Author Archives: woit

The Situation at Columbia VII (and Harvard…)

Posted on April 14, 2025 by woit

The first good news I’ve heard so far: Harvard has announced that it will not cave-in the way Columbia did. The letter from their lawyers is the one Columbia’s lawyers should have written, ending with: [your letter] presents demands that, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 10 Comments

The Situation at Columbia VI

Posted on April 10, 2025 by woit

Yesterday Science magazine had an exclusive news story that the NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University, going beyond the previous \$250 million in biomedical research grant money. According to the story In an 8 April email seen by … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 12 Comments

The Situation at Columbia V

Posted on April 6, 2025 by woit

Two pieces of news this evening: 1. A week or so ago the interim president of Columbia was removed by the trustees, seemingly to appease the Trump panel she was negotiating with. At the time we were told she would … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 20 Comments

Some Math and Physics Items

Posted on April 6, 2025 by woit

The 2025 Breakthrough Prize winners were announced yesterday. On their website there’s a video saying that Hollywood is set to roll out the red carpet for the Breakthrough Prize ceremony, scheduled for Saturday April 12 at 3pm Eastern time. But, … Continue reading →

Posted in Experimental HEP News, This Week's Hype, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

The Situation at Columbia IV

Posted on April 4, 2025 by woit

Not much news from Columbia this week, the Fascist dictatorship was successful at getting the president of Columbia removed and has now moved on to Harvard, Princeton and Brown. Hopefully the leadership of those institutions is more willing to fight … Continue reading →

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The Situation at Columbia III

Posted on March 29, 2025 by woit

The interim president of Columbia was forced out last night from her position, it appears as a demand of the “Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism”, see here. This indicates that the trustees continue to believe that they have to … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 76 Comments

The Situation at Columbia II

Posted on March 27, 2025 by woit

To update the situation at Columbia, first of all, the weather is sunny and nice and the campus is very quiet. As has been the case since the police were brought in to clear Hamilton Hall and the encampments nearly … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 13 Comments

Back to Math and Physics

Posted on March 26, 2025 by woit

A few math and physics items: Masaki Kashiwara is the winner of the 2025 Abel Prize, see an announcement here, a New York Times article here and a Nature article here. Kashiwara has worked an a wide range of topics … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

The Situation at Columbia

Posted on March 24, 2025 by woit

When I left for spring break 10 days ago, I was intending to write something continuing along the lines of my last blog post. The idea was to try and fight the campaign of lies about the university and support … Continue reading →

Posted in The Situation at Columbia | 27 Comments

The View From My Office

Posted on March 8, 2025 by woit

The Trump administration has announced a cutoff of $400 million in funding to Columbia University, supposedly because of its failure to take action against anti-semitism on the campus. Two months ago one would have assumed that the idea that the … Continue reading →

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