In Brief

UC Merced Researchers Explain How Mechanical Force Can Trigger Chemical Reactions

April 22, 2026

Depicted are postdoctoral researcher Sourabh Kumar and Professor Ashlie Martini in their lab.

Mechanical force can do more than just push things around - it can also trigger chemical reactions. A new review by researchers at UC Merced and Penn State brings together decades of work to explain how these reactions occur and why they matter for technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals to the...

UC Merced Admissions for California Freshmen, Underrepresented Students and Transfers on the Rise

Following an unprecedented year the University of California announced that its campuses made record-breaking admissions offers to the fall 2021 incoming class. On top of a record number of...

Postdoc Earns Prestigious NIH Fellowship to Expand Prion Disease Research

Postdoctoral Scholar Mikahl Banwarth-Kuhn was awarded a $205,140 National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NIH-F32) to be distributed...

UC Celebrates $15 Million Mellon Grant to Support Faculty Diversity

The University of California today (July 16) announced the receipt of a $15 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP). This...

Professor’s Drive to Help the Community Gets Underway for 13th Year

To help Merced people in need, Professor Patti LiWang has been leading a diaper and toilet paper drive for the past 12 years. “When we moved here, the recession hit. It was hard for us, a...

Campus Announces Partnership with Mobile App to Help Feed the Valley Community

UC Merced continues to be a leader in helping lower food insecurity in the Central Valley community after announcing its partnership with the mobile application Fresh Food Connect. The app will...

Yosemite Seminar to Connect Veterans with Crucial Career Services

For the second time in three years, a four-day seminar developed at the University of California, Merced, will allow veterans from our California region to connect with several programs to help build...

Ph.D. Student Named Underrepresented Chemist of Color by Merck

Chemistry and Chemical Biology graduate student Ali Abou Taka is one of 12 students to receive the inaugural Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color. Abou Taka, a Ph.D....

Central Valley Caravan to Provide Labor Rights Information to Farmworkers

Farmworkers can learn more about their labor rights and workplace safety protections as a mobile informational caravan makes multiple stops across the Central Valley this weekend. UC Merced's...

Former Assemblymember Rusty Areias, U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz pose for a photo on the UC Merced campus.

California Lieutenant Governor Tours UC Merced

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis visited UC Merced in early June for a tour of the new Merced 2020 Project facilities and to learn more about water and agriculture concerns. Kounalakis and UC Merced...