Research Week Puts Array of Important Work on Display

Members of the campus and community are invited to learn more about UC Merced research — including work on sustainability, psychology and antibiotic resistance — during the university’s eighth annual Research Week, presented by the Office of Research and Economic Development.

Events run from March 2 through 6 and take place mainly on campus, including the student poster competition, the popular 90-Second Video Challenge, three formal research symposia and an informal presentation-based symposium for students.

“Research Week is our annual celebration of the important investigations conducted at UC Merced,” Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Sam Traina said. “Everyone across the campus and across the region is invited to attend events, learn about our research and meet our faculty and student researchers.”

Research conducted at UC Merced fosters student and faculty member development and has the potential to affect the region, the state and the world. Research Week is an opportunity for the general public to see the many innovative projects underway in such fields as biotechnology; computer hardware and software; devices; drug discovery; energy; environment; imaging; materials; medical; nanotechnology; and optics.

The Research Week Fair kicks off the week from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 2, with a display of student, faculty and staff research along Scholars Lane. Participants can display their research in any form they choose.

The fair is followed by a sustainability symposium presented by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) from 1-5 p.m. in the Kolligian Library, Room 232. The symposium features an overview of UC President Janet Napolitano’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative by Professor Roger Bales; a discussion of root water uptake by Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei; a look at the ecological and evolutionary responses of forests to global change and implications for sustainability by Professor Emily Moran; a section on alternative paths toward carbon neutrality, including biomass gasification and bio-methane generation, by Professor Gerardo Diaz; and a sustainability panel discussion.

The Fellowship and Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted by the Associated Students of UC Merced, is Monday’s final event, from 2-4 p.m. in the California Room. All UC Merced students have been encouraged to participate and present the contents of their research to the broader university community.

Professor Jitske Tiemensma leads the third annual Psychological Research Symposium, from 9-11:45 a.m. March 3 in the Classroom and Office Building, Room 322. Graduate students from health psychology and quantitative psychology, as well as several faculty researchers, will present their work.

The Translating Health Innovations event, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 3 in KL 232, is presented by the Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) and invites students at all levels to make presentations that encourage the flow of ideas. They do not need to present data or results, but they need to share creative ideas in the field of translational research. Prizes will be awarded for the most innovative presentations, both in idea and in execution.

The Student Poster Competition is held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 3 in the Hostetler Gymnasium. Winners from the poster competition will be announced at Research Week closing ceremonies, Friday, March 6.

Sigma Xi’s symposium, from 2-5 p.m. March 5 in the Crescent Arch conference room in the Half Dome residence hall, is entitled “Antibiotics Resistance and the Stakeholders in this Problem.”

There are many other events throughout the week, including the GradSLAM! presentation competition, the Appetizers, Abstracts and Art event, a guest speaker presented by the Center for Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and more. The week wraps with the Resource Center for Community Engaged Scholarship Community Research (ReCCES) reception from 4-6 p.m. March 6 at the Merced Civic Center, where people can explore research partnerships between community members and faculty members.

All week, people will be able to view and vote online for their favorite entries in the 90-Second Video Challenge, in which students, individually or in groups, must make the best possible presentation of their research in 1 minute and 30 seconds. Winners are announced after voting closes at 10 p.m. March 5.

For a full schedule of Research Week events, visit the Office of Research and Economic Development’s event calendar.