Faculty

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 Contributes to Research on Oil Spills

Researching oceanic oil spills can be difficult when you work at a landlocked university like UC Merced. But thanks to a large consortium of researchers from around the country, that’s exactly what...

Research Week 2015 Competition Winners Announced

Each year, the Office of Research and Economic Development sponsors Research Week. Researchers from all corners of campus are encouraged to display their work and show visitors the important work...

New Hybrid Courses Combine Live Learning with Online Enhancements

For the past two semesters, Introduction to Earth Systems Science — a large lecture and lab course at UC Merced — has been morphing into a hybrid of live lab and online “lecture.” The course is a...

Downtown Business Incubator Partners Community with Campus

The link between UC Merced and downtown Merced will grow stronger this spring with the opening of a new business incubator. The partnership between the city and the campus’s Office of Research and...

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 Shows Increased Risk of Toxoplasmosis

A third of all humans carry the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis — a disease commonly associated with cats, HIV-AIDS patients and pregnant women — with scientists long believing healthy immune...

Sierra Nevada Research Institute Names New Executive Director

Armando Quintero has been chosen as the new executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced. Quintero has served as director of development...

Gift Establishes UC Merced Presidential Chair in the Humanities

The University of California, Merced, will soon benefit from increased leadership in the humanities, thanks to an anonymous $500,000 donation and a $500,000 match from the UC Office of the President...

Professors Share in UC Effort to Study Effects of Climate Change

Several UC Merced faculty members will play important roles in a new UC systemwide effort to study the ecological effects of climate change across varied ecosystems. Funded by a $1.9 million...