University of Massachusetts Amherst

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UMass Amherst is home to a thriving international community of researchers, teachers, and students striving to connect their work to the needs of the region, nation, and world from a beautiful setting in western New England.

  • When Maroon is Green

    UMass Amherst boasts two brand new homes for sciences and arts—near neighbors on campus— designed to promote collaborative learning and sustainable living. By all accounts they’re succeeding.

  • Outstanding Options

    With applications rising, UMass Amherst is attracting students who thrive on exploring the array of options available at a major public research university.

  • Amherst Named North America's Top College Town

    What's so special about UMass Amherst's home town that it tops some well-known rivals?

  • Cool Fuel

    In the fight to reduce our society's dependency on fossil fuels and minimize the ravages of climate change, one weapon stands out: biofuel, made from renewable plant material called biomass. UMass Amherst is proud to count among its own George Huber, a leading biofuel researcher who serves as John and Elizabeth Armstrong Professional Development Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

  • Kicking Butts

    "This class will change your life!" That's what students hear, packed into Mahar Auditorium for the start of Microbiology 160: The Biology of Cancer and AIDS.

    Assistant Professor Wilmore Webley '00G, '03 PhD, who teaches the popular General Education course, knows that enrollees are here to fulfill a biological sciences requirement so he exposes them to the intricate disease mechanisms and broader individual, social, and global implications of these two major scourges.

  • A Eureka Moment

    Professor Susan Leschine and her fellow researchers weren't looking for a clean alternative to fossil fuels, one that can be produced carbon-neutrally, boost rural economies, and bring the nation closer to energy independence, all without consuming the food sources that other biofuels do. But then her team stumbled on the Q Microbe, a tiny bug amazingly efficient at converting cellulose-non-food plant matter-into engine-firing ethanol. For Leschine, a professor of microbiology at UMass Amherst, it was a "eureka moment."

  • All Together Now

    What do you give the Art Department for its 50th anniversary?

    Answer: A handsome, state-of-the-art building to inspire creativity.

    Faculty and students in painting, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics-programs once scattered in several locations-are enjoying their first year in brand new quarters especially designed for their needs.

  • UMass Chosen to Host "Energy Frontier Research Center"

    The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been chosen to host a new multi-million-dollar Energy Frontier Research Center to pursue advanced scientific research, as part of a federal science initiative announced by President Obama. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to award each center at least $2 million per year for five years, with UMass Amherst potentially receiving up to $16 million over five years. The federal agency emphasized that full funding details have not been completely finalized.