbreaking scientific discoveries by inviting a prominent guest lecturer to speak about their research and career. 

This year’s speaker is Dr. Martin Chalfie, a 2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, who contributed to the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein in Aequorea victoria jellyfish. Dr. Chalfie will be presenting on “The Continuous Need for Useless Knowledge”, arguing that “useless knowledge” is much needed today to improve human well-being and health. Since several Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries not fully related to what was initially studied, it may well be that things perceived as unnecessary may enable future scientific revolutions. 

In addition to his lecture, there will be time for attendees to converse with him to learn more about his work. Our official advertisement and RSVP links can be found below.

Students RSVP for the talk here: Student DLS 2026 RSVP - Dr. Chalfie

Professors & UT Faculty RSVP for the talk here: Professors & UT Faculty DLS 2026 RSVP - Dr. Chalfie 

RSVP for the meet-and-greet before the talk here: DLS Dr. Chalfie Meet and Greet

If you have any further questions about the event, please do not hesitate to reach out to shantala.totada@utexas.edu.