Big Data

Astronomers Reveal Hidden Activity in the Early Universe’s Most Massive Galaxies

January 5, 2026

Spectroscopy at the UC's W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the researchers interpret complex data about ultramassive galaxies. Photo courtesy of the W.M. Keck Observatory.

An international team of astronomers has studied ultramassive galaxies - galaxies containing more than 100 billion stars - as they existed when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. The results show that while some of these ultramassive galaxies, or UMGs, had already shut down star...

Professor Goyal, front, with several of his students.

Mechanical Engineer Receives Prestigious CAREER Award

Mechanical engineering Professor Sachin Goyal has received a CAREER award for his research into how the arrangements of atoms and interatomic bonds affect the deformability of biological...

Fourth-graders at a Merced elementary school are introduced to agriculture-related sciences by undergrads in the FARMERS program.

USDA Grant Supports Diverse Ag-related Learning and Training for Students

Students at UC Merced and those who might someday become Bobcats are the focus of FARMERS, Professor Rudy M. Ortiz’s training program funded again for $1 million by the U.S. Department of...

Prestigious Biennial Grant Program Includes Funding for Ag-labor and Wildfire Research

Two new projects designed and led by UC Merced researchers will address challenges facing many Californians — wildfire recovery and agricultural labor — but will also have global reach...

AI is for the Birds in a New Computer Science Project

Bird species usually are counted twice a year by wildlife surveyors: once during the breeding season and again during the Christmas Bird Count . New technology, however, is increasing the...

Physics Projects Designed to Expand Quantum Knowledge

Physics Professor Lin Tian looks to tiny quantum objects to answer very big questions. Her research group is pursuing quantum computing and technology project that are helping to expand her...

New Grant More than Doubles Campus Supercomputing Power

UC Merced is rapidly gaining a strong reputation for research and scientific computing across many disciplines and a major expansion of its computing infrastructure is about to cement the campus...

Drones captured photogrammatic images of Lake Berryessa for CalTrans.

UC Drone Center Takes on Training and Safety with State Transportation Agency

There is a growing acceptance and adoption of drones — unmanned aircraft systems — by local and state agencies across the U.S. Advocates say there’s good reason: Drones can be a...

New Engineering Research Center to Focus on Agriculture Technology

By 2050, the U.S. population is estimated to grow to 400 million, and the world population to 9.1 billion, requiring a 70 percent increase in global food production. UC Merced is one of four...

Internet of Things and Autonomous Retail Research Win Awards for Professor, Students

The number of everyday smart devices, such as Nest and Samsung SmartThings, is projected to grow to the billions in the coming decade. Professor Shijia Pan and her students work to quantify the...

Research