How do you take a university further? For UC Merced’s chancellor, the answer starts with record-setting enrollment and extends to student opportunities, strong community connections, and new homes for students, academics and research, along with an ever-growing national reputation. Chancellor Juan

Key points Three UC Merced professors have been named 2026 Hellman Fellows, representing the university’s School of Engineering, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, and School of Natural Sciences. The fellowships will advance innovative research across three fields, from heat-responsive

A five-year, $4.5 million T32 institutional training grant from the National Institutes of Health will establish a new doctoral training program at UC Merced for students pursuing careers in biomedical research. The Interdisciplinary Cellular and Biomolecular Dynamics Training and Education program

Climate change is a global crisis and the search for solutions is increasingly technological. A new, 700-page volume edited by a UC Merced sociologist demonstrates that moving people, institutions and communities to act may be just as consequential. Sociology and environmental systems Professor Paul

Five UC Merced doctoral students have earned prestigious awards from the Northern California Chapter of ARCS Foundation, joining a select group of scholars recognized for outstanding research. “Congratulations to this year’s ARCS Scholars. You are being recognized as outstanding scientists who are

A smiling throng of new faces took part Tuesday in one of UC Merced’s oldest traditions, the Scholars Bridge Crossing. Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and other campus leaders led the march over the bridge. Blue and gold balloons arced over the span, which was lined with cheering staff, faculty and

UC Merced researchers are launching a project that could change how Central Valley growers harness the sun’s energy, using a family of light-active molecules developed at the university to design smarter agricultural greenhouses. The Central Valley grows a significant share of the nation’s food but

A few months ago, Adesh Johal wanted to join Patti LiWang's research group. "At the time, he was loaded up on credits so it didn't seem like he would have enough time to get much done in lab," said LiWang, a professor of molecular biology at UC Merced. She was putting it lightly. Johal, who is 18

This is part of a series of profiles  of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester. Driven by a passion for animal care, incoming biological sciences major student Esperanza Garcia is already well on her way toward a future in veterinary medicine. A Merced High School graduate with a

UC Merced doctoral students Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Vanessa Sanchez and Nora Shamoon have been awarded the 2026-2027 UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship, a University of California Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative award that supports promising scholars from