Cognitive Science

Innovative Research Secures Coveted Fellowships for Ph.D. Students

January 14, 2026

graphic with five individuals higlighted; three females and two males with UC Merced and ARCS logos on blue background

The ARCS Foundation Northern California awarded five UC Merced graduate students with 2025-26 fellowships. ARCS advances science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to exceptional graduate-level scholars in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. In...

UC Merced Designing Management School of the Future

A new effort is underway to lay the groundwork for the next major development at UC Merced — a fourth school, this one with the Gallo family name on it. The planning initiative is a faculty-...

Founding Faculty Member Leading Campus in New Role

Cognitive science Professor Teenie Matlock, the McClatchy Chair in Communications , has been appointed interim vice provost for the faculty at UC Merced. This is her first high-level...

To Be or Not To Be a Philosophy Major, that is the Question Bobcats Face

According to a recent Forbes magazine article, tech companies throughout the U.S. have discovered something universities have known since they began: Liberal arts thinking makes employees stronger...

Engaging with Spiritual Allies Increases Confidence in Conflict, Studies Show

A new Pew Research survey shows that one-third of Americans have trust in a higher power or spiritual force, whether they call it “god” or not, and two new studies show that people who...

Twitter's Trier-Lynn Bryant speaks to first-generation students about what makes them unique in today's workplace.

First-Gen Students Get Career Tips at New Conference

Starting and navigating the career-planning process can be daunting for any college student, but especially for those who will be the first in their families to graduate from college. UC Merced...

Cognitive Scientists Find Links Between Jazz, Speech and Whale Songs

Jazz musicians riffing with each other, humans talking to each other and pods of killer whales all have interactive conversations that are remarkably similar to each other, new research reveals....

Learn More About Dyslexia and New State Law at Symposium

Dyslexia is a neurobiological condition that about 5 percent to 7 percent of people struggle with, yet it remains under-diagnosed and under-treated. The UC Merced Alliance for Child and Family...

The monks take tea with Professor Noelle and continue discussing concepts in neuroscience.

Researchers Take Cognitive Science to Buddhist Monks

Two UC Merced cognitive scientists spent part of their summer in India this year, teaching neuroscience to a group of exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks. Professors Ramesh Balasubramaniam and David...

New Study Finds Link Between Unconscious Movement and Reading

Right now, while you are reading these typewritten words, your hand muscles are moving imperceptibly, but measurably. These movements would be even greater if the words were handwritten. That’s...