Graduate school is a constant state of discovery, something UC Merced alumna Jackie Shay credits for her current passion: fungus.

California’s drought is a major topic, including on the UC Merced campus.  

It will be among the subjects explored during this year’s Research Week, from March 10 through 14. The annual event includes a brunch kickoff, a poster competition, live research demonstrations, a smoking symposium presented by the Health Sciences Research Institute, a psychology symposium, a geospatial summit, lectures and a symposium on the drought presented by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

University of California, Merced, was chosen as one of a dozen campuses across the nation to bring to life a new program designed to inculcate innovation and entrepreneurship in undergraduate engineering students.

The National Science Foundation supports the campuses’ participation in the new Pathways to Innovation program.

The University of California, Merced, has selected CEO of Enduring Hydro LLC and former U.S. Undersecretary for Energy Kristina Johnson and Merced County Superior Court Judge Paul C. Lo to deliver keynote addresses at its ninth commencement, May 17 and 18.

With more than 1,400 students eligible to graduate, UC Merced marks another milestone with its largest graduating class in history, surpassing the 898-member graduating class a year ago.

The campus will again hold two school-based ceremonies to accommodate students and their families.

One of the world’s oldest civilizations – with the worst air pollution and the coldest capital city – will employ cutting-edge technology from the newest UC campus starting in February.

Professor Roland Winston, who leads the UC Merced-based UC Solar Institute, just returned from a trip to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. He met with the owner of Mongolia National University, a 15-year-old institution with about 9,000 students, to discuss installing a solar-thermal unit on one of the campus buildings to generate 3 kilowatts of steam heat for a portion of the campus.

In its inaugural intercollegiate season, the UC Merced men’s soccer team showed plenty of promise by defeating the eventual conference champions and producing the California Pacific Conference freshman player of the year.

A day off meant a day of service for some UC Merced students and staff and faculty members who volunteered to help spruce up Luther Burbank Elementary School in Merced as part of the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.

The protected land adjoining the northeast corner of campus is officially part of the UC Natural Reserve System now that the UC Board of Regents gave the proposed reserve final approval today at its January meeting.  

The Merced Vernal Pools and Grasslands Reserve is the 39th reserve in the statewide system, adding more than 6,500 acres to the more than 750,000 acres already being conserved and studied. UC Merced’s reserve, though, is the first one in the San Joaquin Valley, and the first one in the heart of the greater Central Valley.

As the 10^th campus in the UC system approaches the start of its 10^th academic year, the University of California, Merced, has received a record number of applications for undergraduate admission this fall.

According to admissions data released today (Jan. 17) by the UC Office of the President, undergraduate applications to enroll in Fall 2014 hit 17,469, a 1.6 percent increase compared to Fall 2013 applications.  

Between record enrollment and research expenditures, a massive economic impact on the San Joaquin Valley, new buildings and a visit from the new UC president, the University of California, Merced, has had a big year.

Newly appointed University of California President Janet Napolitano chose UC Merced for her first campus visit – in her first week on the job – saying the youngest UC campus is important to the UC system, but also to the Central Valley and the state.