The Center for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, The Netherlands, recently ranked the University of Massachusetts Amherst 42nd in the world, just after University College London, and 35th in North America in its Leiden Ranking for 2013, based on the science publication performance of 500 major universities worldwide. The ranking, an “advanced indicator of scientific impact” covers five areas: biomedical and health sciences, life and earth sciences, mathematics and computer science, natural sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities.
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Stephen Miller, associate professor of Japanese language and literature, recently published a monograph with the Cornell University East Asia Series titled “The Wind from Vulture Peak: The Buddhification of Japanese Waka in the Heian Period.”
The Environmental Health and Safety department has received the Excellence in Safety Award from the Safety Council of Western New England. The award was presented recently at the organization’s 96th annual awards banquet held at Chez Josef in Agawam.
The Massachusetts Senate passed a $34 billion dollar state budget on May 23 that earmarks $454.8 million for the five-campus UMass system, $23 million less than the budget proposals presented by Gov. Deval Patrick and approved by the State House of Representatives and advocated by UMass President Robert Caret.
David Mednicoff, assistant professor of public policy and director of Middle Eastern Studies, has been awarded a $1.01 million grant to be principal investigator for interdisciplinary research on legal development and practices in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Chemical engineering researchers Wei Fan, Paul Dauenhauer and colleagues report this week that they’ve discovered a new chemical process to make p-xylene, an important ingredient of common plastics, at 90 percent yield from lignocellulosic biomass, the highest yield achieved to date. Details are in the current issue of Green Chemistry.