For several years University of Iowa faculty and students have helped advance the theory that eventually led to the discovery of the Higgs Boson, for which the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded this week.

By harnessing Earth's gravity, NASA's Juno spacecraft will exceed the 165,000 mph needed to reach Jupiter: "This is called a slingshot maneuver or gravity assist; it uses Earth's orbital motion to accelerate the spacecraft toward Jupiter," said UI astrophysicist Bill Kurth.

A delegation of 10 central administrators from an elite Russian university is visiting the University of Iowa with a major goal. The distinguished group has been charged by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science to become a top-100 international research university by 2020.

UI graduate and undergraduate students in art, business, engineering, and library science are working under the direction of UI faculty on projects in the city of Washington, Iowa. The students are collaborating with community leaders at the Washington Public Library, the Washington Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Washington.

Author and investigative journalist Tracie McMillan will visit the University of Iowa on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to lead a discussion and read from her book "The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table."

David Gould has been chosen as the first Obermann Public Scholar, a pilot program designed to enhance research on campus through partnerships that engage University of Iowa researchers with innovators outside the university.

On Wednesday, NASA’s Juno mission will be passing within about 350 miles of Earth’s surface, which will be the closest it’s been to our planet since leaving it in August 2011.

Former Iowa Writers’ Workshop faculty Margot Livesey will present a free reading at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Glenn Schaeffer Library, adjacent to the Dey House.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates Robert Fernandez and Mary Hickman will read from their poetry at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

John Freeman will be in conversation with Marilynne Robinson to talk about his new book, "How to Read a Novelist," at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The discussion also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

Political philosopher Larry May will give a series of lectures on the University of Iowa campus Oct. 16-18 as an Ida Cornelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor.

The UI will host the American Conference for Irish Studies Thursday Oct. 10 through Saturday Oct. 12 at the Iowa Memorial Union. The conference draws upon Irish literature and its scholars to explore themes such as psychology and mental health, women, masculinity, and child labor.