Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
(September 27, 2024) Congratulations Sheyda on receiving the AAPS Nanotechnology Community 3MT Competition Best Presentation award! We also learned that Mittal’s CRS poster presentation received the Best Poster Presentation Award! Congratulations!
(July 8, 2024) Congratulations Mittal for receiving the 2024 Young Scientist Travel Grants to attend the Controlled Release Society annual conference in Bologna, Italy, as one of 4 awardees in US!
(May 22, 2024) Congratulations Zixuan for receiving the CPPR Steve Nail Emerging Researcher Award!
(October 22, 2023) Congratulations Sheyda for receiving the Best Abstract Award at the AAPS PharmSci 360 in 2023! Congratulations Mittal for her poster being featured for Special Poster Collection Presentation at the 2023 AAPS meeting!
(August 30, 2023) Check out UConn Today reporting Dr. Lu’s accomplishments as the new AAPS Fellow!
(August 18, 2023) Congratulations Dr. Lu for being elected as AAPS Fellow, as one of eight new Fellows elevated from the globe in 2023 recognizing leaderships in the Pharmaceutical field!
(August 17, 2023) Check out our new review article in Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews about siRNA therapeutics with free download till October 6, 2023
(July 26, 2023) Congratulations Xinhao for the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 2023 Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting!
(December 2, 2022) Congratulations Xinhao for receiving the Student Research Poster Award 1st place at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE) Annual Conference from Nov 29, 2022-Dec 1, 2022!
(September 6, 2022) Our work on tumor imaging was highlighted as the cover article in Advanced Therapeutics and UConn Today News!
(August 23, 2022) Welcome Sheyda Ranjbar and Mittal Darji for joining the Lu Lab!
(May 2, 2022) Congratulations to Dr. Xiuling Lu for her promotion to Professor!
(April 5, 2022) Congratulations to Dr. Wei-Chung Luo for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation! Check some photos here!
(Nov 20, 2021) Congratulations to Derek for the new paper published in Advanced NanoBiomed Researchwith open access!
(April 14, 2021) Congratulations to Dr. André O’Reilly Beringhs for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation! Check some photos here!
(March 14, 2021) Our latest review on nanoparticle-antibody conjugates in immunoassays and tumor imaging can be viewed in the AAPS Journal!
(March 5, 2021) Our new publication about PFOB nanocapsules for CT imaging can be found in AAPS PharmSci Tech!
(January 10, 2021) Check out our latest publication in AAPS PharmSci Tech about the impact of membranes on in vitro release assessment!
(November 18, 2020) Our new paper in Journal of Controlled Release reported the research findings in the past few years on interactions between nanoparticles and tumor surface for tumor-specific delivery to peritoneal metastasis. Free access is available till December 31, 2020.
(August 19, 2020) The exciting collaborative work with the Physician Scientist Dr. Tulio Valdez at Stanford University has been published in Scientific Report! Free to download.
(August 13, 2020) Congratulations to Dr. Derek Hargrove for a successful doctoral dissertation defense!
(May 22, 2020) Congratulations to André Beringhs for receiving the prestigious Karl A. Herzog Fellowship!
(April 28, 2020) Check out our most recent publication in Nature Cell Biology! Glad to see that our proprietary nanoparticles containing doxorubicin exhibited the best effectiveness in inhibiting leukemic stem cells!
(September 19, 2019) Congratulations to Wei-Chung Luo for receiving the Dr. Thomas Jennings Award at the 2019
International Society Lyophilization-Freeze Drying East Coast Chapter Meeting!
(May 29, 2019) Check out our most recent publication in Nanotheranostics on overcoming hypoxia-induced chemoresistance with open access!
(March 25, 2019) Congratulations on the new publication in the upcoming issue of Particle & Particle Systems Characterization and our design was selected to be featured on the cover!
(February 28, 2019) Congratulations to Dr. Xiuling Lu for receiving the 2019 Dean Robert L. McCarthy Faculty Service Award!
(February 18, 2019) Congratulations to Dr. Laura Gonzalez-Fajardo for a successful doctoral dissertation defense! Check some photos here!
(November 12, 2018) Congratulations to André Beringhs for receiving the Best Abstract Award and the Travelship Award sponsored by AstraZeneca at 2018 AAPS annual meeting!
(September 20, 2018) Congratulations on another new publication in AAPS PharmSciTech! Check our publications here!
(July 26, 2018) Congratulations on the new publication in Pharmaceutical Research! Check our publications here!