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...

Climate Scientist Aims to Change National Dialogue, One Story at a Time

Climate scientist Emmanuel Vincent noticed climate change discussions in Europe had become somewhat politically polarized before he left France a few years ago, and found the same situation on a...

Interdisciplinary Spirit Pays Off for Grad Student

One of the things that attracted Chelsea Coe to UC Merced as an undergraduate student was the opportunity to do research. She transferred to UC Merced during her junior year and worked in Professor...

Cognitive Science Student Earns IBM Ph.D. Fellowship

UC Merced graduate student David Vinson recently obtained an intensely competitive IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award, which will provide $30,000 to support his research in computational social science...

Researchers Dispel Child Development Myths at Symposium

When it comes to child development and education, separating fact from fiction is critical for professionals in the field. More than 65 educators and care providers benefited from the expertise of UC...

Study: Moral Decisions Can Be Manipulated by Tracking Eye Gaze

Moral decisions can be influenced by tracking moment-to-moment movements of the eyes during deliberation, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

Symposium to Focus on Child Development Myths

The UC Merced Symposium on the Child and Family will be held on campus from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 14. The event’s theme is “Myths About Child Development and Learning.” It will feature research-...

Social Feedback Loop Aids Language Development

Verbal interactions between parents and children create a social feedback loop important for language development, according to research by a professor at the University of California, Merced. That...

Research Shows Connection Between Attitudes, Language

People’s attitudes could affect the amount of information they share, said UC Merced researchers who studied a massive chunk of Yelp business review data. Ph.D. student David Vinson and Professor...

Globe-Trotting Graduate Student Finds a Home, Success at UC Merced

Most students don’t arrive at UC Merced by way of Germany and Hawaii. But graduate student Bodo Winter often takes a unique path. Now in his third year, this Ph.D. candidate in Cognitive and...