News

UC Merced Students Invited to Tackle Real-World AI Challenges in 2026 Data Science Program

February 23, 2026
Applications are open for the 2026 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Data Science Challenge, a two-week summer internship that gives students a firsthand look at national lab research through high‑impact, data‑driven problem solving. “I want our students to see themselves in these different...

Engineers Week Events Set at UC Merced

February 20, 2026
A research panel, project demonstrations and career advice are all part of activities set for Engineers Week at UC Merced Feb. 23-27. And it all kicks off with the university's first networking expo aimed at the engineering industry. Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951...

Rising Simultaneous Fire Weather Threatens International Firefighting Efforts

February 18, 2026
High-risk conditions for fires are increasingly happening across countries at the same time, making wildfires even more challenging to tackle, new research reveals. Scientists from UC Merced and the University of East Anglia found this synchronized extreme fire weather — characterized by...

Spotlighting Black Trailblazers Whose Stories Deserve to be Told

February 12, 2026
Black History Month often honors familiar names, leaders whose courage and determination changed the course of a nation. But many others have made groundbreaking contributions that exposed injustice, advanced civil rights, reshaped American culture and revolutionized technology. Their achievements...

How Writing Rewires Your Brain to Face Everyday Challenges

February 11, 2026
Written words can do more than communicate. They can also unlock the writer’s ability to process distress, identify hurtful feelings and take control of personal conflict. Emily Johnston, a writing studies professor at UC Merced, has researched how the act of writing rewires the brain to build...

UC Berkeley Exhibit Marks 20 Years of UC Merced’s Design Vision

February 10, 2026
From open farmland in California’s Central Valley to a global model for sustainable design, UC Merced’s architectural story is currently on view as part of a special exhibit at UC Berkeley’s Bauer Wurster Hall. Located in one of Berkeley’s most iconic Brutalist buildings and the home of the College...

Researchers Rebuild Microscopic Circadian Clock That Can Control Genes

February 10, 2026
Our circadian clocks play a crucial role in our health and well-being, keeping our 24-hour biological cycles in sync with light and dark exposure. Disruptions in the rhythms of these clocks, as with jet lag and daylight saving time, can throw our daily rhythms out of whack. But a group of...

Merced Trio to Share Knowledge, Visions as UC Merced Artists-in-Residence

February 5, 2026
Three Merced painters, united in friendship and in their steadfast determination not to compromise their creative values, are serving as UC Merced’s first locally based artists-in-residence. The brushes of Ruben Aguilera Sanchez, Frank Ayala and Abel Corchado create surreal scenes of fieldhands and...

UC Merced Recognized on Newsweek’s Inaugural ‘America’s Best Colleges for Women’ List

February 4, 2026
UC Merced has been recognized on Newsweek’s inaugural America’s Best Colleges for Women 2026 list, a national ranking designed to spotlight institutions that support, advance and elevate women across campus and beyond. Newsweek developed the new report in partnership with Gender Fair, an...

Leadership in STEM: Abigail Gyamfi Honored with 2025 ACS Leader Scholars Award

February 4, 2026
Chemistry and Biochemistry (CBC) Ph.D. candidate Abigail Gyamfi has earned the 2025 American Chemical Society Leader Scholars Award. The ACS Leader Scholars program recognizes outstanding undergraduate students, graduate students and early-career scientists. “I am profoundly grateful to the...

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