The Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS) is an annual event that the Dean’s Scholars Student Association hosts 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 DLS 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. 

A new update has been made regarding this event. Unfortunately, due to illness, Dr. Chalfie was unable to travel to the University of Texas at Austin, and the lecture originally scheduled for March 26th has been rescheduled. 

The tentative new date for the event is April 15th at 5:30 pm in BUR 106. In addition to his lecture, there will be time for attendees to converse with him to learn more about his work. The meet and greet will take place on April 15th from 3:30-4:30 pm in WCP 1.106.

For more information, visit the Dean's Scholars official website. Our new RSVP links can be found below. 

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

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

RSVP for the meet-and-greet before the talk here: NEW DLS Meet and Greet RSVP 

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