Albert Lim and Ben Rubin Win 2016 Biology Founding Faculty Award for Graduate Excellence

October 7, 2016

By Kim McDonald

Two graduate students in the Division of Biological Sciences this year received the second annual Biology Founding Faculty Award for Graduate Excellence.

Albert Lim and Ben Rubin were each awarded $750 for outstanding first author papers published in a high quality journal the previous year. They were presented with their awards at a luncheon at the UC San Diego Faculty Club and their names, photos and achievements are honored on a plaque in the lobby of Bonner Hall.

Lim, a graduate student in Professor Andrew Huberman's laboratory, published a 2016 paper in Nature Neuroscience titled "Neural activity promotes long distant, target-specific regeneration of adult retinal axon," that the award committee cited as "opening up entirely new directions in this field.

Rubin, a graduate student in Professor Susan Golden's laboratory, published a 2015 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled "The essential gene set in a photosynthetic organism," that the award committee called "awe-inspiring." "The evolutionary and practical implications of this work are substantial," the committee said.

Alexis Padilla

The selection committee for the award includes faculty, donors and representatives from each of the Division's four Sections. The Award for Graduate Excellence is endowed by donations from the Division of Biological Sciences' founding faculty and represents the continuing commitment and engagement of founding faculty to the division.