In Brief

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

February 23, 2026

Four student standing in front of their poster at the Data Science Challenge

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...

Lecturer Honored for New Book on Pedagogy

Lecturer Iris D. Ruiz, Ph.D., won Honorable Mention in the 2018 Outstanding Book Awards given by the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s (CCCC). Ruiz’s award is in...

Governor Names Nies to California Student Aid Commission

UC Merced’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Charles Nies has been appointed to the California Student Aid Commission by Gov. Jerry Brown. The commission is tasked with making education...

Campus Event Encourages Young Women to Pursue STEM Careers

More than 400 young women aspiring to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) attended last week’s Expanding Your Horizons conference. The event, hosted by the UC...

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training: March 26 & 27

UC Merced will present its live sexual harassment prevention training this month. “A Life Theatre Production on Sexual Harassment Prevention,” will be in Room 120 of Classroom and...

Los Cenzontles in Concert at UC Merced

Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds), an award-winning band heavily influenced by Mexican folk music, is coming to UC Merced on March 14 for a free concert and a music workshop. Both events are free...

Local Homebuilder Donates to UC Merced Women’s Volleyball

UC Merced Athletics received a generous donation from longtime campus supporter Greg Hostetler, owner of Stonefield Home of Los Banos. The gift recognizes and supports two student-athletes from...

Campus to Tackle Food Waste with CalRecycle Grant

UC Merced is one of the first recipients of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s new Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant. As part of the state’s...

World Ag Expo a Showcase for New Library Digitization Project

UC Merced made its first appearance at the annual World Ag Expo in Tulare earlier this month to spread the word about the library’s new digitization project to collect and preserve 100 years of...

Alum Wins Opportunity to Pitch at Venture Summit

UC Merced alumnus Michael Urner is one of five finalists in the University of California new “I am a UC Entrepreneur” contest. Urner was selected from a pool of 169 contestants...