The Watson Lectures
The Watson Lectures
For more than 100 years, the Watson Lectures have brought the wonder of Caltech research and discovery to the public.
Caltech welcomes you to the Watsons, an engaging lecture series in the historic Beckman Auditorium, where you will hear from scholars, scientists, and engineers on the forefront of discovery who are expanding knowledge, tackling society's most pressing challenges, and inventing the technologies of the future.
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Upcoming Lectures
Join us for the 2026-27 season of the Watson lectures!
Registration opens: September 23, 2026
Learn how physics and AI are working together to illuminate the hidden universe with Katie Bouman.
Registration opens: October 21, 2026
Delve into the gut microbiome-brain connection in neurodegenerative disease with Sarkis Mazmanian.
Registration opens: December 16, 2026
Celebrate the extraordinary ingenuity of the Voyager and Cassini missions and how they have dramatically expanded our knowledge of the outer solar system and interstellar space with JPL's Linda Spilker.
Registration opens: January 13, 2027
Explore how life learned to acquire carbon and how this gives us the ability to better predict future global change with Woody Fischer.
Registration opens: February 3, 2027
Investigate the science of human decision-making and how the tools of behavioral and experimental economics continue to evolve with Charles Sprenger.
Registration opens: February 24, 2027
Discover how the world is full of beautiful mathematical patterns that most of us don't even know are there with David Conlon.
Registration opens: March 17, 2027
Discover molecular machines built from DNA—and how scientists are working to equip them with rudimentary forms of intelligence with Lulu Qian.
Registration opens: April 7, 2027
Spy on microbes as they move and grow in hidden worlds, including the ground beneath our feet with Sujit Datta.
Join a Community of Curiosity
Free and open to the public, the Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series offers a unique and accessible opportunity to learn more about cutting-edge science directly from Caltech's premier researchers. Come early to mingle with your neighbors over food, drink and music, as well as interactive displays related to the evening's topic. Then head inside to hear a stimulating talk and stay to ask your burning questions.
Explore Past Lectures
Enjoy each Watson Lecture and previews for future Watson Lectures on Caltech's YouTube channel.
A Legacy of Sharing Science with the Community
The Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series began in 1922. Originally known as the "Friday Evening Demonstration Lectures," the series was started by Earnest C. Watson, a professor of physics at Caltech from 1919 to 1959, in order to share modern scientific advances with the public and foster a greater appreciation for the impact of fundamental research. For the talks, Watson would stand in front of a packed lecture hall to deliver his famed "liquid-air" demonstration, in which he would open a bottle of air that had been cooled to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and the contents would appear to "boil" out of the bottle and engulf Watson in white fumes. While Watson's famed demonstrations would no longer meet current safety guidelines, the spirit of his talks and his interest in inspiring an appreciation and understanding of science remains and has motivated generations of faculty to share the details of their work.
Eventually renamed in his honor, the Watson Lectures continue to spotlight pathbreaking Caltech research.