U.S. News & World Report 2026-27 has ranked UC Berkeley as the No. 1 public university in the U.S., No. 4 U.S. university in the global rankings and No. 7 university in the world. This should come as no surprise to us, Golden Bears — UC Berkeley’s groundbreaking research and academic excellence continue to change the world and attest to its world-class rankings.
You may not know that you’re passing the birthplaces of trailblazing discoveries, revolutionary inventions and world-changing collaborations on your walk to class every day. Chances are, the lecture hall, professor’s office or familiar laboratory part of your regular routine is also home to a discovery that changed the world. This guide will take you to some of those places.
Periodic table elements
Welcome to the University of Californium, Berkelium! Did you know that UC Berkeley has discovered more periodic table elements than any other university in the world? The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is home to this record with the discovery of 16 elements. Perhaps the most notable of these is plutonium, discovered and isolated by Glenn Seaborg in Room 307 of Gilman Hall — a room now designated as a National Historic Landmark. If you’re particularly proud of our periodic table achievements, pick up some berkelium merchandise, and every time you wear it, remember that you attend one of the best universities in the world.
CRISPR gene editing
One thing that makes going to a world-class university so special is that you never know if the meeting happening next to you at a cafe is about something trivial or the next revolutionary breakthrough. Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna is the perfect example of this — famously meeting at the now temporarily closed Free Speech Movement Cafe to discuss the beginnings of what would later become her Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR research. Alongside collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, Doudna pioneered this gene-editing technology, which allows scientists to cut, edit and rewrite DNA with precision. Through her groundbreaking research done at the very familiar Stanley Hall, CRISPR has since unlocked new possibilities in treating genetic disorders, fighting cancer and restoring sight. Doudna’s impact at UC Berkeley did not stop there, as she went on to found the Innovative Genomics Institute right here on campus, further advancing the life-changing work that defines our university.
Atomic bomb
Could you imagine working with your professor to create something as monumental as the atomic bomb? That’s exactly what J. Robert Oppenheimer did with his students while working as a physics professor at UC Berkeley. Oppenheimer gathered his students and peers in his office, which is now the Physics South building, to lay the theoretical groundwork for what would become one of the most consequential scientific endeavors in history. The same building you may walk past on your way to class every day is a reminder of the brilliant and innovative minds that UC Berkeley attracts — and the historical legacy that earned us our No. 1 ranking.
I hope this guide showed you that the next world-changing discovery can be right beneath your feet. The buildings you walk past, the cafes you study in and the rooms you visit during office hours are the same spaces that produced Nobel Prize winners, reshaped the laws of physics and discovered the building blocks of life. UC Berkeley is a place where the extraordinary emerges from the everyday — and now that you’re here, you’re part of it. The legacy of our university is yours to continue. That’s what it means to be No. 1.