Research

UC Merced Aerial Picture
May 1, 2026
It's time to think bigger about mitigating climate change. Measures such as recycling, turning off lights and reducing energy use are great, but making a real impact is going to take systemic change, said Leah Stokes, a political scientist... Read More
April 29, 2026
Students who arrive at UC Merced planning on specific careers often discover along the way that their interests — and strengths — are broader than they first imagined. A new initiative called Education Tracks, or EdTracks, is designed to... Read More
April 29, 2026
What started as a premise in a UC Merced lab culminated with a commemoration of Project Nexus, California's first solar canal project. On Wednesday, state leaders gathered at the Project Nexus sites in Hickman and Keyes to celebrate the... Read More
April 27, 2026
Avinav Biswas, a third‑year undergraduate majoring in biological sciences at UC Merced, has been named a 2026 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, becoming the university’s first recipient of one of the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate... Read More
April 17, 2026
Community voices, student research and cross-sector partnerships took center stage at the UC Merced’s Public Health Symposium, where speakers emphasized equity, access and connection as urgent priorities in the Central Valley and beyond.... Read More
April 16, 2026
Simone Samra’s dedication to education and community work is influenced by her mother's experience immigrating from India and her belief in the power of education for immigrant women. Samra is keenly aware of the barriers immigrants face... Read More
April 15, 2026
Nervous but prepared, Tahirah Williams took the stage at UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition in March and delivered her three-minute talk, “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley Fever Invader.” By day’s end, she had been announced as... Read More
April 13, 2026
A highly customizable degree that rewards curiosity, reaches out to a diverse set of learners and prepares scholars for people-centered careers has arrived at UC Merced. Liberal studies, a bachelor’s program that taps into disciplines in... Read More
April 8, 2026
It's no secret that artificial intelligence uses a lot of electricity. A standard ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.34 watt-hours - roughly 10 times more than a Google search. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. data centers... Read More
April 7, 2026
UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile. UC Merced’s School of... Read More