Academics

Compelling storytelling is vital to ensuring the action needed to secure a habitable planet for future generations, according to an increasing amount of research.

UC Merced is recruiting students now to become the next environmental storytellers.

Students who are interested in creatively conveying the urgency of environmental issues can make that mission the focus of their studies when the new environmental humanities (EH) major begins at UC Merced in fall 2024.

Three UC Merced researchers have recently received the prestigious Hellman Fellowship.

Computer science and engineering Professor Shijia Pan, economics Professor Briana Ballis and life and environmental sciences Professor Xuan Zhang have all been named Hellman Fellows.

UC Merced's commitment to student success continues to earn national recognition as the university climbed to No. 60 - up from No. 97 last year - in U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Colleges in the nation released today. Among US public institutions UC Merced placed in the top 30, leaping to No. 28 in the country.

The placement represents UC Merced's highest-ever ranking in the annual report, and the improvement over last year is the biggest jump in the school's existence. Overall, UC Merced had the biggest gain of all schools in the Top 100, rising 37 spots.

UC Merced students will present research conducted over the summer at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The research presentations mark the end of the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI), a nine-week program conducted and hosted by UROC. This summer, over 160 undergraduate students worked alongside UC Merced faculty and graduate students to conduct research in every discipline offered on campus.

Starting this fall, the Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences is offering an honors program for undergraduate students.

Each student who is majoring in cognitive science and enrolled in the program will conduct research for a year and produce an honors thesis before they get a bachelor’s of science or arts degrees with the honors designation.

Admission is selective. Students must meet the GPA requirement and have proposed a research project that a current faculty member has approved.

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

When Clovis native and lifelong volleyball player Morgan Wilson first began exploring her options to play at the collegiate level, her path was not clear. She had several out-of-state opportunities, none of which felt like the right fit.

"I didn't even feel a spark with a lot of the schools," she said.

Then she visited UC Merced.

For Joslyn Conchas, becoming a physician wasn’t always the plan.

“I wanted to be a veterinarian, but that was before I saw firsthand how impactful health disparities are within my community,” she said.

Her grandfather was ill and she witnessed his struggles with the healthcare system while he was in and out of the hospital.

The University of California Board of Regents has appointed University of California, Merced graduate student Josiah Beharry to be the 2024-25 student Regent.

Beharry is the 50th student Regent, a position established in 1975. He will serve as the student Regent-designate for the coming year, able to participate in all deliberations, and will have voting privileges when his one-year term as a Regent begins in July 2024. Beharry's appointment carries additional significance, as he is the first student from the UC Merced campus to serve as student Regent.

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

It's the change of pace that Kayla Lopez has been craving. In August, she will leave the busy streets of Southern California and head north to begin her first semester at UC Merced. Lopez is already daydreaming about the scenery around campus where she said she can "take a deep breath of fresh air."

Merced, California, and Kyoto, Japan, are nearly 5,500 miles apart, but their research universities' shared goals to improve society is bringing them together. A new agreement between institutions of higher education in both cities will foster collaboration among researchers and an exchange of students.