The University of California is collaborating with YouTube to launch UCTV Prime, a weekly 15-minute show that highlights research and developments throughout UC campuses.

The new YouTube channel will launch on March 1 and broadcast documentaries, lectures, interviews and performances from each of the 10 UC campuses. The station’s debut will feature the first installment of a four-part mini-series, “Naked Art,” which explores the university system’s public art collections.

UCTV Managing Director Lynn Burnstan said the department, created in January 2000, decided to utilize a modern medium in an effort to remain relevant to tech-savvy viewers.

“With technology and viewer habits changing so fast, the whole nature of television is evolving,” Burnstan said. “We are thrilled and honored to take part in YouTube’s ambitious effort to shape the future of the medium. Since UCTV’s beginning 12 years ago, we have continually developed new and innovative uses of television and, today, the future is more exciting than ever.”

Alumni Jay Shaffer said UCTV’s partnership with YouTube provides an efficient method of reaching today’s diverse and technologically advanced population.

“YouTube is a giant; it is incredibly popular and pretty much everyone uses it,” Shaffer said. “By posting UC research in the fun form that YouTube offers, this knowledge has the potential to reach everyone of all ages and backgrounds.”

According to Shaffer, UCTV Prime will offer alumni an easy way to stay cognizant of goings-on at their alma maters and within the university system.

“I try to stay current with my UC knowledge, but a lot changes when you leave the campus and move into the real world where UC news is not all around you,” Shaffer said. “I am excited to use UCTV Prime because I want to remain updated with the research happening on the campus that was such a big part of my life for the last four years.”

According to the UCTV mission statement, the organization’s goal is to proliferate knowledge of the universities’ discoveries to as broad an audience as possible.

“Showcasing the excellence and diversity of the nation’s premier research university, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California — teaching, research and public service — through quality, in-depth television that informs, educates and enriches the lives of people around the globe,” the statement reads.