MERCED, CA— To help the community understand
and engage in the research mission of the University of California,
UC Merced will host its annual celebration of discovery and
knowledge, Research Week, from March 4 through 6.
Research Week, expanded from last year’s Research Day
celebration, has been designated by the campus administration as a
time when students and the general public can explore what
researchers on campus are studying and begin to imagine the effects
their discoveries might have.
“We host an annual research celebration to share the work of our
outstanding professors, students and other researchers with the
community,” said Vice Chancellor for Research Samuel J. Traina.
“This research fuels classroom teaching, provides hands-on
experiences for students, and contributes to society through
advances in fields like biomedical research, political science and
environmental engineering.”
The week kicks off Tuesday, March 4, with the annual student
poster competition, encouraging students from freshmen to Ph.D.
candidates to share their work with peers, professors and the
community. Two first-place prizes will be awarded ” one for an
undergraduate and one for a graduate student. The poster forum
begins at 10 a.m. in the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation and
Wellness Center gymnasium. The public is welcome to attend free of charge.
The same day, the Graduate Student Association presents a UC
Merced Faculty Research Symposium from noon to 4:30 p.m. in the
Bobcat Lair, Room 169 of the Kolligian Library. Members of the
faculty will use this time to share their research interests and
accomplishments with their faculty peers, students and the
community. This event is also free and open to the public.
The Vital and Alice Pellissier Family Distinguished Speaker
Series will bring its second guest to campus ” Stanford University
immunologist and geneticist Leonard A. Herzenberg, who invented the
fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) that revolutionized the
study of cancer cells and is the basis for purification of adult
stem cells. His lecture is titled, “FACS and Flow Cytometry from
1960 to the Kyoto Prize 2006.”
Leonore A. Herzenberg, also a professor at Stanford, will
present with her husband in the public lecture. Her topic will be
“Making Computers Serve Biology: An Immunology Perspective.”
The joint lecture begins at 7 p.m., after a 6 p.m. reception,
and will be free and open to the public in the Dr. Lakireddy
Auditorium on the UC Merced campus.
The distinguished speaker series is another important tradition
associated with Research Day. The Pellissier family, longtime
residents of Merced County, has funded the series with a donation
to UC Merced. When the family sold its ranch on the west side of
Merced, where grandparents Vital and Alice established themselves,
they decided to use part of the proceeds to create a legacy at UC Merced.
UC Merced plans for the Pellissier speaker series to continue
annually, in association with Research Week.
Visitors to UC Merced for Research Week events should park in
the Lake Lot near the campus entrance. A parking permit is required
from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Permits cost $1 for
two hours with a maximum of $4 per day. For more information, visit
