College of Science, Oregon State University

08/25/2026

Fall term starts in less than 30 days! If you have questions, we have answers.

08/17/2026

College advice from STEM majors in Beaver Nation. Catch the tips they’d give their first-year selves — yeah, it can be tough. But you can do it.



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Students on the busy Oregon State campus step up to a microphone with a sign on it asking what advice they would give to their first-year selves. They share tips of encouragement and resources that benefited them as STEM majors.

08/13/2026

Attending Oregon State makes the glass look halfway FULL to me 😏



Alt Text:
Student says, “this glass is half full, this glass is half empty” and text “some of our majors if they encountered a glass of water.”
Student pretends she’s talking to someone off-screen and says, “excuse me, is this DI water?” and the text “Biology.”
Student says that the glass needs to be washed and exaggerates to say that she can practically see the germs crawling around on it. The text “Molecular bio.”
Student chuckles, points to a full glass of water and shows the surface tension at the top and text “Physics. Points to convex meniscus.”
Student says “You pour water in, you drink it up. Let’s talk about the rate of change” and the text “Data Science.”
Student says “Maybe its not about the water but its about the glass. To calculate the radius-” and the text “Mathematics.”
The text “Zoology” and the student pretending to search for an animal nearby that looks thirsty.
Student says, “the matrix of life” and text “Biohealth.

08/12/2026

🐦🐍How did these birds know to fear a rattlesnake?

A College of Science researcher led a study that made a surprising discovery while studying how red-winged blackbirds defend their nests from predators.

The finding raises a fascinating question about instinct, evolution and how animals recognize danger — even when they may have never encountered it before.

Read the full story to find out what researchers discovered:

The predators in the study were inanimate but lifelike facsimiles placed on platforms a few meters from the nests of blackbirds, known to be aggressive nest defenders.

08/06/2026

YInMn Blue, the pigment discovery from the laboratory of Mas Subramanian in 2009 that captured attention, was recently compared to a discovery known as "olo green."

Olo, is a highly saturated green created by selectively stimulating only the M-cones in the retina in a scientific experiment by vision researchers. Since this color exists only through the carefully controlled experiment, it cannot be reproduced with pigments, dyes, cameras or printers. It is only experienced through the experiment's manipulations of light.

One contributor called YInMn Blue "the olo blue," remarking on its rich saturation and its relatively recent discovery.

Read in The New Yorker about the science of color and the remarkable workings of how the human eye perceives it.

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A new color called olo can be described as the “greenest green.” It can never be captured by a camera, but its development tells us a lot about how vision works.

07/27/2026

There are many reasons to get involved with research, and many ways to do it!

Ian applied for a SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) scholarship and spent several months being paid to work in a lab, gaining skills and experience that will serve him in his future career.

If you’re interested in research, talk to your professors, explore SURE and LURE scholarships, look into URSA and check out the Office of Undergraduate Research. If you’re willing to pursue it, there’s a place for you!

07/21/2026

Outdoors and indoors, life on and around the Oregon State campus is spectacular.

🦫We can’t wait for all of you incoming students to join us so we can explore and study together!

🧡Current beavs, got any cool photos of Corvallis to share with incoming students? Feel free to drop ‘em in the comments!



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Pictures of the Oregon State campus, labs and nature of Corvallis taken from a student’s POV flash on screen while text appears. The text reads, “Your camera rolls soon, future beavs :).”

📸Photo credits: Danielle Whalen (3, 15), Banana Slugger (1-2, 4, 7-8, 10-12, 14, 16-26) and the Oregon State University College of Science - Oregon State photographers.

07/14/2026

Big news for Oregon State University and Oregon's semiconductor industry!

Thanks to the collective efforts of partners across higher education, industry, government and community organizations, FAST, the Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, will receive up to $160 million over 10 years from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to grow Oregon's semiconductor ecosystem.

Together, we are creating new opportunities for research, workforce development, entrepreneurship and economic growth that will strengthen Oregon's leadership in semiconductor innovation.

In the College of Science, researchers are contributing to that effort through discoveries spanning materials science, quantum materials and next-generation electronics. Their work includes designing materials for smaller, more powerful microchips, investigating quantum materials that could transform future computing and advancing nature-inspired organic semiconductors for more sustainable electronics.

Oregon State is proud to be part of the FAST coalition, working toward a stronger future powered by collaboration, discovery and opportunity.

Thank you to NSF and to the many FAST partners whose shared vision is helping shape the future.

Learn more --> https://partner.oregonstate.edu/semiconductors/fast

07/10/2026

If you graduated in 2026, download the COS ceremony photos and video that you want HERE: https://science.oregonstate.edu/hands-on-experiences/events/graduation

Congrats! We miss you already.

Share your 🥹 pics in the comments so we can keep re-living this day.
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Photos from graduation with rectangle crop boxes seeming to frame the main characters of a photo, then the subsequent photo actually crops a background character who looks proud, or showcases the love between students and their support people.

Congratulations to all of our College of Science graduates! Thank you for celebrating this milestone with us at our 2026 graduation ceremonies. We were honored to recognize your hard work and achievements alongside your family, friends, faculty and fellow graduates.

07/09/2026

Oregon State University's TRACE initiative, which helped communities across Oregon respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been selected for preservation in The Library of Congress through StoryCorps' American History Project.

TRACE was co-founded by Distinguished Professor Jane Lubchenco and Associate Professor Ben Dalziel of the College of Science, along with then-College of Science Dean and current Provost Roy Haggerty. The initiative quickly grew into a statewide effort bringing together expertise in biology, statistics, epidemiology, engineering and public health to help communities better understand the spread of COVID-19 and inform public health decisions.

Find links to the StoryCorps conversations from TRACE founders in the story below and hear their remarks on how and why TRACE was formed during that uncertain time in history:

https://science.oregonstate.edu/impact/2026/07/osus-trace-initiative-to-become-part-of-the-nations-historical-record

College of Health - Oregon State University
College of Engineering - Oregon State University
College of Agricultural Sciences - Oregon State University
Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine - Oregon State University

Oregon State University's TRACE initiative, which helped communities across Oregon respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been selected for preservation in the Library of Congress through StoryCorps' American History Project.